Composting Productive Plants

I usually grow about 8 or 9 gherkin plants and that gives us enough for a year's supply of cornichons plus a few jars to give away/inflict on the innocent. This year I have 10 plants (over two sowings), but the first three are really productive and have already produced a year's supply of pickles.

It seems wrong to compost the rest of the plants before they've even produced a gherkin, but I don't want to spend any more money on vinegar for pickling, either. 

Should I keep on pickling and reckon to not grow any next year (and possibly the year after!) or just be hard-hearted, compost the lot and use the space for something else?!

Are they all planted in the ground? If not just offer the plants to anyone that wants one , two or all. Even if they are in the ground offer them, you’re going to dig them up anyway. Or just keep picking and offer the freshly picked gherkins. Bench outside you house, fb groups, something like that.

Eat them fresh - there must be a recipe somewhere.

Thanks both

Are they all planted in the ground? If not just offer the plants to anyone that wants one , two or all. Even if they are in the ground offer them, you’re going to dig them up anyway. Or just keep picking and offer the freshly picked gherkins. Bench outside you house, fb groups, something like that.

They're planted out and climbing already!
I've asked around and of course everybody's gherkins are doing well this year. Typical.
We don't really have people passing the house (one of the reasons for buying the plot) maybe 1 an hour, and that's the same locals anyway   being on a road from nowhere to somewhere only slightly bigger. (But they still managed to issue us with number 493 when they decided all the houses in the village needed numbers. Our immediate neighbour is 457 )

Eat them fresh - there must be a recipe somewhere.

They're quite bitter, we've eaten a few that grew too big and of course the 'proper' cucumbers are just about to flood me. 

I'm planning on cooking the rest that we harvest from the original three, and will probably stick some down by the gate, too.

I think the compost heap beckons ... But I do use a lot of compost.

With inflation being what it is this year, I'd think about buying more vinegar if you have the jars to put them all in. Next year (and the year after?) you can grow more of something else in the space.

For the time being the gherkins live!

Compost them - I hate the bloody things. 

In the end they went to the compost heap as the drought and cuc mosaic virus combo struck them and some others down. But I have enough jars pickled for a year of apéros and tartar sauce!