Blue herons, ghosts of grandparents, the refuge of the beach, donuts, a fox in the street-memories both painful and beautiful-this collection of essays, poems, and stories by both emerging and published writers is evidence of the power of workshop. I have been the joyful recipient of new books by many of those I chose, years ago, to attend the first weekend writer's retreats sponsored by the Delaware Division of the Arts. The focused hard work with strong leaders over the years has encouraged many writers on a deeply rewarding lifetime path. To see this current work gathered between covers is a great joy.--Fleda Brown, Poet Laureate of Delaware, 2001-07; Professor Emerita, University of Delaware
More than ever, Americans care about the quality and safety of the food they eat. They're bringing back an American tradition: raising their own backyard chickens for eggs and companionship. And they care about the quality of life of their chickens. Fresh Eggs Daily is an authoritative, accessible guide to coops, nesting boxes, runs, breeding, feed, and natural health care with time-tested remedies. The author promotes the benefits of keeping chickens happy and well-occupied, and in optimal health, free of chemicals and antibiotics. She emphasizes the therapeutic value of herbs and natural supplements to maintaining a healthy environment for your chickens. Includes many "recipes" and 8 easy DIY projects for the coop and run. Full color photos throughout. The USDA's new study of urban chicken raising sees a 400% increase in backyard chickens over the next 5 years, driven by younger adults.
When longtime illustrator and lover of power tools Lauren Scheuer was looking for a project, she got the idea to raise backyard chickens. Her husband and teenage daughter looked on incredulously as coop sketches and chicken-raising books filled their New England home. But when the chicks arrived, the whole family fell in love with the bundles of fluff and the wild adventures began. Once Upon a Flock: Life with My Soulful Chickens stars Scheuer’s backyard chickens—with their big personalities, friendships, rivalries, and secrets—and the flock’s guardian, Marky the terrier. The flock includes Hatsy, the little dynamo; Lil’White, the deranged and twisted Buff Orpington; Pigeon, the fixer-upper chicken; and Lucy, the special-needs hen who bonds with Lauren and becomes a fast friend. This charming story of Lauren’s life with her quirky flock is filled with moments of humor and heartbreak: When Lucy is afflicted with a neurological disease, Lauren builds Lucy a special-needs coop. When Lucy’s nesting instinct leads Lauren to act as a chicken midwife of sorts, Lauren hatches a chick in her home. And when Lucy’s best friend Hatsy falls ill, Lauren finds an unlikely friend for Lucy in a chicken named Pigeon, who requires an emergency bath and blow-dry. Enthusiastically immersing herself in the world of her flock, Lauren discovers that love, loss, passion, and resilience are not only parts of the human experience, but of the chicken experience as well. Throughout it all, Lauren documents the laughter and drama of her flock’s adventures with her own whimsical photos and illustrations. At once humorous, poignant, and informative, Once Upon a Flock is a feathered tale like no other.
It's drinks, it's chickens: It's the cocktail book you didn't know you needed! To add some extra happy to your happy hour , invite a chicken and pour yourself a drink. Author Kate Richards serves up cocktails made for Instagram with the spoils of her Southern California garden, chicken friends by her side. Enjoy any (or all) of the 60+ deliciously drinkable garden-to-glass beverages, such as: Lilac Apricot Rum Sour Meyer Lemon + Rosemary Old Fashioned Rhubarb Rose Cobbler Blackberry Sage Spritz Cantaloupe Mint Rum Punch Cocktails are arranged seasonally, and are 100% accessible for those of us without perpetually sunny backyard gardens at our disposal. Drinking with Chickens will quickly become a boozy favorite, perfect for gifting or for hoarding all for yourself. You don't need chickens to enjoy these drinks or the colorful photos, but be careful, because you may even find yourself aspiring to be, as Kate is, a home chixologist overrun by gorgeous, loud, early-rising egg-laying ladies, and in need of a very strong drink.
Jill Winger, creator of the award-winning blog The Prairie Homestead, introduces her debut The Prairie Homestead Cookbook, including 100+ delicious, wholesome recipes made with fresh ingredients to bring the flavors and spirit of homestead cooking to any kitchen table. With a foreword by bestselling author Joel Salatin The Pioneer Woman Cooks meets 100 Days of Real Food, on the Wyoming prairie. While Jill produces much of her own food on her Wyoming ranch, you don’t have to grow all—or even any—of your own food to cook and eat like a homesteader. Jill teaches people how to make delicious traditional American comfort food recipes with whole ingredients and shows that you don’t have to use obscure items to enjoy this lifestyle. And as a busy mother of three, Jill knows how to make recipes easy and delicious for all ages. "Jill takes you on an insightful and delicious journey of becoming a homesteader. This book is packed with so much easy to follow, practical, hands-on information about steps you can take towards integrating homesteading into your life. It is packed full of exciting and mouth-watering recipes and heartwarming stories of her unique adventure into homesteading. These recipes are ones I know I will be using regularly in my kitchen." - Eve Kilcher These 109 recipes include her family’s favorites, with maple-glazed pork chops, butternut Alfredo pasta, and browned butter skillet corn. Jill also shares 17 bonus recipes for homemade sauces, salt rubs, sour cream, and the like—staples that many people are surprised to learn you can make yourself. Beyond these recipes, The Prairie Homestead Cookbook shares the tools and tips Jill has learned from life on the homestead, like how to churn your own butter, feed a family on a budget, and experience all the fulfilling satisfaction of a DIY lifestyle.
Each day, Bob Sheasley leaves Lilyfield Farm and heads into the city. And each day, he brings along a basket of eggs for his coworkers at The Philadelphia Inquirer. Depending on the breed of hen, these eggs may be white, green, rose, blue, or as brown as chocolate. And they are all deliciously fresh, a taste of the rural way of life that people have enjoyed for millennia, one in which chickens have played a supporting role for nearly as long. In Home to Roost, Sheasley tells of the intertwined relationship between humans and chickens. He delves into where chickens came from, what their DNA tells us about our kinship, how we’ve treated our feathered fellow travelers, and the roads we’re crossing together. This is a story of agriculture and human migration, of folk medicine and technology, of how we dreamed of the good life, threw it away, and want it back. Modern farming has changed the lives of both bird and man over the past century. But backyard farmers like Sheasley offer hope for a return to the pleasures of locally grown food, as diverse as the chickens he’s raised on Lilyfield Farm. With wit and personal insight, Home to Roost examines of how our lives can be changed for the better, with something as simple as a backyard coop.
The morning sun is rising, but where's Ned's cock-a-doodle-doo? Ned's just not a morning bird. Daisy Mae and the other farm hens have an egg business to run, and they've no use for a lazy, mixed-up rooster. It's time to call in another rooster! So what's Ned to do? To his surprise, when a crisis occurs, Ned finds his very own calling after all. The Mixed-Up rooster is a funny read-aloud with a gentle lesson: It's okay to be different.
From addled to wind egg and crossed beak to zygote, the terminology of everything chicken is demystified in The Chicken Encyclopedia. Complete with breed descriptions, common medical concerns, and plenty of chicken trivia, this illustrated A-to-Z reference guide is both informative and entertaining. Covering tail types, breeding, molting, communication, and much more, Gail Damerow provides answers to all of your chicken questions and quandaries. Even seasoned chicken farmers are sure to discover new information about the multifaceted world of these fascinating birds.
Kathy Shea Mormino, aka The Chicken Chick, shares her wealth of experience as a chicken keeper in a fun and abundantly illustrated format in The Chicken Chick's Guide to Backyard Chickens.
This manuscript deals with that period in my life I commonly refer to as my prepubescent period. If it were not for my cousin, Orson, this period in my life would have been next to impossible. Maybe not so harsh, let's say more trips to the fishpond, and most definitely an increase in the number of appearances before the inquisitions. Orson and I were most fortunate to experience this milestone in life before man landed on the moon, before cellphones, and most of all a time when mother said go play outside, which translated to "It's 8 a.m. Don't come back till noon." Your assumption is correct. This left two gentlemen a lot of time and space. Here is what greeted us each morning. From our front yards, we could see the snow-capped sierras. Following your line of sight was a fully functioning log mill with a large pond feed by a flume. From this point on was a mixture of pastureland and open agricultural land. Oh, yes, a canal full of water year-round. To find some activity to fill the day only required the willingness to bask in the glory of the right choice or the willingness to accept the full fury of a displeased mother.
