Homemade Rose Hip Tea

So in the last 4 months or so I've been able to pick many different 'wild' things; I picked blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, etc.. More recently, I was able to pick Rose Hips and make my own homemade tea. I love that so much of nature has been left relatively untouched around here. This is what is available when land isn't being plowed and covered in concrete, houses, and buildings.

 

Rose Hips are the fruits of the rose plant. Once the blossoms die on the wild rosebush if they are left a rose hip will form. Although they appear during the summer it's best to leave them until the first frost. Apparently frost makes them just a little bit sweeter (they are typically quite tart, like a cranberry).

Rose Hips are extremely high in Vitamin C and are known to contain more than citrus fruits even. Actually, I read somewhere that one cup of rose hip tea will have Vitamin C equivalent to fifty oranges (sheesh!). Drink up!!

There are quite a few things Rose Hips can be used for; jellies, syrups, sauces, etc.. I chose to make tea, mainly because it was the easiest way to use them and probably the best way to make most use of this nutritional powerhouse.

To make tea, the Rose Hips need to be dried. Once they've been cleaned, place the Rose Hips in a dehydrator and let it run until they become rock-hard. It took mine almost 18 hours or so. Conversely, if you don't have a dehydrator you can simply spread them on a cookie sheet and leave them out to dry for a couple of weeks.

Once dried, place them into a food processor to grind them up.

Once grinded, you'll need to use a sieve and shake out the fine hairs out of the mixture. Within the Rose Hips there are seeds as well as fine hairs. Some people leave the hairs and say they are fine, whereas others suggest removing them. I decided to remove them 'just in case'.

And there you have it - homemade Rose Hip tea!

Perfect for those chilly nights coming up...