Rosehip

[comanighttrain]

As a pretty potent source of vitamin C its obviously a good survival food available in our country... http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/ethnic-foods/10470/2

I've seen it prepared as syrup and as tea...anyone know if they can simple be eaten?

[Martin]

Yes, you can nibble the flesh but don't forget to remove every trace of the fibrous stuff around the pips as this could be quite an irritant. I have also used rose hips to make a 'tea' which I found quite insipid although I guess I'm so used to the over sweetened, over flavoured taste of processed food that my palate needs to get accustomed to the more delicate taste of natural products like this.

Martin

[comanighttrain]

I thought that would be the case! We used to use the fibrous stuff inside as itching powder when we were kids.

[Martin]

Err, so did we. In fact, my wife was very angry when I put some down my daughter's back a couple of years ago. My daughter wasn't too pleased with me either. :ashamed:

Martin

[comanighttrain]

hahaha!

[GaryBeaner]

Got a few months yet to wait though. Some time around autumn if my memory hasn't failed me again.

[comanighttrain]

indeed, after the first frost... seen an article about rosehip syrup in one of my wildfood email things that got me thinking bout it

[mahikan]

The ubiquitous wild rose what a great bushcraft resource it is.

The Rose flowers petals can be used as a band aid.
The plant as a whole myriad of medicinal uses.
The stalk if long and fat enough can be used to make arrows with.
Local tribes here call it the 'itchy bum berry' as mentioned above the seeds are covered in fine hairs which are high in silica making them very stiff in nature. Obviously if not prepared properly before eating they can cause discomfort when evacuating them from your body!! There a number of ways to prepare the seeds including cold compressing to get the oil out of the seeds.
The hips like a good grape on the vine are best to eat after they have been exposed to the first frost of the season.
Remember that wild food is twice as nutriuous as farmed food so though the effort needed to harvest the hips may seem long and monotonous it could really be worth the effort, time plus energy involved.