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Open Magazine - Index

Open Magazine - magazine - Index

warm temperatures and release thousands of fluffy white seed pods. Great cat toy;
bad decoration idea!
One day, while I was thumbing through my copy of The Encyclopedia of Country
Living (Sasquatch Books, Seattle), I happened upon a section on rosehips. The
picture in the book looked just like the orange-red bulbs on the wild rose bush in
the ditch across from our house!
I discovered that rosehips or “hip” or “haw,” are the seed pods
of roses once they have bloomed. Birds eat the wild rosehips
and honeybees love the nectar they provide. Wild roses make
excellent hedgerows and are virtually impenetrable when
fully grown. Their resistance to pests, hardiness, clay and poor
soil tolerance, and ability to thrive without maintenance and
pruning, make them ideal plants for countryside ditches.
Rosehips are an excellent source of vitamin C. In a BBC recorded statement,
Mrs. Greta Edwards, http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/stories, recalls that
during WWII, in England, school children used to go “rosehipping” and were paid
one shilling per pound of hips they collected. The syrup made from the rosehips
was used for babies. Fresh citrus and other fruits were hard to come by during
the war so rosehips were used to provide many vitamins and minerals to keep the
nation healthy. According to Dr. Andrew Weil, rosehips also contain vitamins A, B-3,
D and E as well as bioflavonoids, citric acid, fructose, malic acid, tannins and zinc.
Harvest rosehips in the fall, before the first frost. If they are allowed to get soft,
they are no longer useful. Try to keep rosehips in a cool, dry location until you are
ready to use them. Ideally, they should be harvested and processed the same day.
However, stored in a proper location, they will last for up to two to three days.
Begin by washing and cutting off both ends of the hips (scissors may be used).
Rosehips can be frozen, stewed or dried. If you are going to freeze them, there is no
need for blanching. Simply wash, dry and put into freezer bags.
The Encyclopedia of Country Living states that rosehips can be processed into a
jelly, extract, cold rosehip soup or hot tea. A sugarless rosehip syrup can be made by
pouring boiling water to cover the rosehips and cooking on low heat for 15 minutes.
Let it cool and steep for 24 hours; then strain and freeze. Apparently, the sugarless
syrup can be used to enrich soups, toppings or even teas.
To dry rosehips, the encyclopedia recommends removing all seeds then
spreading the pods evenly on a pan in an oven or dehydrator at 43 degrees Celsius
(110 Fahrenheit) until the fruit pods are hard and brittle. When thoroughly dry,
the rosehips can be stored in jars. When ready to use, simply cover with water and
simmer until soft. The pulp can be used to make jams or jellies. Some of the ideas
listed in the book are: rosehip tea, rose pear granita, rosehip syrup, jam, extract,
and jelly.
I watched the rosehips in “my ditch” all through the long summer, regularly
checking them as a vintner would check his grapevines. When the time was right,
(I grew impatient) I donned my rubber boots and baseball cap and headed out
to harvest my bounty. With my trusty encyclopedia by my side, I quickly and
easily prepared a rosehip jelly and tea—much to the delight of my urbaniteturned-rural-partner
and husband. We quickly devoured the fruits of my
labours.
The next year, by the time that I remembered to check “my”
wild rose bush, there were only three or four rosehip pods
left on it. I think that either the birds got them or my
neighbours beat me to it.
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