Preserving the Harvest and Nursing a Knee

This week I've been laid up with a spannered knee.  Years of abuse plus skiing and snowboarding injuries and subsequent surgery appears to have left my right knee with almost zero feeling.  Well, that's the only reason I can think of for waking up the morning after a few hours of not very aggressive walking, with a knee the size of a watermelon.  Yet oddly without any pain!
A week later and the swelling is much reduced, but alas replaced by pain and quite a lot of instability in the joint.  A life-time of dislocating kneecaps makes me assume that it has just gone big style this time and will eventually all settle back down.  It better had; we are now into September and I expect to be hitting the slopes of Grand Tourmalet at the end of November.
Anyway, not being able to comfortably stand or bend at the knee has made harvesting and preserving this years not so bumper crop of gherkins and Jalapenos a bit of a trial.  Oh, and the local supermarket have all run out of cider vinegar, you cannot get white wine vinegar for love nor money and the clear crystal vinegar renders most pickles inedible.  As the twice pickled vat of radish pods sat at the back of the cupboard will testify.  We'd better try them again soon.