This year we had a bumper crop of rose hips. I got some photos I liked, one of which I’m almost ready to start stitching on. What I didn’t get was a harvest – until this week. I meant to make jam (we had HUGE hips on one of the roses), but that was back in October. Now those are too squishy, so we left them for the birds. Still, there were plenty of smaller ones, and they’re drying on a cookie sheet.
Because these are so small, they’re drying whole. I didn’t split them to remove the tiny hairs and seeds, which can be (ahem) irritating to the digestive system. When I brew them into tea, I’ll just strain it well.
Rose hip tea is a great source of vitamin C. I read on the University of Vermont Extension site that during World War II, many volunteers gathered rose hips, which were made into syrup and distributed by the Ministry of Health as an alternative to orange juice, since it was so difficult to get citrus products.
When imports are abundant, it’s easy to fall out of the habit of using the resources in our own back yards (the free stuff, I might add). The hardest thing about reviving a harvest tradition, I think, is getting it onto a flexible calendar in your head. Gathering isn’t like Just In Time inventory, where you declare a need and then get it filled. Making ourselves available when a resource is available requires a slight shift in thinking. We’ll get better at it with practice.
In the meantime, here’s another perspective you might enjoy. Seattle poet Rachel Dilworth read from her book The Wild Rose Asylum in a program recorded at KUOW. The piece is called “On Harvesting Rosehips.” You can listen to it here.
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