Free-Range Chickens and a Timber Press Give-away

Timber Press kindly sent me a copy of Jessie Blooms' Free-Range Chicken Gardens to check out. I was pleased to read it, even though I don't have chickens of my own. I do however have clients that are interested in incorporating chickens into their home gardens. I prefer not see the chickens confined to a small pen, but when they've have been allowed to wander the gardens we've often had a hard time balancing beautiful plantings with the curiosities (and appetites) of the chickens.

So Jessie's book was naturally of interest to me and I've been blown away by the amount of information in it. I can honestly refer to it as the Chicken Bible for Gardeners. With everything from coop design, dietary needs, to chicken personality explained, this book seems to leave nothing out.

The photos are inspirational too, with examples of chickens and gardens growing beautifully together.

And get on over to Timber Press before February 17th and sign up for the great give-away package they have going. Included is a copy of Free-Range Chicken Gardens, a $50 gift certificate for feed or supplies at McMurray Hatchery, a coop plan from The Garden Coop, and 1lb. of chicken forage and seed from Peaceful Valley Farm.

Here are some ladies I met at a friend's house, happily foraging in the nasturtiums:

These next chickens lived in part of a client's garden and as we started construction on a new section of the garden, they were very pleased with the giant "bathtub" we had created for their personal dirt baths.

If you can appreciate those amusing chicken antics and are thinking they would make a good addition to your home garden, I would highly recommend Free-Range Chicken Gardens by Jessie Bloom.