Aren't they pretty? All along the traintracks and beside the barn, my wildroses bless us with flowers in the spring and summer and rosehips in the fall. Unlike the ease of the walnuts who are delivered from on high, these babies need sturdy gloves and sometimes a pruner!
I'd say they're worth it, wouldn't you?
Aside from their beauty, with a little work you can make yourself an amazing tea. My years of running the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival with a foot high styrofoam cup of rosehips tea, made this fall activity a must.
Once you've got your beauties gathered, you must bake them in the oven for a while. After they've baked, they go into a pot of boiling water. After they come to a full boil, you dump the pot through a strainer into a favorite pitcher(s)-et voila...pretty, tasty, rosehips tea!
I've always thought that the closest thing to rosehips tea outside of Cadrieu and the Jazz Fest was Celestial Seasons Red Zinger. After a scorching summer drinking lots of herbal teas, my friends and I fell in love with hibiscus tea that was being served all over the neighborhood.
What a find when looking at the Red Zinger box of ingredients, to discover that the top two ingredients are first: hibiscus, and then, rosehips!
We may not have any rosehips close by to be picking, but you can be sure that there was a lot of Red Zingering on Columbus Street this summer.
Some of the fun of being here in New Orleans for a while has been finding these bridges between home and here.
And, isn't it pretty?
Happy Sunday!
Comments