Picking Rosehips and What To Do With Them Once You Get Them!

When I first started doing floral arrangements for little country shops, I learned that some of the best flowers were the free ones.  Especially when I was first starting out and didn't have a big garden to grow them.  Rosehips are the queen of the country shop for florals.  You will always find them this time of year in some form.  You'll see them in bunches from a few vendors who are adventurous enough to pick them.  There are also dried rosehips in all sorts of country potpourris and simmering concoctions.  They are the perfect colors for the holidays, ranging from bright orange to red and to dark burgundy as they dry.

Rosehips are actually the seed pods from wild roses.  The roses get pollinated by bugs and bees in the summer and the petals fall off and start to make seeds.  I have so many memories of picking these shiny bright red treasures.  The rambling, almost vining stems the hips grow on are very very thorny, and they are usually not ready to pick until after a frost or when it gets cold.  I used to drag my poor mother out with me on days similar to this one, cold and rainy.  She lives in the southern tier and there are tons of nice quiet roads to pick from.  One of us would always get stuck in a rosehip bush and you'd either have to rip your skin and some of your hair out to get out, or you can cut your way out, leaving the thorns hanging off your clothes.  This is only for the die hard picker!  

Sometimes I just can't contain my excitement when I find a perfect bush to pick from, loaded with perfect berries, all in the same place and low enough to the ground to reach.  I call this the "Motherload". 

One year my mom and I were picking along the road and somehow went backwards into the ditch in water and mud up to our knees.  We laugh about this still.  That same year we also found these other red berries that we couldn't identify but they were so beautiful, we picked bunches and bunches of them to take home.  (My mother always has pruners and buckets in the trunk of her car just in case there is something to pick or dig up on a country road.  See where I get it?)  Well, I still don't know what those red berries were, but they stunk up the car so bad we had to toss them before we got them home! 

Well, I still pick rosehips every year.  The last couple of years I have had more of a reason for picking them than ever before.  Not only do they look great in wreaths, but they are also edible and medicinal.  I am lucky enough to have them growing in the wild areas on my property and I don't have to go anywhere to get them.

There are lots and lots of varieties of roses and I think all of them make "hips".  Rugosa roses are often cultivated for the hips and are made into jams and wines and such things.  Tea roses and garden roses aren't good for using because people so often use pesticides on them.  Plus you just don't get that many roses on them.  Wild roses are prolific and there are many different ones.  Once in awhile I find wild ones that are about the size of a nickle.  Those are treasures.

Rosehips have about 20 times more vitamin C than oranges and there are many ways to utilize their properties.  Making rosehip tea is probably the most common. You can even buy rosehip tea at the grocery store.  After you make the tea, there are a few uses.  You can drink it, and use it as a compress for surface wounds and scars.  There are syrups you can make with rosehips.  You can even make wine with it.  You will see it quite often in vitamin C supplements, so you can also take it in dried form, crushed up. 

I will give you my favorite sore throat remedy.  Every time I feel a sore throat coming on, I take a teaspoon of this and my sore throat vanishes.  Like magic!

Here's what you need:
A pint canning jar.
A cover for the jar
Apple Cider Vinegar
Rosehips
A sunny window sill

Add your rosehips to your clean jar.  I add them whole, because crushing them sometimes lets little hairs out that are on the inside of the rosehip, which cause irritation.  Cover rosehips with apple cider vinegar.  Make sure there is enough for rosehips to float in vinegar.  If rosehips are exposed to too much surface, they can mold.

Cover your jar with a lid.  I use coffee filters with a rubber band around the lid.  That way it can breathe a little but fruit flies can't get in.  Set your jar in a window and stir or shake once or twice a week.  After about a week, it's ready to use, but I keep my rosehips in there for several months.  The longer you leave them to steep, the stronger your medicine is.  You can strain them out after awhile.  Store in a cupboard and it will keep for about a year.

I like this better than syrup because there is no sugar.  But for children, syrups are easier to give and you can boil down sugar, water and rosehips to make it.  Then bottle and refrigerate.  Should keep for 4 to 6 months that way.

There are many other benefits to drinking rosehip tea.  The vitamin C  in them helps to raise your bodies immune system to treat sickness and infection.  It also helps your body make collagen.  Collagen helps our bones and muscles regenerate and stay strong.  Rosehips help our bodies absorb iron, which is useful for our general well being.

Rosehips contain the antioxidants carotenoids, polyphenols, flavonoids, leucoanthocyanins, and catechins.  All these antioxidants help prevent cancer and heart disease, as well as keeping us from aging.  Especially when consuming other antioxidant foods frequently.  Rheumatoid Arthritis symptoms are said to be relieved by adding rosehips to your diet also.

Lots of skincare products contain rosehips and rosehip oil.  It helps regenerate new skin cels.  Using it topically and internally has a double effect.

There are a few cautions when taking rosehips, however.  Rosehips ability to absorb iron can interfere with prescription medications.  It can also interfere with blood sugar control, so it is not safe for diabetics.  Always consult your doctor if you are on medications or have an illness before taking any herb.  Also the tiny little hairs inside rosehips can irritate sinus and lungs so do not inhale powdered rosehips.

Wow, this was a long post.  I hope everyone has an enchanted day.  Thanks for following!

These pictures are from a couple years ago when Mike and I were behind the house picking.  And the scratches on our arms and legs to prove it!

Mike, struggling with the wicked thorns!

"I'll get you, my pretties!"

Scratched up arms!  And my little Pearl is in the background!  I miss that doggy!

That's not rosehip juice!  That's Mike's blood!  Is there anything he won't go through for me?