I always love free. Not only is free food great, but getting it is fun.
My husband and I took a hike up to the higher country this last weekend and picked rosehips and pine nuts.
The pine nuts went into the freezer and will be a nice protien snack throughout the winter.
I have posted a picture of my rose hips. I think we picked enough to make tea all winter long.
If you do not know about rose hips, you will be surprised to know that they are extremely high in vitamin C. A cup of tea made with rose hips is a comforting and pleasant hot drink when the snow is piled high....a common occurance in the rocky mountains.
After picking the hips I put them on trays and they are now drying. When completely dry I will put them in jars and store them in our root cellar. I will know that they are dry any ready to store when the bright red color turns almost brown, and the hips are a little wrinkly.
I have grown some rugosa roses on our place, they also make rose hips. Wild roses and rugosa roses are low bushes that have 5 petal hot pink roses all summer long. They have a mild rose scent and are lovely(watch the thorns). When the flower dies you do not "dead head" the bush.
The blooms die and produce a little green round or oval fruit. Leave the fruit on the bush and let it ripen. The rose hips turn a bright red. After the first heavy frost, pick the fruit and dry it.
It is amazing how much "free food" is available this time of year if you just look for it. When my children were small I always grew a garden, however whenever someone had more than they wanted I always put my children in the car and drove to the "free food" site.
Giving each child a bag or bucket, I would assign them each a row or area and we would all pick green beans, blackberries, corn, lettuce, tomatoes, or anything else edible that no one wanted.
I would rush home with armloads and boxes of veggies or apples, strawberries and other goodies !
Back home would be a monumental canning and freezing marathon which might last 2 days.
My children are all grown now so when I can, I do it by myself, and now I just smile at the memories ! I remember myself peeking out of my kitchen window, watching the children shucking bushels of corn....until they got into a corn flinging fight, tossing tomatoes at each other, or spitting seeds. Boredom among siblings does strange things to children sometimes.
Anyway it has become a habit of mine, to look for free food and to can or freeze it whenever I can.
