Monday, January 9, 2012

Free Range Chicken Gardens by Jessi Bloom

This is one of the coolest books I have had the privilege of reviewing. I love chickens. My son and I have conversations about getting chickens as soon as we swap our apartment for a real house. We had chickens when we lived out in the country. Our chickens lived in the barn and we weren’t great with the whole cute chicken design. I picture a perfect yard – well landscaped, beautiful vegetation, dreamy water fixtures with little wooden bridges dotted with chickens and other small farm animals. It’s a dream that can easily be made reality with this one book.
Jessi Bloom has written the perfect book – part gardening, part chicken raising and all amazing. It’s an easy to understand manual that breaks down all the parts of landscaping with chickens in mind. Her book focuses more on small yards than large farms which makes it great for anyone to use. She clearly lists the uses of plants and which to absolutely avoid. I can imagine it’s not all inclusive but extensive, nonetheless.
The book includes coop designs as well as yard designs for coop placement, chicken runs and garden plots. She discusses how to avoid disease with your chickens and your plants as well as how to add those plants that might not hold up to chicken abuse.
On top of all this amazing information, Jessi dots the book with beautiful photography of chickens, plants and a variety of dream inspiring odds and ends. I cannot wait to add this book to my library and start planning my dream yard.


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