Thanks for the mulberry encouragement! Much appreciated! I can't wait to
have mulberries.
We have lots of rosa rugosas here, white, pink, and so double pinks, with
thick juicy flesh and a central core that is just tons of seeds. We are on
the coast of Maine so these are the naturalized roses that grow in rocks and
sand all along the rocky ledge seashore ( they love seaweed), and the ones I
have in my garden are growing in a thin clay on top of shale rock. They are
so tough. Nothing bothers them. I have other roses, which all need way too
much pampering (and I am tired of pampering them) but the rosa rugosas
aren't even much bothered by Japanese beetles, they don't get any kind of
mold or funk. Some years they get wormy though, so maybe hanging tanglefoot
balls, as with apples, is a good idea for cultivating rosehips?
Processing is the problem. Someone needs to come up with a tool to remove
the seeds and save the outer pulp/fruit, but I just remove the hairy part
with my fingers, pull apart and simmer the whole (seeds and all) very very
slowly, on very low heat, and very gently stir to separate the seeds, which
together with any worms float, and skim them off, and/or strain. It makes
an amazing tea or syrup or cider, depending on how much water/hips you use.