Rose’s, nature’s symbol of love, beauty and health and the flower of the Rose Hip. All be it a little prickly. When the last petal has fallen you are left with a beautiful brightly coloured seed pod. This is the Rose Hip also known as the fruit of the rose. Generally you will notice these throughout autumn once the spring flush of flowers has disappeared. Next time you decide to prune your roses have a look before you snip. If you have a bush loaded with Rose Hips don’t be too quick to prune. We have some great ideas around how you can make the most of your Roses beyond the vase.
It is important to note that you should not use Rose hips that have been treated with any chemicals. So if you do treat your rose bushes with chemical sprays best to leave the Rose hips on the bush.
“Rose Hips the pod of beauty and health”
In our Edible Forest we don’t treat any of our plants with chemical sprays so everything we produce is very safe to eat. You may have seen Rose Hip oil in your health food stores but did you know you can also create jelly, seasoning, sauce and syrup with Rose Hips. You can cook Rose Hips to extract the juice and you can dry Rose Hips to create teas.
These nutrient rich pods also have many health benefits and have gained great interest in the beauty industry. As far as health benefits go we recommend speaking to a health professional before applying these ideas to your life. Rose Hips are known to be high in antioxidants in particular Vitamin C which we all know is a great benefit to your immune system. The Rose Hip is also known to promote skin and eye health. This is as a result of the high levels of lycopene and beta carotene. Rose Hips have been seen to reduce the signs of ageing, lowering blood pressure, lowering cholesterol levels and relieving osteoarthritis pain. They really are little buds of wonder.
In the Edible Forest we love using ours to make Rose Hip Syrup, Cordial and our Pretty Tea so if you don’t have access to your own harvest of the Rose Hip never fear the Edible Forest is here with a great range of products available to purchase through our Harvest Hub on your next visit.
