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  My favorite is R. rugosa, the wrinkled rose. I love its highly textural green leaves and its intoxicating pink flowers.

  The white Rugosa rose brightens the edible landscape with lovely flowers in spring and summer, before the hips turn red in fall. Photo courtesy of David Austin Roses.

  Rose Hip Sauce for Meat

  2 cups rose hips, seeded

  1-1/2 cups water

  1/2 cup sugar

  3 tablespoons cornstarch

  1/2 cup white wine (optional)

  Simmer the rose hips in the water for 1 hour. Add the sugar and cook for 5 more minutes. Add the cornstarch and continue simmering for 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Add the white wine just before serving, if desired.

  Reprinted from A Taste of Heritage: Crow Indian Recipes and Herbal Medicines by Alma Hogan Snell by permission of the University of Nebraska Press. ©2006 by Alma Hogan Snell.

  Rose Hip Jelly

  This is best made after the first frost. Pick about a pound of rose hips; cut off the blossom. Barely cover with water and simmer until fruit is very soft. Use a jelly bag to extract juice. Add a box of pectin, bring to a high boil quickly, add an amount of sugar equal to amount of juice. Bring to a high boil and hold for one minute. Stir and skim. Pour into sterilized jars and cover with paraffin.

  (Author’s note: Jars may be sealed in a conventional boiling water bath instead of with paraffin.)

  Reprinted with permission from Southern Appalachian Mountain Cookin’: Authentic Ol’ Mountain Family Recipes, ©2004, APS, Inc.

  Rose hips, with their concentrated vitamin C, stay on the bush late in the fall. Preserved as jelly, they can supply important nutrients during winter. Photo courtesy of David Austin Roses.

  Landscape highlights

  Enhances spring pollination throughout garden

  Summer blooms and fragrance

  Fall leaf color

  Winter color from ripe “hips”

  Edible highlights

  Hips cooked as nutritious syrup or jelly

  Cooked in sauces

  For herbal tea

  Where it grows best

  In almost any climate or region, depending on species; some to -40 degrees F, Zone 3

  In full sun

  In porous, slightly acidic soil

  How to grow it

  Check with local Agricultural Extension service (see Resources section) for best wild varieties and for any warnings about banned invasive roses

  Keep plants weed free, with good air circulation through canes

  In well-prepared beds, with ample fertilizer and water

  Massed as hedges or singly as specimens

  Near garden statuary, rail fence, or boulders for visual contrast

  Spectacular against variegated yucca

  What kind to grow?

  First, before choosing any rose for the edible landscape, find out about invasive rose alerts in your area. Roses are beneficial, but not all roses are good neighbors.

  For plentiful rose hips try Rosa rugosa, the spreading “wrinkled” rose, or R. canina, the dog rose; some gardeners like the Moyes rose, R. moyesii, or the cinnamon rose, R. majalis. These plants require little care and can thrive in various conditions.

  Fussier tea roses, while lovely and often fragrant, involve more care: regular pruning and fertilizing, and frequent watering while blooming. They are more susceptible to diseases and insect pests, which require treatment.

  Some suppliers specialize in heirloom roses, which combine beauty and vigor, and they will ship top-quality specimens.

  Sunflower

  Put aside, just now, images of gigantic seed-studded disks of sunflowers towering overhead.

  Ponder instead the more delicate charms of wild sunflowers, of which there are as many as one hundred species in the genus Helianthus.

  Most of them are tall, most bloom in shades of yellow, and all add late-summer interest to the edible landscape while attracting birds and insects until frost comes. Beyond that, diversity reigns.

  Many of the wild sunflowers are perennial, returning year after year in greater profusion, while others grow as annuals from seed. Native species have adapted to every part of the country and can flourish in shade, swampy ground, or dry soil.

  With their open structure of long stems and large or lacy leaves adorned with wide-eyed blooms, sunflowers coexist well in mixtures with other flowering plants lower down. In that way, sunflowers add texture to the garden without actually taking up much space.

  Early North American inhabitants learned that sunflowers meant food. The seeds provided protein-rich flour and meal, and oil for cooking. The petals were sometimes cooked too, and there was one especially delicious sunflower food: Jerusalem artichoke, H. tuberosus.

  There’s still good reason to enjoy the tuberous roots of that plant as they are harvested during fall, winter, and springtime. The roots are about the size of fingerling potatoes and can be eaten raw, boiled, roasted, or fried.

  High in potassium and iron, Jerusalem artichokes taste fantastic and are easy to prepare. And once they get established in the garden they will produce great quantities of tubers—virtually free food.

  To eat raw as a snack, simply brush and rinse all the dirt off, rather than peeling, since nutrients are concentrated near the skin. Slice the roots thin; the taste is like a sweet, fine-grained water chestnut.

  Pan fried in a little oil, chunks of Jerusalem artichoke puff up and turn crispy brown—wonderful with catsup. The tubers can also be boiled and then mashed, or they can be oven roasted with olive oil and fresh herbs.

  Jerusalem artichokes are sometimes called sunchokes and sold in the grocery store. They are not related to real artichokes, but have come by the name by linguistic accident.

  The Jerusalem artichoke’s only drawback as a garden plant is its tendency to reproduce widely if not controlled. Nonetheless, the flat, spreading flower petals and distinctive rounded seed heads reaching ten feet tall make a bold statement en masse.

  In my volunteer work at the Daniel Boone Native Gardens in Boone, North Carolina, I have come to know and love several sunflower species that thrive in the Appalachian Mountains.

  There’s the giant sunflower, H. giganteus, which is not to be confused with the Mammoth Russian or Russian Giant varieties of the common sunflower, H. annuus. The giant sunflower earned its name not from giant flowers, but from its giant height, often 12 feet or more; the flowers are of modest size.

  Maximilian’s Sunflower, H. maximilianii, has handsome dark brown stems to set off its golden flowers. Like the giant sunflower, it is perennial.

  My favorite is the perennial woodland sunflower, which defies stereotype by living in damp, dark woodlands. The broad leaves produce layers of greenery in the woods, against which the brilliant mid-yellow flowers look especially lovely.

  Other sunflowers: cucumberleaf and silverleaf sunflowers, both annuals; the well-named showy sunflower; and the willowleaf sunflower, to name a few.

  Finally, to those big familiar disks of color, the hybridized sunflowers that produce lots and lots of pretty seeds that we love to eat. They are easy to grow and highly productive per square inch of garden space. Be sure to plant them, but consider protecting the almost ripe seed heads from birds and squirrels by tying muslin or lightweight orchard cloth around the heads.

  Jerusalem artichoke, a wild sunflower, has nutritious tuberous roots with a nutty flavor and which can be enjoyed raw or cooked. Photo by Paul Fenwick, Coburg, Victoria, Australia.

  Birds and bees love the hybridized sunflower just as much people do, so it’s important to protect ripening seed heads from hungry garden visitors. Photo by Nan K. Chase.

  Nan’s Salty-Roasted Sunflower Seeds

  Harvest ripe heads of Mammoth Russian or Russian Giant sunflower as they begin to dry but before birds eat the seeds. Continue air-drying the heads indoors on paper until seeds (actually the seed husks) are completely dry; then rub individual seeds from the flower disk.

/>   Rinse seeds in water to remove dust, and soak overnight in salt brine—1/2 cup salt to 4 cups boiling water. Drain.

  Bake at low temperature (180 degrees F) on cookie sheets or in baking pans, 2 to 3 hours, turning seeds every half hour to ensure even baking. Do not overcook.

  Cool and store in clean jars.

  Landscape highlights

  Summer blooms

  Perennial varieties for every zone

  Annuals grow quickly from seed

  Wildlife food source

  Edible highlights

  Raw or cooked root of Jerusalem artichoke

  Roasted seeds store well

  Where it grows best

  In spacious beds

  As companions to other bright, late-summer flowers, such as black-eyed Susan, New England aster, dahlia, goldenrod, or Turk’s-cap lily (blue, orange, yellow)

  In drought conditions and blasting heat, or in dappled shade and moist soil, depending on species

  How to grow it

  As sod busters in poor soil

  Leaving plenty of space between plants for stalk development

  As pest-free goldfinch magnets needing little care

  Where to buy sunflowers

  Seed packets for the Giant Russian or Mammoth Russian varieties, which yield large seedheads full of delicious seeds, are readily available in the spring at garden centers or by mail, as are many smaller decorative varieties.

  Tubers to start Jerusalem artichokes are available by the pound in the produce section of many grocery stores, although they may be labeled as “sunchokes.”

  As for the more unusual native sunflower species, do research in your own community to find local sources of live specimens rather than seeds if possible. Garden clubs and local nurseries can help, or you can investigate Internet sources.

  Preserving the Harvest

  Basics of freezing, canning, dehydrating, pressing, and fermenting

  It’s not enough simply to grow food in an edible landscape. As the garden matures there should be ever-larger harvests, so preserving the surplus nutrition—whether in canning jars, by dehydration, freezing, or fermentation—assures you a supply of inexpensive organic food and drink throughout the year. You know exactly what’s in the food you preserve yourself!

  Putting up food becomes a habit, and then a pleasure . . . and eventually a way of life. Nothing compares to your own delicious and varied harvest, lovingly prepared and preserved.

  Through most of human history there was no such thing as a supermarket, nowhere to get fresh fruit in the middle of winter. Mostly, people were tied to the land and had to “put up,” “put by,” or otherwise preserve their seasonal harvest for the lean months.

  From ancient times farmers have used the sun to dry food or used simple chemical action to turn various crops into wine (and harder stuff). Even before electricity and domestic refrigeration, homemakers prepared pickles, jams, jellies, and other delicious foods, and preserved them in crocks or jars; salt, sugar, vinegar, and spices can all act as preservatives. And since the advent of the freezer, freezing foods has been a favorite way to preserve extra produce harvested at its peak.

  We may have lost some of those skills through lack of use, but fortunately they’re not difficult to relearn.

  Each method has advantages, and some have disadvantages. Each has its adherents. For me, nothing beats canning; a cupboard filled with row upon row of glass jars in sparkling summer color is tremendously satisfying when the snow flies, and canned delicacies make wonderful gifts. But canning is an energy hog, and it’s hot, laborious work.

  Many cooks favor freezing for its convenience, but I have never adopted what one cookbook calls “good freezer habits.” And in the event of a power outage, it’s possible to lose a whole season’s work. That doesn’t happen with canning, dehydrating, or fermenting.

  There’s no reason to restrict yourself to only one method. In fact, many of the foods in this book lend themselves to all four ways of preserving food. The blueberry, for instance, makes tasty jam. Blueberries also freeze well, produce flavorful wine, and can even be dehydrated—carefully—to make little blueberry “raisins” for snacking or baking.

  If you’ve never tried these methods, today is a good time to start learning. For detailed information on canning, dehydrating, or freezing foods, visit the website of the National Center for Home Food Preservation, www.uga.edu/nchfp/. For winemaking, consult any of the new or used books available on the topic.

  And don’t forget to use the resources of the United States Department of Agriculture’s Cooperative Extension Service where you live. You may find “loaner” equipment and the services of a trained agent free of charge, or low-cost classes and workshops. When I first moved to the countryside thirty years ago, a home extension agent came to my house and guided me through the canning process step by step. Visit www.csrees.usda.gov for a locator and further information.

  Photo by Jamie Goodman.

  The diminutive crabapple packs a big, flavorful punch in the form of juice and jelly. The rosy fruits ripen in late summer and early autumn. Photo by www.rebeccadangelophotography.com.

  Freezing

  Freezing is a quick, easy way to preserve fresh foods, and it has the advantage of being a good way to save small batches as fruit, nuts, berries, and herbs come ripe. Nutritional values and flavors remain intact for some time, generally a year.

  On the other hand, frozen foods stay in a dark, out-of-the-way place, so it’s only too easy to forget about quantities of produce before the quality deteriorates. Effective freezing requires some kind of record-keeping or stacking system to assure that you use what you’ve put away in a timely way.

  For best results, don’t skimp on storage containers—buy only top-quality plastic bags and freezer boxes.

  Fruit keeps more of its flavor when frozen in a sugar or honey syrup in containers—the “wet pack” method—or by “sugar pack,” which mixes the fruit with unheated sugar before it is put into freezer bags or boxes. Guidelines and proportions are available online from the National Center for Home Food Preservation; see the Resources section.

  Fruit and especially berries can also be frozen dry, in chunks of fruit or individually in the case of berries. These are rinsed and frozen first in a single layer on a cookie sheet, then packed into containers, making them easier to separate and use in small amounts.

  Freezing nuts is favored for storage because it greatly prolongs flavor and nutritional life over storage at room temperature. Nuts may be frozen shelled or unshelled in plastic bags. Do not roast or cook nuts before freezing. Some gardeners keep nutmeats in a moist place overnight before freezing them, in order to reduce brittleness. Frozen nuts thaw quickly.

  There are various ways to freeze herbs, and some herbs appear better than others after freezing even if the nutritional value is unaffected. In general, wash and pat dry herbs, and either freeze them in storage bags or freeze them first in a layer on a cookie sheet and then pack into bags. Herbs may also be mixed into a butter or olive-oil paste and frozen into ice cube trays, or they may be frozen in water in ice cube trays.

  Many cooks use a vacuum sealer in conjunction with freezing (and dehydrating). Removing air from the storage wrapping slows deterioration, increases shelf life, and reduces freezer burn. A good quality counter-top vacuum sealer with supply of reusable zipper top storage bags will be less than $100, a worthy investment in food freshness. Vacuum sealing takes just minutes.

  Shelled pecans freeze well, or they can be cleaned and stored in airtight containers. Photo courtesy of the Georgia Pecan Commission.

  Dehydrating

  An electric dehydrator is simply a modern way to dry food. In humid climates a dehydrator is a must, while in desert air it may not be necessary at all. Some gardeners find that solar dehydrators work well.

  Dehydrated foods keep most of their nutrient content, and they don’t require added sugar to process, as in canning or freezing. In fact, dehydrating concentr
ates the natural sugars; that’s why fruit leather made from fresh peaches, plums, or other orchard fruit is delicious for healthy snacking. A special tray is used inside a dehydrator to make leathers. The dehydration process removes about 80 percent of moisture content from fruit and reduces the weight.

  Dried foods keep well in jars or sealed canisters, once out of the dehydrator, and when vacuum packed will keep a very long time without deterioration—perfect for camping or traveling.

  The dehydrator is cheap—often less than $50 for a good quality American-made product—and so safe and easy to use that young children can help out (not like canning).

  Just about any homegrown food can be dehydrated, including fruit, nuts, and herbs, in addition to meat and vegetables. Because various kinds of foods take on different characteristics in drying, be sure to follow any manufacturer’s instructions for food preparation and drying times (these vary from a few hours to a day or so, depending on temperature and quantity). Blueberries, for example, must be quick-blanched with a teakettle of boiling water to break down the natural wax coating that slows dehydration. Then they’re a snap.

  In arid climates, dehydration relies on clean, stacked screen racks that allow plenty of air circulation. Keep bugs and animals off the food by covering racks with lightweight agricultural cloth, muslin, or cheesecloth. Drying time can be several days, even with an outdoor temperature near 100 degrees F and very low humidity. In the rest of the country, solar dehydrators are popular as a do-it-yourself project. They magnify and concentrate the sun’s power through a closed box containing racks.