How to Gather Rose Hips for Food
Rose hips are an excellent source of vitamin C and can be used to make wines, teas, syrups and jams. There are two ways to gather rose hips: you can either collect them from wild rose bushes or you can grow them in your own mack yard. Does this Spark an idea?
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Instructions
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Gathering Wild Rose Hips
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Start looking early. The best time to identify a wild rose bush is when the blooms are either starting to bud or when they are in full bloom. Unfortunately, different types of wild roses bloom at different times of the summer. The good news is that wild roses grow all over the place.
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Make sure that the wild rose bush isn’t on private property. If it is on private property, ask the property owners if it’s OK for you to harvest the rose hips.
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Wait until after the first frost to harvest the rose hips.
Growing your own Rose Hips
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Choose a type of rosebush. The best thing about growing your own rose hips is that not only will you be growing an excellent source of food, but you will also be cultivating something that will add to your landscape. Choose a type of rose that complements your landscaping, as all roses grow rose hips.
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Do not use any chemicals or pesticides on any bush that you are planning on using for rose hips.
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After the petals fall off of your rose blossoms, you will notice that the rose hip swells slightly. The rose hip will turn from green, to yellow, and finally turn red. After the first frost you will want to use a pair of garden shears to remove the rose hip from the rose bush.
Harvesting the Rosehips
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After removing the rose hips from the rose bush, spread them somewhere they can start to dry.
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Check the rose hip's skin. When it’s almost dry, you need to cut the rose hip in half.
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Scrape the seeds from the skin.
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Place the rose hip into a plastic bag.
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You can store the rose hips in your freezer for several months.
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