Growing up in the country, the busiest and best times would be the time of harvest. This is when most households would make it a family affair to go to their plots to pick freshness to be stored and savored at another time. The cucumber, when mentioned makes me think of the pickle. I can eat it as is or with burgers or hot dogs or anything needing that extra zing. Moving to another place and not having a plot didn't pose a problem to our family. As long there was a place that supplies fresh fruits and vegetables, canning can be done at home.
Preparing and Cleaning

When the cucumbers hit the kitchen table, it automatically gets cleaned of its stems (if any), it is then washed at the sink. My mom usually wants me to scrub them well she says it "imperative" for the pickling to be perfect. While we kids do this, mom would carefully stir and sprinkle her "top secret" ingredients to the brine we'd use for pickling. Most recipes call for antimicrobial herbs such as cloves, garlic or mustard- when I take a bite off the finished product (a month tops), i do taste a hint of garlic.

Immersing and saturating

After my mom brews the "top secret" brine, she gets us to line the heat sterilized glass jars for brine pouring. One jar at a time while my brother would form an assembly line of immersing cucumbers in the jar using heat sterilized tongs. The immersing of cucumbers is cumbersome since not even the tip of the tong must touch the brine. Any impurities can spoil the taste and quality of it (that's why I am not assigned to do it, I'm a klutz!).

Sealing

Even the covers must be free from impurities and sterilized. The covers go on the glass jar with brine up till a few centimeters from the mouth of the bottle. Once sealed jars go thorough more temperate warming in a water-bath.

Home canning can use vinegar, salt or even sugar as preservatives, this really depends on the fruit or vegetable. Canning has been here since 1809 to easily preserve foodstuff during war times. War excluding, this is a skill that can be passed on for the time self-reliance is needed.