Rose Hips

I believe these are what are called rose hips. The part of the rose leftover if you don't deadhead them. I have always left them through the winter for the birds. But I've never seen any birds eat them. Hmm...

According to The Encyclopedia of Country Living by Carla Emery they are an excellent source of vitamin C. Here are some tips from her book:

• Gather any time after they have turned from yellow to orange and on to scarlet.
• Don't gather if they have gone soft~~they're not nice after that {I think mine in my picture are old and have gone soft, so I won't be trying those ones}
  
• Don't gather if they have been sprayed with any sort of chemical or spray
• Wash and cut off both ends of hips with scissors
• Keep cool until you can use or preserve them
• To freeze, just toss into a plastic bag and freeze until needed.
• To dry large hips, wash, cut open, take out seeds, spread and dry in oven at 110 degrees until hard and brittle.
• To dry small hips, you can dry whole without cutting or removing seeds. Store in airtight jars.
  

In her book, are also some recipes on how to use rose hips such as, Rose Hip Tea, Rose Pear Granita, Rose Hip Syrup, Rose Hip Jam, Rose Hip Jelly and Rose Hip Extract. I think I will have to try my hand at some of these this year. Though I hear harvesting them after the first frost can make the hips taste sweeter, so it will probably be a while before I get to.

It's also interesting to note that roses were included in the Colonial Garden Plan. Decorative and useful. This goes along perfectly for a decorative kitchen garden!

So something to keep in mind as a potential food source should you ever need it. And since it is so high in vitamin C, it might not be a bad idea to make a warm lovely herbal tea for wintertime when we could all use a bit more vitamin C to keep us healthy!