It's all a hoot.
Finally pickled me some jalapenos the other day - a couple of quarts - sliced up, not 'whole'. Use them in almost everything I eat. NO SALT. Turned out very well - and the 'freshness' is an added quality I hadn't expected to be able to tell. Pretty simple stuff.
Next - CUCUMBERS - I love 'dill pickles' - but the commercial varieties ALL have added salt - which i must avoid completely. (Enough salt in natural foods for almost all our needs - eg. potatoes, very high in sodium.)