Wash and prepare 7-8 pounds of small pickling cucumbers. Slice them into rounds or cut them into spears, then place them in a large nonreactive crock, food-safe bucket, or covered container.

Dissolve 1 cup of pickling salt in 1 gallon of water. Pour the brine over the cucumbers, use a clean plate or fermentation weight to keep every piece submerged, cover the container, and let it stand for 24 hours.

For approximately the next six days, drain the cucumbers once daily. Cover them with fresh boiling water, let them stand until the following day, and keep the container covered between changes.

On about day 8, drain the cucumbers thoroughly. Combine 1 gallon of 5% white vinegar with the mustard seed, celery seed, optional cinnamon stick or pickling spice, optional turmeric, and 2 cups of the sugar in a large saucepan.

Bring the vinegar mixture to a boil, then carefully pour the hot syrup over the cucumbers. Cover the container and let the cucumbers stand in the syrup until the next day.

On each following day, drain the syrup into a saucepan and bring it to a boil. Add another portion of sugar, commonly 1 cup per day, then pour the hot syrup back over the cucumbers; continue until all 8 cups of sugar have been added.

At the end of the 14-day period, heat the pickles and syrup together until hot, taking care not to aggressively boil the cucumbers. Pack the hot pickles into hot jars, cover them with syrup, and either refrigerate after cooling or follow a current, tested sweet-pickle canning process.