Sign in with Facebook
Loading...
Free-Range Chicken Gardens: How to Create a Beautiful, Chicken-Friendly Yard
by
Jessi Bloom
Many gardeners fear chickens will peck away at their landscape, and chicken lovers often shy away from gardening for the same reason. But you can keep chickens and have a beautiful garden, too! Fresh eggs aren't the only benefit -- chickens can actually help your garden grow and thrive, even as your garden does the same for your chickens.
In this essential handbook, award-w...more
In this essential handbook, award-w...more
Paperback, 224 pages
Published
January 3rd 2012
by Timber Press (OR)
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
This book is not yet featured on Listopia.
Add this book to your favorite list »
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
323)
I only gave this book four stars because like several other reviewers, I am not an urban chicken owner. Where I live is very rural. Technically, I'm not even a chicken owner yet - just the promise of 8 or 10 older hens coming my way early this summer from a friend who has too many.
The book is great as far as some of the information it imparts about what plants NOT to expose your chickens to, however, it does seem to be for the well-to-do urban chicken owner who can afford to spend thousands prof...more
The book is great as far as some of the information it imparts about what plants NOT to expose your chickens to, however, it does seem to be for the well-to-do urban chicken owner who can afford to spend thousands prof...more
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. I...more
This book is quite extensive in the information that it gives and it is perfect for any gardener who wants to bring chickens into their garden. There are beautiful photos of gardens with chickens, many plant pictures to illustrate the points that are made in this very useful book. This book displays the symbiotic relationship between chickens and gardens, if done properly, and how the two aspects of your backyard can benefit one another.
If you know of a gardener who has been toying with the ide...more
If you know of a gardener who has been toying with the ide...more
Unique resource because it focuses on more of a suburban setting, rather than acreage or a commercial operation. If that is what you are looking for, this book is not for you. If you are looking for help in setting up a system that will feed your family and perhaps a few friends, this is a great book to get. One of the things that I really like about it is that it takes a holistic approach to raising chickens, meaning that the book looks at a chicken ecosystem as a whole. It doesn't just tell yo...more
Jessi Bloom's Free-Range Chicken Gardens: How to Create a Beautiful, Chicken-Friendly Yard, available at the end of January, is the quintessential book for chicken owners and gardeners alike. Chock full of information for the chicken novice, Bloom's book makes a compelling argument for allowing chickens to free range in your garden to create a symbiotic environment benefitting plants, chickens, and their human counterparts. With pertinent and practical information, this inspirational book will h...more
Lots of practical information on keeping hens from destroying your garden. In a nutshell, Bloom says: Train your hens to stay away from plants you want to eat, temporarily or permanently block them when necessary, be sure your yard offers lots of plant diversity (the more plants, the less likely the hens are to destroy any of them), and plant with chickens in mind.
My favorite section is the one on chicken-resistant plants, and those that may deter at least some hens. There's also info on providi...more
My favorite section is the one on chicken-resistant plants, and those that may deter at least some hens. There's also info on providi...more
Beautiful pics and writing in this book about keeping chickens in your garden. I was a bit disappointed that the author turned out to be a landscape designer that considered the word "garden" as, well..."backyard or any other area around your house". I was hoping to learn about creating a happy relationship between my chickens and snap peas. Ah well, pretty good anyway.
The pics and stories are all from rich white people with professionally landscaped backyards (that look like they cost tens of t...more
The pics and stories are all from rich white people with professionally landscaped backyards (that look like they cost tens of t...more
1 like · like · see review
view 1 comment
I liked this book so much, I bought a copy to use as a reference guide. Admittedly, I have not read any other books on how to raise chickens, but this book is so thorough & easy to understand, I may not need to.
The book details ideas on everything from coop design/materials,landscape design, protection from predators, composting, training chickens, solutions to common chicken problems, etc.
The most helpful part of the book, for me, was the "Plants with Purpose" chapter which lists the best c...more
The book details ideas on everything from coop design/materials,landscape design, protection from predators, composting, training chickens, solutions to common chicken problems, etc.
The most helpful part of the book, for me, was the "Plants with Purpose" chapter which lists the best c...more
This book assumes that you do not know chicken basics but do know gardening basics, because this was largely true in my case I got a lot out of the book. The photos are big and glossy and provide lots of inspiration. The text is light and conversational but also succinct and informative. There are many suggestions about plants that work well with chickens. Plants that chickens like to eat, plants that protect chickens by providing cover, and plants you can use to protect other plants from the sc...more
I count myself among those ladies of a certain age who fantasize about opening my back door to a lush, charmingly mussy garden fertilized, grubbed, weeded, and tilled by several friendly yet slightly odd hens. So truly this book is habit-forming. The photos are a drug; I can't stop looking at them. The text is enlightening and raises many interesting points about living with chickens that I would not have considered. It was very hard to return this book to the library, and now only the thin blue...more
1 like · like · see review
An excellent book if you are planning to let your chickens out in the yard. I'll have to revisit this book after our other house sells and we can actually afford to have a fence built. Right now they are in a chicken tractor we move around every week or so. I'm looking forward to putting this book into better use down the road. Highly recommend for anyone with chickens whether they are free range or not. A lot of useful info in there.
This is my dream chicken book. I know it's a little crazy that I even have a dream chicken book, but this is it. In all the years I have been wanting to get chickens, this book describes exactly the way I envisioned raising them. Although I am still a long way from making that vision become a reality, this book helped me define that vision more clearly and creat more specific plans for the future. It was absolutely inspiring for me.
A great book for ideas about having chickens as an integral part of your backyard. Lots of ideas and specific plant reccmmendations, as well as information on coops and general chicken care. The photographs are gorgeous. It's worth reading just to look at the chickens free ranging in beautiful gardens. If you're looking to add chickens to your backyard, this is a really great resource. I'll definitely be going back into my copy as we get ready for our chicks to arrive.
This book is worth checking out if only to ooh and aah over the beautiful photos! Fortunately it's also full of helpful information about integrating backyard chickens into your urban home's landscape design to create a beautiful yard that also supports and benefits from having chickens. Anyone considering keeping chickens should read this before they start, but there is great information here that can benefit the experienced backyard poultry farmer as well. I'm excited to know better how to int...more
I received an advanced reader's copy of this book from netgalley.
This book had beautiful photography, and very informational for any urban gardener. I say urban gardener because I live out in the country, and I don't think much of this would apply to me.
I was excited to review this book, as I recently got chickens last year, and I needed to know how to handle a garden that the chickens would not eat.
Great informative book!
This book had beautiful photography, and very informational for any urban gardener. I say urban gardener because I live out in the country, and I don't think much of this would apply to me.
I was excited to review this book, as I recently got chickens last year, and I needed to know how to handle a garden that the chickens would not eat.
Great informative book!
Free Range Chicken Gardens? Not exactly. But I'll overlook the title for all the fun filled facts for chicken fans. Chicken Bingo? What a hoot. Chicken Hypnosis? That's a new one for me. Chicken tricks? I wont' be training mine to "sit" but I like knowing I could. I liked the stories from the different chicken keepers introducing each chapter and lovely pictures. I learned more about chickens and enjoyed it too-really liked!
Maybe I'm a nerd, but I really loved reading this book. There was so much useful information, tips and beautiful pictures on how to start designing your own chicken garden. All I need now is a plot of land and a couple hundred dollars! I was really excited reading and thinking about applying the tips to my own future chicken keeping dreams.
If you're thinking about having chickens, this is the book you need to read. Not only are the images beautiful, it has some great ideas for coops and is a good primer for care & feeding.
I've had laying hens in the past and it's in the plan to add them to our urban farm, but this book was a good refresher for me.
I've had laying hens in the past and it's in the plan to add them to our urban farm, but this book was a good refresher for me.
This was fun to read and has lots of great photos. Even though I have an established garden and flock, I learned things. I think we'll be implementing depth composting in our coop, and we need a garden mirror to entertain the girls.
Great book on combining chickens with gardening. I've read a lot of chicken books but none are quite like this. I would especially recommend this one to people with smaller yards. Beautiful photos of gardens, coops, and chickens.
A really nice book on free ranging your chickens. I wish there was more practical advice on protecting your vegetable garden. Also the amazing photos make this book one that my two year old daughter requests again and again.
Jun 14, 2012
Caren
added it
Fun but in no way workable for my wild 3.5 acre yard full of predators. This book is meant for fenced yards. Goal was to let them free range in my vegetable garden but not going to happen....back to guinea fowl.
This book was informative, but a little different than what I had expected. As someone with an acreage, I was looking for a little bit different scenario. I was hoping to learn how to design my very large vegetable garden so my chickens could roam amongst the herbs and lettuce. This is more for the urban farmer wanting to incorporate chickens into their backyard landscape. All the same, the author offers some practical advice such as chicken friendly plant selections and a few garden plans. I pl...more
I'm thoroughly torn about how to rate Free-Range Chicken Gardens. The photos are worthy of five stars (if not more), but the text is not my cup of tea.
The author wasn't writing for homesteaders, but for people with ornamental gardens who want to enjoy watching chickens wander through their non-edibles. So --- if you're a homesteader hoping that this book will help you mix chickens in with your tomatoes, you'll be sorely disappointed. But if you just like looking at pretty pictures, or want to m...more
The author wasn't writing for homesteaders, but for people with ornamental gardens who want to enjoy watching chickens wander through their non-edibles. So --- if you're a homesteader hoping that this book will help you mix chickens in with your tomatoes, you'll be sorely disappointed. But if you just like looking at pretty pictures, or want to m...more
I really liked it. I browsed it in the library, so it was obviously something I was in the mood for, but it hit the spot. Good text, great pictures. Also good gardening info. Got some ideas for spring...
This is a gardener's encyclopedia for raising chickens. We hope to add a coop to our yard in the next year or so, and Jessi's book will mean better planning, happy birds and happy gardeners. I'm pumped!
I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this book because I am not one to cater to my chickens. It gives very balanced ideas for how much you might want to allow your chickens range in your yard.
Sep 05, 2012
Jessica Stahle
added it
A beautiful guide to caring for my backyard flock. I was especially inspired by the coops with green roofs. Also, the extensive list of plants for chickens is invaluable.
Even though I'm not really a gardener, I appreciated the organization of the book with its pictures and diagrams on coop placement to achieve all types of goals.
I've always liked chickens, and think that letting them freely roam a garden would be a humane way to keep them. Of course I can't do it where i live, but maybe someday.
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
