It's like preserving summer in a bottle, but with a twist of vinegar and spices. Pickling, by the way, encompasses much more than knobby cukes floating in brine.
All peppers are good pickled, as are cherry tomatoes and green tomatoes.
I like turnips pickled. And lemons, which you can cut into bits and put in salad or chicken. In fact, a pickle by any other name may be called a relish or chutney or salsa. The common element is that the food is preserved with a natural acid, usually vinegar, though citrus juice, brine, or just plain salt also can be used. For your first foray into pickling, Ziedrich recommends the less complicated process of refrigerated vinegar pickles, which are usually ready to eat in a matter of days and stay good for several weeks.