When the colorful leaves have fallen in autumn, bright red dots can be seen in many places in the forest. These are the rose hips, the fruit of wild roses. Rose hips are particularly rich in vitamin C and contain a variety of valuable ingredients. They can be used fresh or dried to make tea, jam and desserts. When does the harvest season start? How are they harvested?
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The rosehip
Wild roses, such as the dog rose , which is widespread in nature , form red hips after flowering at the end of summer. Botanists refer to these as aggregate nuts because they contain individual small nuts with hard shells. The flesh of the rosehip is edible and full of vital substances.
The rose hip is considered to be one of the fruits with the highest vitamin C content in the world. But that’s not all. Rose hips also included
- Vitamins A, B1 and B2 and vitamin E
- fruit acids
- essential oils
- tannins
- Pectic
- Zink
- calcium
- To demand
- Magnesium
The seeds of the rose hips also contain healthy unsaturated fatty acids.
harvest time
Harvest time for rose hips begins in late summer. From the end of September the first fruits are finally ripe.
For further processing, it is advisable to harvest firm fruits at the beginning of the ripening period in late summer or autumn. The fruits are ripe when they are still firm but intensely colored. Rose hips from the potato rose and dog rose are picked in October for further processing.
To harvest you will need:
- sharp knife or scissors
- bowl out
- Spoon to remove the cores
- solid gloves
- disposable gloves
harvesting technique
Do you know why most rose hips are imported to Germany from other countries, although wild roses can be found in almost every region? The reason is the time-consuming and complicated harvesting of the small fruits. Machines that simplify harvesting have not yet been developed.
For your own needs, however, it is worth using a walk in the autumn forest to collect the healthy and free wild fruits.
Note our tips:
- Harvest rose hips only on dry days
- put on strong gloves
- Use scissors or a sharp knife to cut off the hips directly on the fruit
dry
If you want to dry the rose hips and make tea, you can use the entire fruit. You don’t have to remove the cores. Also, to make rosehip powder for smoothies, it is not necessary to separate the seeds from the pulp.
Cut off the tip of the calyx, the so-called fly, and dry
- in the oven
- in the dehydrator
- on a baking sheet in a dry place
Hagebuttenketten
A functional and at the same time decorative variant for drying the red fruits is the rosehip chain. Take strong star thread and a sturdy, sharp needle. After harvesting, thread the rose hips. Be sure to leave about half an inch of space between the fruits. Spacing helps prevent rot and mold. With several rosehip cords of different lengths in the window, you get an effective autumn decoration. When the fruits are completely dry, you can store them in airtight containers and use them as needed.
Process fresh
The fresh fruits are used to make jam and jelly. Follow these steps:
- Put on disposable gloves
- Cut off the tip of the calyx
- Halve the fruit lengthways
- Remove the cores with a wooden spatula or a small spoon
- Remove the top of the calyx from the rose hips
- boil in some water
- pass through the fleet Lotte
- Process fruit puree into jam or jelly
- Discard and dry the remains of the peel and seeds
- use to make rosehip syrup or tea
Wreaths, bouquets and arrangements
Not everyone who harvests rosehips in autumn wants to make tea or jam from them. The bright red aggregate nuts are decorative and are ideal for making autumnal arrangements and door wreaths. To do this, simply dry whole branches with rose hips in a vase without water. Combine dried rosehip branches with green fir branches in Advent. With very little effort you get a great eye-catcher, try it out!
