Gardening with Chickens: Plans and Plants for You and Your Hens

When I heard that chicken care writer, Lisa Steele, was writing a new book about gardening with chickens,I placed a pre-order right away. After reading and enjoying her other books,along with her website, I was sure this would be the garden book for me.Gardening with Chickens surpassed my expectations. The 170 pages are chock full of information on gardening. This is good, because I do struggle with being successful in the garden. Topics that you would expect, from planting seeds or starts,when and how to harvest, and seasonal gardening tasks are explained in detail. I know I will be more successful putting these plans into action. The benefits of certain plants is also explained, But where the book differs from other gardening books is the connection made between gardening and natural chicken raising. Yes, it has been made before but not in a way that explains the benefits to the chickens in such detail.I particularly enjoyed the sections on herbs because I am trying to learn as much as I can about the health benefits herbs bring to all animals. In addition you will learn about chicken poop and how you can benefit from that! Gardening around the run is possible and landscaping the area makes the chicken run more enjoyable for both you and the chickens. Lisa Steele gives you many ideas on what to plant and why. Not only landscaping ideas, but also projects like building a chicken salad bar. Not all plants are healthy for chickens to munch on so make sure you check out the section on toxic plants before allowing your chickens free snacking in the garden or around your property.Overall, Gardening with Chickens is beautifully designed and a pleasure to enjoy. I now have a copy completely dog eared and noted because I know I will be grabbing this book countless times in the future. I definitely recommend this to all gardeners, whether you have chickens now or not. You can't go wrong with a book written by Lisa Steele.

I have recently bought maybe a dozen or so homesteading books with the hopes of getting a plan in my head for my own small homestead. We’re house shopping this year and it’s hard to figure out what you’re looking for if you don’t know what your building. This book was the best one of the group by far, by like a factor of ten. It does basic garden, basic chicken, basic structuring, basic compost, and covers how to begin marrying them all together. For instance, after reading this book I know I would build independent gardens for each season so that the chickens could have their way with the out of season gardens to help aerate the soil and remove pests. I also know that growing herbs around the chickens will help keep away pests and keep the chickens entertained. And I never would have thought about growing watermelon to give the chickens during summer if this book hadn’t told me chickens love them.There are other books that cover each individual topic in more depth; to be sure. But if you are a beginner and you’re looking at how to start a functional combination, I can’t imagine there is a better book out there.

This is a wonderful book. I initially bought it for a friend and when the book arrived, I leafed through it and it looked to interesting that I had to start reading. I could not put it down. I ended up keeping the book and buying a second one for my friend for Christmas. I hope she will enjoy it as much as I did.

I really want chickens..... every time I sign in on Facebook and see a creative share by Author Lisa Steele I just want to jump in my SUV and head to the nearest Tractor Supply store to get a hobbyist coop for my garden. When I received a copy of Lisa Steele's latest book to review I couldn't wait to have my 4 year old niece over to review the book with me. My 'little helper' loves the first two books by Lisa Steele so I knew she'd be excited to flip through this new publication. NEVER DISAPPOINTING... the information in the book is totally practical and illustrated well for anyone wanting to grow a garden naturally with chickens. The book makes it hard to imagine a garden without chickens! My favorite part in the book.... WOW! Trying to pick my favorite chapter would be like picking my favorite 'hen'. I do see hens in my future and I want to thank Author Lisa Steele for making that decision so much easier. This book is a must have for ANYONE.... because with all the new products and information available for home owners today (including this book) it is easy to grow a garden with chickens successfully. GET the book ... flip through it ... read it and I guarantee you will own your own chickens for your garden next spring! I shared a clip below of a few of my favorite pages in the book!

Full disclaimer. I have interviewed Lisa Steele on the Vegetable Gardening show for her previous 2 books, Fresh Eggs Daily and Duck Eggs Daily. Both of those titles were awesome so I just had to give her new book a read.With that said, as a chicken owner and someone who loves the garden, I picked up Lisa's new book to learn some tips on combining two activities that I absolutely love. Lisa's book does not disappoint. From beginning to end you will find a well written, well thought out list of plans and tips that you can implement in your own garden/chicken adventures. My son's favorite was letting the chickens loose at the end of gardening season to let them have at the garden. The chickens get rid of your plants, "leave" some fertilizer behind and through the scratching they do, really work your soil. With this tip, Lisa makes it clear to remove all members of the nightshade family (i.e. tomatoes, peppers etc.) before you unleash the birds.What I like is how she makes every tip easy to understand. Most tips are general enough so that they can be implemented just about anywhere regardless of climate, which is perfect for me, being in NJ, we get everything from below zero temperatures to above 100 degrees during the summer.Regardless of whether you currently have chickens or were thinking about getting them, I highly recommend this book.

This writer seems to really love her chickens and it also seems that she has large and varied gardens in which to keep them which is of great advantage to the reader as she comes up with very many different ideas of how to keep them healthy and happy within the great balance with the various needs of the garden too. And beautiful photos on top of that! Once you pick this book up you don't want to put it down till you read it all. You can read it in one day and it will enrich your chicken keeping knowledge greatly.

Bought all 3 of Lisa Steeles books. Although some information is repeated I found all had something helpful to offer. If your new to chicken keeping or have had your girls a while they are great reference books on health, house keeping and feeding your flock in a natural way. My girls love the breakfast Lisa has devised. Great books love them.

Good and fun read. Informative, and full of great ideas. I am thoroughly enjoying dipping in and out of it, and planning all sorts of exciting things in my garden, along with the 4 rescued hens.

Love this book. Lots of great ideas for the garden as well as the chucks. Cant wait to get cracking. Bought another for my friend.

Not quite what I expected but enjoyed it anyway. I thought plans meant a few drawn plans for ideas etc. Interesting though