Mushrooms Make Sense is an informative and fun website run by the Mushroom Bureau.

The Mushroom Bureau funding members are made up from mushroom growers and associated trades in the UK, Ireland and Continental Europe.  They are responsible for the general publicity of all fresh cultivated mushrooms sold in Britain.

Mushrooms Make Sense home page

This easy to navigate and fun website offers everything you need to know about cultivated mushrooms combined with some fantastic recipe videos from Loveable chef Gino D’Acampo.

If you are looking for great mushroom recipes, then the Mushrooms Make Sense site is perfect.  There are clear instructions and mouthwatering images for a whole variety of mushroom dishes, including soups, risottos and much more.

Latest news from the world of mushrooms, includes scientific studies into nutritional aspects of mushrooms and their potential role in weight loss diets as well as their ability to help fight against cancers.

Learn about different members of the cultivated mushroom family. From the well know white mushrooms through to brown, portabello, oyster, shitake, enoki and buna-shimeji.

Mushrooms Make Sense has an informative section on the health benefits of mushrooms which are full of healthy vitamins and minerals, including a high content of vitamin C and fibre.

The website could benefit from a search function and would definitely keep people’s interest if there were a newsletter or e.mail sign up or an RSS feed.

More information

Visit The Mushrooms Make Sense website.

Rose hips are the seed pods of roses, both wild and cultivated.  Once the flower petals fall, the hard green hips will swell until they start to ripen in October and November, turning a bright red or orange, depending on the variety.

The word “Hip” originally comes from the Middle English “hepe”.  Among rose growers and specialists, the term is “Hep”.

There are many localised variations, including some weird and wonderful names such as “pixie pears”, “pig’s noses”, “hedge-pedgies” and “nippernails”,

A rich source of vitamin C, usually made into a syrup or jelly and have a documented use since medieval times and Rose Hip syrup became a very important source of vitamin C during the Second World War when oranges were not available. The tons of hips required were collected by armies of volunteers every year.

After the war, rose hip syrup lost some of it’s popularity but recent research has shown that they may play a very important part in the treatment of joint problems such as arthritis and can now be widely found as supplements in tablet and capsule form.

Many varieties of rose hip can be edible but connoisseurs claim Rugosa hips have the best flavour and are the least difficult to prepare.

Preparation of the Hips is quite fiddly and it is important to wear gloves. Each one must be top and tailed,  cut in half and the seeds and irritating hairs removed. Once prepared, they can then stewed, dried or pounded into a paste which freezes well.

Rose Hip recipes;
The Cottage Smallholder - try Katy’s Rose Hip Syrup recipe.
Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall – Rose hip syrup recipe in the Guardian.
Rose Hip Syrup Recipe and uses from Makeitandmendit.com

In the Press;
Rose hips and athirits article from the NHS
Rose hip “Remedy for Arthritis” report by the BBC