Why have I never picked Rosehips before?

Rose hip jelly is good too. It’s great for sore throats and on porridge. I guess your jelly could be good on porridge too. It looks lovely in your photo. Any chance of the recipe?

Rose hip syrup it should say. Having trouble posting tonight.

We used to pick rose-hips as children and were paid -probably pennies per lb!
They went to make Delrosa Rosehip Syrup.

I made a few batches of rose hip syrup a year or two ago, but was put off as it went mouldy.

I didn’t seem to get the boiling up right.

When it was ok, it was nice on Greek yogurt.

We also picked rose hips for syrup during the war, I am “quite “ old and remember very well were paid 3d per pound.
It was organised by the school.

Our mum gave us all rose hip syrup when we were children. I have foraged ever since I was young and have made syrups jellies jams and chutneys. Making them is a pleasure and the end results are far better than anything you can buy.

annsixty

We also picked rose hips for syrup during the war, I am “quite “ old and remember very well were paid 3d per pound.
It was organised by the school.

Can you imagine that happening today but I guess the vitamin rich rose hips were important at the time. As was food, grandad used to tell children had time off school to harvest potatoes as well.

I didn’t have time off school but my first job when I was about 13/14 was picking potatoes but I can’t for the life of me remember where we went I can remember clearly the friend I went with but she can’t remember even going but I honestly didn’t imagine it

25 Avalon not sure how to reply to you but here is the recipe: www.fabfood4all.co.uk/rosehip-apple-jelly/

When I was young, we crushed rosehip and put them down each other's tops.

Re potatoes picking - it was common in our village for everyone to go potato picking. We didn't, of course, only the village people did that - according to my mum. It struck me as a fun thing to do.

Kittylester it was not fun! We picked into metal mesh baskets, a bit like supermarket baskets, and had to lift them up to fill a trailer. It was pretty hard work for twelve year old me who was a huge bookworm.

annsixty - yes we picked rosehips (the fifties in my case) 3d a pound. They were collected from school.

We 'foraged' for mushrooms and blackberries - the latter boiled up with crab apples to make jam which sweetened everything (any other jam was made in very small quantities for special occasions)

The gypsies picked potatoes, but we were all invited to the big bonfire at the end with sausages and baked potatoes (though I helped to cook those in the oven - the fire was too risky!)

That looks lovely - I haven't made any jelly/jam for a few years so maybe it's time to do some. I used to use my crab apples to make marrow and crab apple jam but I haven't had may crab apples for a while now. Or possibly the birds/squirrels have got to them first.

We picked rosehips even in the mid 1960s when we were 9 or 10 - they were weighed and paid for in the school hall. And lots of my friends at primary school went potato picking, some to earn themselves pocket money, others had to do it to supplement the family income. I lasted one day - fun it most certainly was not!

I realise, now, that it wouldn't have been fun! As a girl, it seemed a really happy communal time. I also envied everyone being picked up by tractor and trailer - a health and safety nightmare in retrospect.

Please, please remember the birds and animals who depend on rose hips and all the other ‘foraged’ foods from the country.

I know that Gransnetters wouldn’t take too much but so many foragers take everything,


The hips are eaten by fruit-eating birds such as Thrushes, Blackbirds, Redwing, Feildfare and Waxwings, which then disperse the seeds in their droppings. Some birds, particularly Finches, also eat the seeds.11 Nov 2009
community.rspb.org.uk › ros...
Rose Hips - Wildlife questions - The RSPB Community

It sounds like slave labour to me, the farmer was onto a good thing choosing school kids and paying them peanuts

Rose hips contain lycopene, beta carotene and vitamin C. Very good for you! (Perhaps the sugar used to make the jams and syrups is not so good...)

Rosehips were of great value when I was young. Used to fill the empty National Dried Milk tins (baby milk), take them to school or the Co-op for collection to be made into a syrup for vitamins.

Camilla7, thank you for the post and sharing the recipe. It prompted me to go out picking rosehips yesterday afternoon and apples this morning (in the glorious sunshine), and the pan of fruit is simmering gently on the hob now. Smells lovely already. ☺

I too was encouraged to pick rosehips when I was at primary school. My Mum made jelly with them too. Delish ious

Also great with a small camerbert cheese. About £1 from Lidl. Pop it in microwave for 30/40 seconds and it makes a delightful tea time treat when served with rose hip syrup. Also great with redcurrants or, my favourite, onions.
Slice onions and soften in microwave before frying them( in pan or air fryer. It cuts frying time )

Lesley60

It sounds like slave labour to me, the farmer was onto a good thing choosing school kids and paying them peanuts

The rosehips were picked for the Ministry of Food.

Regarding the potatoes - I think it was probably the last post-WW2 fling of the 'working together' that characterised a lot of rural England. Certainly before my time, my family would turn out to help in the fields and be glad of the money. Farmers in our neck of the woods were not very wealthy.

Not exactly the same, but when I was a child, soft fruit was picked by the 'mums'. In season, a bus came round to the school gates and picked them up, then dropped them off to pick up the kids at the end of the school day. Some of them needed the money badly, but for many of the families that was their 'holiday money'. Stopped when those pesky women decided to get proper well paid jobs!

I would love to forage but must admit a little scared of picking the wrong things!