Preparing for Winter

nippyone

Confuzzled wrote: »

not sure about where you are but even up here in scotland the rosehips are ready to go already! i have already made a batch of rosehip syrup and i'll be going out to collect more soon as i plan to make rosehip jelly and some rosehip and coconut soup mmmmm

actually most things have come on quite early this year, the rowans are very ripe but they won't be as sweet without the frosts so i'm freezing mine for a week before i use them, that will sweeten them up a bit. i'd thought the rosehips might not be sweet enough but they were lovely without the aid of freezing though i may freeze some if i find enough ripe this foraging trip.

in fact, today i'm going to venture out to see if the brambles are ready, normally i wouldn't dream of looking before the end of september but with reports of others finding them so early and my own experiences with the hips and rowan berries i think it might be wise to at least look!

I've seen several people picking brambles where we are in Ayrshire - so hope you find some too!

Beki

we have lots of ripe blackberries here - quite unbelievable really, seeing as last year we were picking them late spetember through the middle of october! they've been ripening for a couple of weeks already this year - madness!

as for rosehips... i've got a few rose bushes in the garden. can i pick from them or does it have to be a special type of edible rose or something? can i pick the hips from just any rose bush? like a wild one in the garden, or a cultivated one in the drive?

don't want to poison myself or anything!!! lol

BitterAndTwisted

mardatha wrote: »

That's what's putting me off-- I can remember from childhood that they were horrible and hairy LOL !

Yes, but horrible and hairy means you can make grand itching-powder from them. OK, I admit it, we were evil little kids

Patchwork_Quilt

Garden roses will be ok for hips Beki

Tashja

We are in Cheshire and went blackberry picking on Friday and today !! They are more then ready.

The rosehips are still green though and nowhere near done

T xx

Giulliana

My recipe for winter is to buy one of those huge thick blankets from Dunelm Mill and batten down the hatches - well it seemed to work up to a point last year; saved me putting the heating on for a while

http://www.dunelm-mill.com/category/Bedding_Blankets%20and%20Throws/

Confuzzled

mardatha wrote: »

That's what's putting me off-- I can remember from childhood that they were horrible and hairy LOL !

i went and picked some more yesterday, i think next time i'll wear rubber kitchen gloves so i don't get the odd prickle from the stinging bits!

the rosehip candy recipe and i believe the dried rosehips for tea require you to cut them open and scrape the hairy seeds out, however for the remaining recipes you merely throw them in some water, cook til soft, push through a sieve (usually repeat) and dispose of the seeds/skin/remaining pulp so you never have to touch the hairy bits

when i get them home i use scissors to snip the bottoms out, this is where you'll get stung again if you arent careful, and the stems if they still have them. you could easily do this with your gloves on if you have some large handled scissors so you really can keep touching the hairy/prickly bits for the most part

my wee one doesn't like helping me pick them i must admit, but i haven't tried the gloves yet! she keeps trying to bring home more rowan berries and i simply don't know what i could do with that many so i'd better figure something out til the elderberries are ready

Confuzzled

nippyone wrote: »

I've seen several people picking brambles where we are in Ayrshire - so hope you find some too!

actually i checked the big tangle of them i know about yesterday, a few at the bottom were lovely and dark... but def not ripe yet, very sour!

i do plan to make some bramble chutney though so if all i can find is the ones that appear ripe but are a bit tart i can at least use them in that!

i think it will be a few weeks yet so i'll keep checking back, thanks for the heads up though! i know a few people in ayrshire and they normally go brambling far later in the year than this...must have been the hot summer!

Confuzzled

Beki wrote: »

we have lots of ripe blackberries here - quite unbelievable really, seeing as last year we were picking them late spetember through the middle of october! they've been ripening for a couple of weeks already this year - madness!

as for rosehips... i've got a few rose bushes in the garden. can i pick from them or does it have to be a special type of edible rose or something? can i pick the hips from just any rose bush? like a wild one in the garden, or a cultivated one in the drive?

don't want to poison myself or anything!!! lol

ALL species of roses are edible (as long as you aren't spraying them, if they are sprayed you'd really have to wash them well) so don't worry about it

rosa rugosa is supposed to have the best flavour however what most people get the really big cherry tomato like hips from are rosa canina - dog roses. either will do and you needn't worry about poisoning yourself. you can also eat the petals from either type of roses (again if they aren't sprayed) and iv'e done so this year with the cultivated 'posh roses' as my daughter calls them and the dog roses you find all over scotland (can't trip without falling over one of those and/or a rowan tree here!) the only thing with rose petals is you should cut the white part off at the base of the petal as that's bitter, i just cut the entire flower off just above this if i use a cultivated variety, dog roses are more fiddly so i stack them together then cut it out.

do a google search for edible rosehips and you'll find a plethora of information and recipes!

Confuzzled

Giulliana wrote: »

My recipe for winter is to buy one of those huge thick blankets from Dunelm Mill and batten down the hatches - well it seemed to work up to a point last year; saved me putting the heating on for a while

http://www.dunelm-mill.com/category/Bedding_Blankets%20and%20Throws/

ooh those look lovely, wish i could afford one!

i am however going to pick up a 13.5 tog double duvet for free tonight from a freecycler, i suppose that will have to do for now