Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Rosehips


A splendid load of rosehips awaits the landowner's harvest near a roadside in the valley. Like most plants in the rose family (apples, blackberries), the fruit of roses is a useful addition to the human diet. While difficult to eat raw (apparently hard and sour), rosehips are loaded with vitamin C, iron, and anti-oxidants. When dried they make a fine addition to herbal tea mixtures, or steeped on their own. They can also be cooked into jams and pies - especially good mixed with other fruit. Of course, they are also pretty just left on the vine.

17 comments:

Joy said...

I have seen some of those here in Norwich, but didn't know what they were. Thanks for the info. This is a lovely photo.

Do visit Norwich Daily Photo and leave comments. Have a great first week in 2009!

joy
A Pinay In England
Your Love Coach
I, Woman

Pat said...

There are lots of rosehips here, usually made into tea. I think I will cook and eat some, since they're high in antioxidants.

Babzy.B said...

rosehip jam is great ,i love it but its hard and long work to make ;) beautiful colors !

Linda said...

Your rosehips are standing up well at this time of year. This is my first visit to your blog, and I smiled when I saw the rosehips, because I have a rosehip post here: http://occasionalscotland.blogspot.com/2008/10/wild-harvest.html, which was inspired by a Canadian friend's rosehip post here:
http://nurturedbylove.blogspot.com/2008/10/rose-hips.html.

Great pictures - I'm enjoying seeing your part of the world.

Halcyon said...

I do like rosehip tea, but I never knew what they look like on the vine.

Interesting!

Virginia said...

Lovely shot. I thought they were bittersweet, a vine with berries we have here. Grows wild and florists like to charge 1 arm + 1 leg for a bunch of it.
V

Bursa Daily Photo said...

Happy New Year.

I learnt a lot from this post. I didn't realise that apples were related. They look beautiful there in the sun. I would like to see some sun.

Laurie Allee said...

I always feel like I should do something with the rosehips that appear on my untended bushes but I have no idea how to prepare natural rosehip tea.

They are beautiful, aren't they?

This is a wonderful shot.

Anonymous said...

Beautiful. That's my inner color palette.

Unknown said...

I don't remember seeing such a large group of rosehips on any plant... It's beautiful!

Destitute Rebel said...

I'v never seen rosehips before, this is a wonderful picture.

Petrea Burchard said...

This pictures makes my salivary glands stand up and say howdy! I could look at it all day if it wouldn't make me drool.

Petrea Burchard said...

Look at that. Look how you lined up the mountain's curve with the curve of the branch. Look how you got the soft green to contrast. I'm going with the drool.

Petrea Burchard said...

I've got something for you on Pasadena Daily Photo tomorrow.

Chuck Pefley said...

Never knew a thing about rosehips before. thanks for the information. Guess I always thought the reference was to a woman named Rose :)

USelaine said...

Wow! I'm having a hard time keeping up with my own blog here, and am so grateful for all these generous responses.

Joy - I think roses to better in colder places than the Philippines, and Norwich is perfect for them.

Bibi - I researched them a bit for this post, and previously I only knew about the vitamin C.

Babzy - I've never tried to make any kind of jam or jelly, I must admit. It would be a very useful skill to learn.

Lindab - Thank you for taking a look! I'll visit your blog soon too.

Halcyon - I think I've only had the tea myself.

Virginia - My research told me that the most abundant ones, like these, are Dog Roses, which can establish themselves nicely once they get their roots down.

Bursa DP - I was so happy to have a sunny weekend day to go out for some pictures, finally. We've had a lot of darkness and gray here too.

Laurie - I've never made anything from them myself, but I think you just have to "dry" them, then steep them in a teapot when you want to brew them up. I'll bet there are instructions somewhere...

PA - Thanks. I was pleased to discover the vines were as red as the hips, right there along a country road.

D Rebel - I think some kinds of roses are better producers of hips than others.

P - I think they need some kind of processing to be worth a drool!

P - I wish I could say I arranged the vines myself, but they just did their own thing. 6^)

P - Thank you so much, blogsister.

Chuck - Someday, this knowledge could keep you from getting scurvy. Just another component for a self-sufficiency garden.

Thank you all!

Troop 1309 said...

That is alot of rose hips! My grandma keeps telling me to make my own tea with them. Maybe one day.