What do you do with rose hips?
I have recently collected quite a few beautiful, red, fat rose hips. I know there is a lot of work to clean them - get rid of seeds and tiny hair inside the hips. I also know that they are very rich of vitamin C and, especially during autumn are great to strengthen the immune system. How do you prepare and preserve rose hips?
so far I have cleaned them and am ready to dry some, but I have more than some and would happily find usefull and delicious ways of preserving this wonderful wild medicine.
Comments
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Rose hips have anti-inflammatory properties so are good for arthritis or rheumatoid arthritis. High in Vitamin C but you lose a lot if you are boiling them to make a syrup or jam/jelly.
I've only done this once before but I made a beautiful rose hip syrup for pancakes. I have added them with elderberries when making elderberry syrup. And a couple of times I have made rose hip jam but not for a long time.
I usually just dry them and add to baking and to my granola mixes instead of raisins.
You have a lovely harvest here @jowitt.europe. Ours are so big and fat this year. Very surprising after the heat dome. I am looking forward to the harvest.
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You can cover the fresh, cleaned ones in raw honey and stir them up to make a spread for toast or bread. I like them dried to add to teas. You could also use the dried ones in place of raisins in baked goods.
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Those are gorgeous @jowitt.europe!
I hope I find some among the wilds of our property. I love all the suggestions of what to do with them too.😍
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My favorite ways of preserving rose hips is honey, an elixir or oxymeil. Some of the other suggestions sound great too.
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@torey @Mary Linda Bittle, West Plains, Missouri , @JennyT Upstate South Carolina @marjstratton Thank you very much for all the suggestions. Preserving with honey or drying seems to be a very good solution. And, if heating, I would never bring rose hips to the boil to save Vitamin C.
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I add one to my night time brewing oat straw tincture.
I also have some soaking in brandy in my cabinet.
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@jowitt.europe WOW - what a harvest! I have only used them in teas, but the syrup @torey mentioned sounds awesome!
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@jowitt.europe wow they are so beautiful! I like @torey@Mary Linda Bittle, West Plains, Missouri idea of soaking them in honey!
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@monica197 soaking in brandy sounds nice. What about honey and brandy! Then it is a real treat 😊
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@jowitt.europe Honey and brandy! Even better! That will be on the list of things to do with my rose hips this year.
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Ooohhh I like that combination @torey !
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oh that sounds really good!
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We used to make jam and wine from rosehips and also dry them on low heat (to preserve the Vit C) for teas. One thing you might want to know is that you collect rosehips after the first frost in the fall (they will become more orange than red) because that is when they are highest in Vit C. Preserving the Vit C will be best if used for wine or tea (for tea you have to let it soak overnight in cold water and gently heat it to lukewarm next day).
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@jowitt.europe Amazing!! What variety is this. My rose hips always mold and I’m sure it’s the wrong variety!
Anyone else have a favorite variety?
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Again. One year passed in between and I am returning home with over 2 kg of rose hips. After last year advise, part will be cleaned frozen with honey, some soaked in brandy and honey, some, may be made into tincture. Or dried. Or some, may be, will turn into some jam. It is not the healthiest way, but it was sooo delicious last year.
so far I am excited. The excitement vanishes with cleaning, but, I am sure, I will love the result.
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@jowitt.europe Do you harvest them after a frost or anytime once they are big & red?
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I am so excited because on our property we have roses of some kind, multiflora I believe it's called, and they have hips. They are on the small side but they are on several areas on our property. I'm just waiting for a cool spell to help change their color, currently, they are very green.
But I'm hoping to do several of the things you're planning on too, @jowitt.europe. I'm getting impatient.😉
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@JennyT Upstate South Carolina We have multifloral on our property too. Take advantage of its uses but also keep an eye on it. It can become horribly invasive very quickly.
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We have a rose-hip shrub here. Using them instead of raisins sounds yummy. Soaking them in booze may be tasty yet not much of spirits, yet the tea sounds delightful! @jowitt.europe , and now I can clean them of their seeds and hairs. I never knew about the hairs, so thank you for sharing that tip!
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@SuperC If the rosehips are used whole as in tea and not directly consumed, you don't need to clean them.
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Yes, @Monek Marie we have learned that. It was all over the place and have to trim quite a few. And had to mow it down in other areas because it was all over.
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Rose hips in my part of the world are getting big and red but are still pretty hard. They need a frost. But I am quite happy to wait awhile before that happens. Its going to be a bumper crop this year.
I've only ever used wild rose hips but you can use hips from any species of rose. I've heard that the wild ones are sweeter and better tasting. Sometimes when you are breeding for beauty or size, you lose some of the other properties such as taste. But they are all high in Vitamin C.
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I love the idea of drying them and adding them to granola, @torey !
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Yes, @torey the granola ideas sound delicious!😋
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@LaurieLovesLearning I harvest when they are ripe and red. Actually, I harvest them if I am at the right time in the right place. We usually spend one week at the Baltic Sea first week in September. The whole peninsula is covered with wonderful wandering sand dunes. To stop dunes from wandering, they are planted with mountain pines and dog roses. Ir is a nature reserve, thus the hips are really clean of any polution. And it is not forbidden to pick them as there are plenty and people are scarce.
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I have been cleaning them two evenings 3 hours each. There are still a few seeds to pick out before I process them. They were so sticky when cleaning. The first ones will be mixed with honey and I will freeze them. I will dry some for granola,
@SuperC as far as I know, one should boil them for quite some time to get rose hips tea. They do not give away their ingredients so easily. But boiling means loosing of vitamin C, although, some sources say that Vitamin C from rose hips remain also after boiling.
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My mom and I stood before the rosehip bush and together we each cleaned one and ate them
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Rosemary de la Forêt says she freezes the rosehips, then uses a butter knife to cut them open & deseed them.
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What about Southern California? We’re still having high heat and don’t get frosts….when do we harvest?
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Welcome to the forum @Molly! Please leave a short intro in our Introductions section. We offer this to hopefully assist members to connect/network with other members locally.
According to Rosalee de la Forêt, she says to pick when they are round & nice & red (or orange depending on variety). Once they start to get soft or mushy, they are past their prime. If you do wish to freeze them, you can pop them in the freezer for a bit before cutting them open & cleaning them. She says that's her preference.
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