Karen England's EdgehillHerbFarm Blog

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HERB OF THE YEAR: Parsley 2021 – New Book In Stock Now!

By Karen England, The Edgehill Herb Farmer.

I created a delicious fresh parsley Martini and herbed olives for my contribution to the 2021 Herb of the Year™️ Parsley book. Book on sale now!

I am a member-at-large of the International Herb Association, the group that picks the Herb of the Year™️ each year, and I’m a frequent contributor to the Herb of the Year™️ books published by the IHA.

For 15 years I had a wonderful female cat named Parsley who loved to lay about in bowls . . .

Circa 2001, my mother and father came over to our house and we were all sitting around the table in my kitchen yakking when my mom took this photo of Parsley Kitty joining us – – – in a bowl.

Many years later, circa 2013, same kitchen (remodeled), same cat, different bowl, my mom took this photo of us as we sat around the kitchen table yakking with a bowl of Parsley (Kitty)! 😺

Last year while working on the Herb of the Year™️ recipes for the 2021 Parsley HOY book, I realized that I weighed my pounds (!) (yes, you read that correctly, pounds!) of parsley needed for the Creamed Parsley recipe (that is one of the other recipes along with the Parsley Martini) in my chapter of the newly released Parsley book in the same bowl (washed, of course!) in which my cat Parsley loved to lounge.

Same bowl, two different varieties of Parsley!

Click here to purchase your copy of Parsley!

Just for Edgehill Herb Farm blog readers who wish to purchase the latest Herb of the Year™️ book or any of the HOY books in stock in the EHF store, here’s a money saving promo code to use at checkout to save 10% off your purchase(s). Copy and Paste or Type in Edgehill03 code!

Coupon Code: Edgehill03
Expiration Date: 04/10/2021

Click here to purchase any of these books for your personal collection.

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Happy 6th Annual 25th!

My husband’s ashes are spread on family (his sister’s) property in Australia. Until such time as I can visit him “downunda” again, I use this “D loves K 21” written in a concrete path here at my home as a memorial to him.

By Karen England, the Edgehill Herb Farmer.

This is where, in Australia, we laid my husband to rest. He rests in peace but I’m a world away …

On this day 31 years ago, September 2, David and I got married. We celebrated 25 years of marriage before he passed away 6 years ago. We were always a bit unconventional;

In-N-Out Burger from Los Angeles catered our Encinitas wedding reception in 1989, unheard of at the time. For our 7th wedding anniversary I got Felco pruners and he got a new carburetor in his truck. Probably not every(any)one’s idea of romantic but I still use those Felco pruners everyday, they are my most treasured possession, hopelessly romantic to me. So, it was not all that odd (to us), when 10 years ago we poured concrete paths to celebrate our 21st anniversary and I memorialized it in the wet cement.

When I wrote in the wet cement, I had the wording face the house, not going in one direction of the path itself. I wanted to be able to read it from the windows of where we lived. This positioning makes it awkward now that plants are all along the path, but it made sense 10 years ago.

“I used to love September, but now it just rhymes with remember.” – Dominic Riccitello

September is incredibly difficult for me, three weeks after our 25th wedding anniversary in 2014 my husband passed away from brain cancer on September 24th. I am still reeling. That’s how life works.

“As my memory rest / But never forgets what I lost / Wake me up when September ends.” – Michael Pritchard

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10 Years & a Lifetime Ago

By Karen England, the Edgehill Herb Farmer.

Power(ful) Memories

In 2009 my hubby, a SDGE Power Lineman/Troubleshooter, was working on the power pole by our house while I was inside working in our kitchen. It was the first time he was working on a pole by me so I took his photo from our yard and then, he took my picture from atop the pole. Not everyone has this kind of nostalgia about the power pole by their home. But I do. There’s more . . . See that street light on the power pole? It recently needed a new light bulb and a SDGE Troubleman friend of David’s got the street light working again and sent me a photo from atop the pole.

I couldn’t figure out how to included this story in my 30th wedding anniversary Instagram series in 2019 and, since several folks were sad that the series ended, I decided a bonus post or two would be in order. This is one such bonus. Let’s call it Day 31 #england30in30 anniversary series . . .

I miss my husband, who passed away in 2014, terribly. The power pole that stands over my house and garden is now a sentinel reminding me of him and our life together here at Edgehill Herb Farm. And, I wanted you to know.

DAILY FLOWER: House Camellia no. 2 – Blooming today, 01-22-21

By Karen England, the Edgehill Herb Farmer.

Two camellia bushes, planted side by side, came with the house when we bought it in October of 2000. They are planted so close together that they appear as one large shrub until they are blooming when it becomes clear that they are different varieties. Since I don’t know which varieties they are, I call them House Camellias no.s 1 & 2.

Four Whiskey Inspired Poems

Poems and Images by Karen England, the Edgehill Herb Farmer.

I have entered four poems in Flaviar’s poetry contest (Flaviar is a Spirits Club). They are reading the winning poems live on Instagram on February 4th, 2pm pst. If you tune in, you 🤞🤞 might hear one of my submissions. In case I don’t win, here are my entries – you’ll have to read them to yourself: