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By Meg Lucas
If you walk along the back roads and country lanes of rural Vermont this fall, you’re likely to encounter wild roses. Sometimes you’ll find them near old cellar holes and abandoned roads. You can easily distinguish the wild rose because, unlike its hybrid relative, it has only five petals.
Our “wild roses” are most likely descendants of imported wild roses planted long ago by early European settlers. Most people are familiar with Rugosa rose and Multiflora rose, two hardy roses that have been used in landscaping since their arrival here. But did you know that roses are part of the same family as apples? This relationship can be seen in the showy flower and subsequent fruit common to both. In the rose family, this fruit is referred to as the “hip.”
With the onset of cooler nights, Vermont’s wild roses start to shed their petals, and the remaining “hips” ripen and turn a brilliant red or orange. The first frost of the season further aids rose hips by making their flesh more tender and a little sweeter. In some species of wild rose the hip can be as large as a crab apple, while in others it is quite small. Regardless of the size, rose hips are an excellent source of vitamin C, and their medicinal use over countless centuries is a testament to the power of this wild edible.
If you encounter a wild rose here in Vermont, trim off the stems and blossoms. Then cut the hip in half and scoop out the seeds, as these have a bitter taste. Wash the hip well before using it in a recipe or brewing it for tea.
Remember, when collecting any wild edible, be respectful of the environment and pick responsibly. Here are two great recipes using rose hips!
Meg Lucas is co-publisher of Vermont’s Local Banquet.
Illustration by Meg Lucas
Rosehip syrup was an important source of vitamin C for English children during World War II. The British Ministry of Food gave these directions during the War for 2 pounds of hips. This recipe can be found in The Hedgerow Harvest, (Ministry of Food, England, 1943)
Rosehip syrup
Boil 3 pints of boiling water. Mince hips in a course mincer (food processor) and put immediately into the boiling water. Bring to boil and then place aside for 15 minutes. Pour into a flannel or linen crush jelly bag and allow to drip until the bulk of the liquid has come through. Return the residue to the saucepan, add 1½ pints of boiling water, stir and allow to stand for 10 minutes. Pour back into the jelly bag and allow to drip. To make sure all the sharp hairs are removed, put back the first half cupful of liquid and allow to drip through again. Put the mixed juice into a clean saucepan and boil down until the juice measures about 1½ pints, then add 1¼ cups of sugar and boil for a further 5 minutes. Pour into hot sterile bottles and seal at once.
Rosehip tea
For each cup of tea, pour boiling water over a teaspoon of dried rose hips. To dry the hard, fresh rose hips, clean and strip of stems and ends and dry on a pan at a very low temperature (110-130° F) with the oven door open, for 6-8 hours (until the berries yield to the pressure of a finger). Grind coarsely and store in an airtight container. Adapted from: Wild Fruits: An Illustrated Field Guide & Cookbook, by Mildred Fielder (Contemporary Books, Inc.,)
