First review:
Jessi Bloom is a strong advocate for chickens in almost any garden setting, and in “Free-Range Chicken Gardens,” she provides detailed information on compatible plantings–including those that provide food for chickens–and structures that meet the multiple needs of fowl and flora. There is a lot of well-organized information in these pages on all other related topics, too, making this of value to chicken keepers at any experience level. But you can also just enjoy the profiles of gardeners and their chickens (many are local) or the many superb photographs (by Kate Baldwin) of contented hens in their gardens, proving their value as a natural compliment.
Excerpted from the Winter 2013 Arboretum Bulletin.
Second review:
How does allowing chickens to range freely work with a garden? Very well – it just takes a lot of compromise and ingenuity. A book that deeply addresses these issues is Free-Range Chicken Gardens by Jessi Bloom of Seattle.
Here are specific guidelines for the design of a chicken compatible landscape. How to protect prize plants while still giving your flock the opportunity to roam and find a more natural diet. As a gardener, you are encouraged to try plant selections that will nourish your hens, or shelter them from predators or weather. The advantages can work both ways. Some plants will screen your chicken run, or even give off fragrance to mask odors.
Bloom recognizes this doesn’t work for everyone. “If your garden must be perfect…then you might not want chickens free ranging.”
Published in Garden Notes: Northwest Horticultural Society, Fall 2018