Now Forage

🗓 Season: August · September · October

A lot, and I mean a *lot*, of rosehip bushes along the bottom edge of the doctor's carpark turning into the road leading up to Ashfield's, McDonald's and Aldi. They all flower and fruit at roughly the same time, producing a *lot* of fruit. Rosehips *must* be processed and cooked appropriately - the hairs surrounding the seeds inside are an irritant, so follow instructions carefully and take your time. However, rosehips can be used to make jelly, syrup and sauces, and were used as a source of vitamin C during WWII in Britain due to a shortage of imported fruit. You could also probably pick and use the flower petals to make rosewater, which can then be made into rose syrup and the like. I'm not sure how perfumed these roses are, so it may not be the most perfumed syrup. Obviously wash the petals in a colander thoroughly beforehand, and don't pick any that are roughly the right height for an animal to piss on. If you can find a recipe for rose syrup that has the weight of rose petals – not just 'the petals from X amount of roses' – then you can reverse-engineer the quantity of water and sugar to find out their ratio in relation to the weight of rose petals, allowing you to make a syrup even if you have fewer rose petals than the recipe calls for. I don't know if it is possible to pick the fruit - though the bushes overhang onto the pavement, the car park is, I think, private? It's also right next to a main road. However, I doubt the practice manager would be opposed if you emailed first to ask - or if you just collected them at night when no-one was looking. It gets dark quite early in November, so pick your timing...