Hedgerow Harvest

Better is a dinner of herbs where love is. than a stalled ox and hatred herewith.
~Proverbs 15:17~


Hello dear friends!  The other day we set out on a little trek to gather wild rose hips for making rose hip syrup.   It was such a beautiful day,

working in the warmth of the sun with the cool breeze of the lake.  While we were there,  we also found wild grapes, that in the past before our own vines were productive, we would use them to make the loveliest wild grape jelly.  There were also plenty of elderberries and apple trees.  If we hadn't our own trees, we could have taken a bushel home for applesauce.  The old country lanes are lined with with old abandoned apple trees.  While they are not the most beautiful, the fruit from these heirloom trees often have much better flavor than the commercially grown varieties.  Every area has national forests and public parks that are free for the picking.  See!  God does provide!  You just have to keep your eyes open

Rose hips are very high in vitamin C.  Their flavor is very tart and slightly citrusy, and you don't have to worry about them tasting like perfume.  We make a syrup that you can take when feeling a cold coming on, but it isn't strictly medicinal.  It's very good on cornbread for something different for breakfast and on pancakes also.  Here's how to make it:

Rose Hip Syrup

Wash a quart of rosehips.  Place in a plastic storage bag and smash with a hammer.  Put the smashed rosehips in a pot with  1/2 - 1 cup of water.  Boil until the flesh softens.  Strain the mash through a jelly bag, (this takes some muscle).  You'll end up with about 2 cups of juice.  Put juice, 1/2 C, honey, 1 C. sugar, 1 tsp, cinnamon, 1/4 tsp. cloves, and 1/4 tsp ginger into a heavy saucepan and boil to the desired thickness  (takes about 20 minutes).  Pour into sterilized  1/2  pint jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace.  Place sterilized lids on top and process for 15 minutes in a boiling water bath.

Another "free" food is mushrooms.  Ran and I attended a lecture on harvesting wild mushrooms, but after listening to all the cautions, we  decided that except for morels, we'd buy them from the store.  But here's the words of wisdom, we gleaned.  Always identify the mushrooms from the at least three different reference books .  Identify by description only; spore print, shape of cap, color, gills and stem.  Once you've identified the mushroom by that criteria, then only look at the picture to identify them.

It was amazing that after we attended that lecture, how many different mushrooms we noticed.  It really is just a matter of being observant.  But edibles aren't the only thing that we gleaned.

Little dogwood pods and chestnuts, make the prettiest Autumn decorations.  I thought they went quite nicely with a dried leaf I found outside my door.

I've decided that each post. I'd leave you with a recipe that uses simple ingredients that can be found in even the most meager pantries.  This week  it's molasses crinkles.  My son requested them for the little seasonal package I send his family.  And they are the perfect thing for Autumn.  There's something so old-fashioned and homey about things made from molasses.  Maybe it's because it harkens back to the early days of our country.  Did you know that you can make your own brown sugar  by combining 1 cup of white sugar with 1 tablespoon of molasses?

Molasses Crinkles

3/4 C. shortening
1 egg
1 C. brown sugar
1/4 C. molasses
2 1/4 C. flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cloves
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ginger
granulated sugar for rolling the dough in (about 2 tablespoons)

Beat together shortening, sugar egg and molasses.
Blend in all dry ingredients.
Roll dough into 1 1/2 inch balls.  Dip tops in sugar.  Place sugar side up on ungreased cookie sheets
Bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes.