I've been on a bit of a mission this year to find ways to use all the edible things that grow in our garden.
The goal isn't to consume everything like some kind of locust, it's to work out what we've got and how it could be used if we needed to. In the meantime, it's a case of finding a few nice things but leaving enough to share with the wildlife.
But I've come to realise how much potential food is wasted in England. Whether it's ornamental plants that have edible flowers or fruit, herbs that naturally grow like weeds, or people with fruit or nut trees who treat the fallen fruit as a nuisance on their immaculate lawns.
Below is a photo of the rose bush in our front garden. It's the last survivor of five that were there when we bought the house. What is different about it is that some of it has reverted back to being a wild rose.
I think it's a dog rose, but I could be wrong. Lots of people tell me to cut out the wild rose parts to leave just the ornamental rose, but I really like the blend of big aromatic rich pink cultivated roses, and small fragrant white flowers of the wild rose.
With the flowers finished for the year, the wild rose has produced huge numbers of rose hips - the seed pods. They are a bright ruby red, gradually darkening as they ripen.
The hips look enticing, and I know the birds like them, but never having made rose hip tea before I thought I'd give it a go.
I picked a few hips, trying to focus on the ripest ones - apparently it doesn't matter if they've started to go all wrinkly and soft, they are actually the best ones. Not knowing how many to pick, I thought a good guide would be "a handful".
After washing them, I cut the bristly hairs off the end with a sharp knife.
This is what I ended up with; a bunch of prepared hips on the left, and all the assorted debris on the right. Good for the compost heap !
I heated some water up in the kettle; hot but not to not to boiling point, because that would destroy most of the vitamin C. Then I just plonked the rose hips in a mug, added water, gave it a stir and left it to steep.
After about eight or ten minutes, I strained it into another mug. Fir this I used kitchen roll folded into four layers. This was to stop any remaining bristles getting into the tea. Also, the seeds inside the hip are protected by a mass of stiff hairs. In both cases, if you accidentally eat or drink them, they can be a serious irritant.
And here's the finished product ! Tea on the right, used hips on the left. In retrospect I could probably have let them steep for another five minutes or so to get a stronger tea.
Despite reading articles saying the tea could have a bitter after taste, I didn't find this. It was like a slightly sweet floral tea with hints of chamomile. I think what made the difference was using really fresh hips, and picking the ripest ones. If I make subsequent cups that do have a bitter taste, I'll just add a little honey.
From what I've read, rose hip tea has a good amount of vitamin C, antioxidants and all kinds of other beneficial ingredients. It's supposed to be good for inflammation, stress and digestive problems, and an all round immune-booster. Taken for the long term, it can supposedly help with heart health and arthritis.
All photos by me