Foraging: Wild Rose Hips

A couple of weeks ago our family took a walk down the road to get some fresh air, and ran across a whole bunch of wild rose hips.

I immediately wanted to pick them all, but had nothing to put them in, so I resolved that we'd come back and get them in a few days, and went home to research how to preserve rosehips and what to use them for.

If you want to read a more in-depth description of what rosehips do for your health, go here.

Rose hips are really high in vitamin C and can be made into tea, jelly or oil to help bolster the immune system. I thought that since it's fall and the beginning of the blustery, rainy season that we're bound to get a cold here or there, so why not make some tea to help us stay healthy??

One cool gray afternoon, I gathered up the kids and Grandma (my mom) and we went rose hip picking.

We had fun! 

Some of the rose hips were low enough for the kids to pick, and we snacked on the blackberries remaining on the nearby blackberry bushes. Some of the bushes were still flowering!

Once we got about 4 or 5 cups of rose hips and there weren't really many more that we could reach, we came home and I spread them out on a cookie sheet to dry. The process takes a few weeks, so they're not dry quite yet. They look so pretty though, and I can't wait to try them in some tea!

The mornings here have been foggy and cool, and it's so beautiful!!
I love seeing these girls out the kitchen window when I'm stirring the sugar into my coffee:

I know- more cow pictures! I just can't get enough of them!!

Have you ever done any foraging?? What did you get, and what did you do with it? I'd love to hear! 

This post is shared at Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways.