Foraging & Harvesting Rose Hips for Your Medicinal Pantry

"During World War II, rose hips were collected by British children and sold to pharmacists to be made into syrup... They contain vitamins A, C and K, plus the B vitamins thiamin, riboflavin, and niacin."

~ James Wong, Grow Your Own Drugs

I had always assumed that the only way to procure rose hips (besides purchasing) was to have access to wild roses. When I planted our rose vine, my intention was solely cosmetic. However, I have since learned that all fruit from the rose plants are edible and contain medicinal benefits. The key, is to not snip off the blossoms! Yes, that beloved practice called "deadheading" must come to an end as this is where the hips will develop. The rose hip, which is actually the "fruit" of the rose, are extremely rich in vitamin C (one of the richest sources in fact!). The perfect and providential thing, is that they are ripe and ready when the cold and flu season hits, making them an excellent preventative and tonic right when you need them!

.

Our Climbing Rose in the Summer

The beauty of the dog rose and other such wild varieties is that they are laden with fruit while my climbing rose produced a very small amount. Also, the flavors will vary. Some species will be quite tasty while some will require a bit of help from honey. Whatever the case, free medicinal fruit is free fruit and I happily picked my meager two cups.

The Remaining Rose Hips

You will find the rose hips ready between September and November. However, the best time to harvest is after the first frost (or late autumn if you don't get frost), when they are the sweetest. The fruit should be slightly soft and having a red or orange color. Just make sure that the rose hips you harvest are free of chemical sprays and pesticides. If you don't have access to rose hips, you can always purchase the dried herb.

The fruit can conveniently be frozen for the future. Simply wash the hips and place them in a freezer container or ziplock until you are ready to use them. 

I have also read that you can dry them by laying them on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper (once they are washed and patted dry) for a few weeks. They should come out looking wrinkly like our picture above.

Rose hips can be made into vitamin-C rich syrups, jams, jelly, herbal teas, cordials and tinctures. We will be sharing some recipes shortly as a part of our "Home Apothecary Series" and Building Up Your Pantry Series. We hope to have you share your recipes when we host our "rose hips link up" within the next month or so. In the meantime, happy foraging!

This post may be shared with some or all of the following link-ups: The Art of Home-Making Mondays, Modest Mom Monday's, Monday's Musings, Make Your Home Sing Monday, Good Morning Mondays,  The Scoop, Titus 2sdays, Titus 2 Tuesdays, Roses of Inspiration, Tuesdays with a Twist, Raising Homemakers, Wise Woman Link Up, Homestead Blog Hop,  Wow Us Wednesdays, Wildcrafting Wednesday, Coffee and Conversation, Homemaking Thursdays, Home Sweet Home, Our Simple Homestead, From the Farm Blog Hop, Farmgirl Friday, Front Porch Friday Blog Hop, Awesome Life Friday Link Up, Simply Natural Saturdays and Clever Chicks Blog Hop. Thank you lovely ladies for hosting these.