So here are a few book reviews (With OOOOO the best and O not the best. Why am I using O's instead of stars? Because I don't feel like figuring out how to make stars.):
1. Free Range Chicken Gardens: How to Create a Beautiful, Chicken-Friendly Yard by Jessi Bloom
Rating: OOOOO
Not only was this book fun to look at, but it was packed full of great, easy to read information too. It is kind of like a backyard chicken raising for dummies, but with a less humiliating cover. All the basics you need to know about keeping chickens, and keeping them in a lush urban or suburban backyard, is here. Many would scoff at the fancy-schmancy ideas for aesthetically pleasing chicken coops and chicken-friendly landscaping, but let's face it : when you live in suburbia (or a regular urban neighborhood) and not a farm, looks matter (especially when chickens may not exactly be legal or allowed but you're going to try to get away with it anyways. . .ahem. . .) I imagine I will have more of a problem if I set up a nasty looking coop than a Williams-Sonoma version such as the one below that was featured in the Wall Street Journal:
For the incredibly low price of $1299.99,
you too can have this beautiful chicken coop
which can only house 1 chicken comfortably.
This book gives you some ideas on how to build your own (that does not cost $1299.99). Aside from the information, it is a fun book to look through. If you are like me and think chickens are hilarious then you will love the random pictures of chickens wandering about in the landscape:
So to sum up, great information, and great pictures. I will be buying this one when I decide to make the leap towards illegal chicken ownership.
2. The Urban Homestead: Your Guide to Self-Sufficient Living in the Heart of the City by Kelly Coyne and Erik Knutzen
Rating: OOOO
This book was a good read - it is more of an urban homesteading idea book. It had some very interesting ideas and discusses the basics of just about anything relating to the urban homestead, from planting and growing food in small spaces, to making your own bread and butter, to making safe and natural cleaning supplies, to harvesting rainwater and solar energy. It also discusses urban foraging and dumpster diving, such as how to find edible weeds in your neighborhood to how to use old food found in dumpsters. I personally found this last idea disgusting, but I guess it is good to have that knowledge just in case? The most valuable part of this book for me was their section on how to make cleaning products for just about every purpose. I like that it is all there, no more google searches to find a product for this and a product for that. Once my current cleaning products are done, I plan on trying them. If nothing else, this book gave me hope that I can make do with the yard (homestead) that I've got, and I can make it a productive and enjoyable place - no 40 acres necessary (though I can still dream. . .)!
3. Grow Great Grub: Organic Food from Small Spaces by Gayla Trail
Rating: OOOOO
I thought this was a fantastic book. Great ideas for growing lots of food in small spaces, from balconies to a few plots in you backyard. It has info of types of containers you can salvage for planting, numerous little projects, such as trash can potatoes (which I would like to try), and in the back it contains specific plant information. Very well written book and if you haven't checked out her blog, it is great - it's called You Grow Girl and it has a ton of useful information and wonderful inspiration for growing things in tight spaces and working with what you've got.
4. Making It: Radical Home Ec for a Post-Consumer World by Kelly Coyne and Erik Knutzen
Rating OOO
Written by the same folks as the Urban Homesteading book, this one is a book of various projects. It was interesting to read, but it was a little too crunchy for me at this point. And I just simply have other projects (such as getting my homestead - well, the garden part) started that take priority over making my own soap and menstrual pads. I would have probably enjoyed the book more if I was bored and looking to make some changes in my life, but I feel I already have enough to handle at the moment. So maybe I will pick it up again one day, but for now, it is not for me.
5. The Vegetable Gardener's Container Bible: How to Grow a Bounty of Food in Pots, Tubs, and Other Containers by Edward C. Smith
Rating: OOOOO
I already owned his other book The Vegetable Gardener's Bible, and it is one of my two go to resources (the other being Mini Farming: Self Sufficiency on 1/4 Acre by Brett L. Markham which I reviewed here). So I was not surprised to find this book equally useful. This book contains everything you need to know about growing large amounts of food in containers, from the types of containers, to the type of soil, to the best plants for container growing. After reading this book from the library, I immediately bought it (found it for $4 used!). I only had one complaint about this book - basically all the containers he used to grow stuff for the book were these very expensive self-watering containers that were given for him to trial. Yes, he does give instructions on how to build a couple different self-watering containers of your own, but they aren't so pretty to look at. So the book in a way is an advertisement for these expensive planters. Nevertheless, it contains very useful information.
Ok I think 5 book reviews is enough for now - see I told you I have been reading a lot lately. My friendly neighborhood librarians are probably wondering what I am up to, this crazy lady that lives in a master-planned community checking out chicken and farm books. Oh well! :)
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