Rose hips are in abundance in our hedgerows this year and they’re ripe for picking as they turn from orange to red, just after the first frost.

You’ll find our native variety in most hedgerows in and around Sidmouth and there are plenty tangled with trees and brambles in the Byes wildflower meadow adjacent to the community orchard.

Rosa canina or the dog rose, is a climbing perennial shrub with prominent hooked thorns that help it scramble up through surrounding shrubs.

The bright hips comprise an edible fleshy casing surrounding the seed within.

Coating the seeds are very fine irritating hairs which used to be used as itching powder.

Be warned!

Rose hips are a rich source of vitamin C (ascorbic acid), essential for connective tissue health and immune function, and many will be familiar with the national campaign to collect rose hips during WWII when blockades prevented food importation.

The abundance of vitamin C as well as the hips' anti-inflammatory and immune stimulating properties mean that rose hip medicine has been used to treat colds and flu for aeons.

Many people make rose hip jelly or syrup to capture its vitamin C content, but I prefer to macerate them in vinegar because the vinegar extracts and preserves vitamin C particularly well.

Vinegar also breaks up sticky phlegm that often comes with a cold so a rose hip vinegar is a well-rounded, useful remedy.

The hips are also rich in bioflavonoid constituents such as quercitin, hesperidin and rutin which help with absorption of vitamin C and have protective anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory effects of their own.

Clinical research demonstrates pain reduction in osteoarthritis sufferers after taking a rose hip and seed powder for 3 months.

It’s likely that fruit acids (malic, citric and ascorbic) also benefit arthritic conditions due to their gentle cleansing action on the liver and kidneys; this supports the removal of metabolic wastes from the joints, the build-up of which are associated with arthritis.

I make a rose hip vinegar every year and it’s a lovely thing to keep in the store cupboard.

You can take one or two teaspoons in a little warm water every morning for general good health.

If coming down with a cold, combine one teaspoon with an equal amount of honey and a little warm water, taking up to four times daily.

This rich and fruity vinegar is also wonderful to make salad dressing with.

To make rose hip vinegar, place firm, freshly picked and washed rose hips in a glass container and cover with unpasteurised vinegar (I prefer cider vinegar). Leave to macerate for four weeks then strain through a muslin or coffee filter, ensuring that any fine hairs are filtered out, and store in a dark place.

You can use hips from other rose species such as Rosa rugosa in the same way as dog rose.

To find out more about a herbal approach to attaining good health, visit www.candadiacono.com.

If you have any medical concerns please consult with a medical professional, and please be 100% sure of your plant identification if ingesting it or putting it on the skin.

Canda Diacono is a qualified Medical Herbalist, registered with the National Institute of Medical Herbalists.