Why have I never picked Rosehips before?

I've never picked rosehips but Mum gave us the syrup every winter. I loved it .

My late husband and I used to pick rosehips in the 70s to make wine. Lovely it was too. We did the same with sloes and elderberries, all of which were plentiful where we lived at the time. Happy days.

They are huge and so plentyful this year. Foraging has to be done with respect for wildlife. I pick what I can easily reach and leave the birds all the rest. Will pick after a couple of sharp frosts.

So is there an easy way of separating the horrible, hairy seeds from the good stuff? It all sounds rather a faff to me...

Just read the link given by Camilla7. Good grief! It is a faff.

Lesley60

It sounds like slave labour to me, the farmer was onto a good thing choosing school kids and paying them peanuts

It wasn't slave labour. Whole families went to pick potatoes. It must have been backbreaking work but the farmers were not wealthy. The community pulled together to survive.

We weren't from the village and my mum thought herself much better than the people whose families had lived there for generation. I may have mentioned before that Hyacinth Bucket was based on my mum!!

Sweetcakes I agree! Especially mushrooms which can be very dangerous, even fatal.
Try blackberries, even I can't go wrong. The season has ended now though. But we pick them then wash and open freeze them before freezing in tubs for Blackberry and Apple Crumble throughout the year.

Loved Delrosa Rosehip Syrup

Rosehips only develop when the roses are not deadheaded. I always deadhead mine as soon as the flowers begin to droop or drop their petals. My late mum taught me not just to cut off the heads, but also to cut down the stem to just above the next cluster of FIVE leaves (not 3). Not sure why this encourages new flowers, but it works! My roses are still flowering quite well, if slowing down. I'm on the Surrey / Hants border, but most of the roses are in my front (Northeast facing) garden.

There are very many health benefits to drinking rose hips tea!

I read this thread earlier this afternoon before I took myself out for a walk. Rose hips have never been on my radar before, though I’m an enthusiastic forager. Today, they seemed to leap out from every hedgerow! Maybe next year I will add them to the foraging list, with the elderberries for cordial, and sloes for gin (though sloes are conspicuous by their absence this year!)m and of course blackberries.

Blinko

So is there an easy way of separating the horrible, hairy seeds from the good stuff? It all sounds rather a faff to me...

No need for jelly and cordial.

When I make rose hip syrup I cut off the calyx (top) and the stalk (all 400 of them - I count or I’d get bored 😂) then I cover with water, boil, strain, sieve, three times. The remaining liquid is boiled with sugar to make syrup. The sieved out seeds are thrown away.

BTW rose hips are very good for horses who tend to really like them.

In 1950 my son was given free rose hip syrup instead of orange juice at the clinic. Was also given Virol.
I cannot understand why these days people don’t bother to gather and use wild foods.

Fleurpepper

Blinko

So is there an easy way of separating the horrible, hairy seeds from the good stuff? It all sounds rather a faff to me...

No need for jelly and cordial.

Ah! I'm guessing that's because they're sieved at some stage?

Blinko

Just read the link given by Camilla7. Good grief! It is a faff.

You can use a blender to lightly chop the rosehips if you prefer.