Jessi Bloom

Almost everything in this book is so surface level as to be utterly useless. The garden spaces and daily practices sections don't get any more involved than "reflect on what you like." It was so frustrating to read line after line saying things to the effect of "Often X thing is used" without any details about how it's used or how the reader can practically incorporate X thing.

The summary emphasizes all garden space sizes, but the text focuses solely on large yards.

The medicinal herbs show more section comprises a half star of worth in my rating, but again it's a breezy overview that does not include thorough enough information to safely use herbs. For example, the mugwort description includes an almost afterthought note about not using it while pregnant...yeah, because it can cause miscarriage, which is not mentioned at all but is pretty important.

The section where I tapped out and just skimmed everything after was the smudging one. First the section tries to equate the usage of flames and smoke in a clumsy segue. Then there's the complete appropriation and downplay of the importance of smudging to Native Americans (the book calls it a SIMPLE RITUAL?!?!?! for everyone to use). There's the citation of a flawed, unsupported study to promote smoke cleansing indoors after giving a (very valid) warning about indoor smoke just lines ago...which is an irrelevant point anyway because this is a book about outdoor garden spaces. There's the mention of white sage without any context of its rampant unsustainable harvesting, when the author repeatedly asserts she's such a conscientious steward of nature.

There are much better, more reliably informed books out there on all these topics. Give this one a pass. show less

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 show more 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. show less

A great book for beginners wanting to garden with free range chickens. This book is a treasure trove of information.
It gives suggestions on how to set up a garden in zones. Allowing the chickens access to each zone at different times to protect your garden. Fencing information is broken down on a chart by materials giving pros and cons.
Coop necessities, predators as well as how to fight them. Precautions to take. It also includes other farm animal information not just domesticated pets for show more acclimation to chickens or perhaps avoiding. Do I really want pigs on the farm if they'll eat chickens? Something to consider.
I also liked that the author does consider chickens both as possible pets only and for farmers that will raise chickens for both eggs and the stew pot. (especially if they cannot be broken from egg eating.)
The end of the book has resources of books, websites, magazines, mail-order chicks and supplies as well as mail-order for seeds and plants.
The book has a lot of visual candy of gardens and chickens. show less

This is a workbook to accompany the Timber Press book on creating sacred spaces in a garden or outdoor setting. The book features lots of space to write ideas for each of the different elements to incorporate into an outdoor sanctuary garden space. Included are sections in which to record suggested plants, ideas for aromatherapy, garden inclusions such as objects, statuary, or furniture, meditation spaces, plants for different seasons, and elements that express thoughts or emotions. I really show more liked all the space to write ideas, as well as the accompanying colored photos to encourage thinking and creativity. The book is a beautiful item in itself, besides being an attractive and useful journal. The journal is religiously neutral, although spirituality is considered, allowing the user to examine and express his or her own spiritual beliefs. This book is recommended for anyone who desires to create a true space of sanctuary, meditation, and contemplation, as well as a garden of beauty. I received this book from Timber Press in exchange for an honest review. The opinions expressed here are entirely my own. show less