Processing Rosehips

The other day while out foraging the city with my foraging partner we came across a thick stand of Rosa Rugosa (wild rose) bushes.  R. Rugosa produces the biggest, juiciest most beautiful rosehips.  We got to fill up a couple bags and still leave plenty behind.  I have a personal rule to never forage more than 30%, leave some for the animals and other people.  Unless we’re talking about the lone elderberry tree we found in someone’s yard, we’ve been given permission to harvest it and we will take everything in that case.  Elderberries, that is a subject for another blog and believe me there will be one, it’s my most coveted berry this season.

Ok, back to rosehips.  Did you know they contain crazy high amounts of Vitamin C? The downside it is, the Vit. C starts to break down when rosehips are heated or processed.  So I immediately added raw organic honey to my puree to preserve it.

I simmered the rosehips with a little water until just softened, you don’t want to heat them too much.

Then I quickly put them all through the food mill.

 I added a bit of lemon juice to preserve the color and added Vit. C.

After adding the honey to the puree I put it in a big pickle jar and into the freezer for future use.  I’ll use this beautiful red luscious goodness in herbal honey and salve.

Rosehips, one of my favorite things.