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"These
days, when you seek out technical advice, you’re as likely as not to
end up in a long-distance conversation or email chat with someone from
India. Not so when it comes to raising chickens: there is no better
source for guidance than Bainbridge Island ’s own Minnie Rose Lovgreen,
who raised bantam hens, roosters, and broody hens for over sixty years.
Although Minnie
Rose died in 1975, her practical, no-nonsense advice survives, thanks to
Minnie Rose Lovgreen’s Recipe for Raising Chickens, newly
re-published in a third edition by Bainbridge-based NW Trillium Press.
From nesting, egg
laying, hatching, chick care, and hen psychology through basic poultry
room and board, Minnie Rose is with you every step of the way. I defy
anyone to propose a FAQ that isn’t already concisely answered in this
31-page hand-lettered and illustrated book that Minnie Rose dictated to
friends shortly before her death at age 86.
Even if you’re
not a budding chicken farmer, Minnie Rose Lovgreen’s Recipe for
Raising Chickens has something for you! A harried mother, perhaps?
Learn how a broody hen deals with recalcitrant, quarrelsome chicks
(discipline and positive reinforcement). An aspiring linguist? Add
chicken-speak to your repertoire! Into a “green” lifestyle? Raising
chickens can provide new avenues for recycling everything from food
wastes to crankcase oil.
In the course of
dispensing her wisdom, Minnie Rose transforms her flock of broody hens
into a delightful group of hard-working, intelligent individuals with
differing temperaments and personalities who can teach us all a thing or
two about parenting, getting along, food sense, and more. I’m still
not sold on “dust baths” though."
- Kathleen
Thorne
- 2009
Island Treasure in the Humanities
Publicity Coordinator, Sustainable Bainbridge
April 2009
"The
perfect book for difficult times. Mother wit has come around again to
reclaim its rightful place among the perennial virtues. Minnie Rose
Lovgreen's chicken knowledge is a kind of poetry of the earth and it
yields fresh eggs. A wonderfully put-together little book, as it should
be."
- Mike
Dillon, poet & publisher
- Pacific
Publishing Co.
- April
2009
"It is one
those remarkably lucky strokes of fate that Minnie arranged to sail on
the Titanic, but when the ship wasn't ready, came across another
boat. In any case, this charming little book, a veritable bible on how
to raise chickens, is being pushed into a local best-seller by Minnie
Rose's neighbors and friends."
Emmett
Watson,
Seattle
Post-Intelligencer, April 1975
"This
book is charming, practical, down to earth. Hand-lettering conveys
the warmth of Minnie Rose Lovegreen's voice. Her empathy for the
hens & chicks, her understanding of what they need, how to keep
them happy & laying eggs, comes through in every word. She
knows
them. Meanwhile, the illustrations are both alive & accurate. One can almost smell & hear these brave,
devoted Bantam hens in their world.
- Barbara Helen Berger, Author/Artist
- April 2009
"The number 8
means good luck, and three 8's indicate triple luck. Mrs. Lovgreen was
her mother's eighth child, born in 1888--it's no surprise she avoided
the Titanic in 1912. Her insight into raising chickens will
delight every chicken-lover--I count myself among you. Recipe for
Raising Chickens is an entertaining little book. It's fun to read,
it's unique (I love Nancy's calligraphy) and it has a wealth of useful
chicken-raising information. I recommend it to any chicken lover or book
lover."
- Marcia
Breece, Morgan Hill Retreat
- Poulsbo,
WA, April 2009
- www.morganhillretreat.com
"The
book is graphically interesting, too, with each page entirely
hand-lettered by Nancy Rekow, who also edited it with Claire Frost.
Elizabeth Hutchison's illustrations highlight many of the pages and the
cover. Mrs. Lovgreen said the book was truly a group effort, from visits
with the tape recorder right down to the stapling party, when the first
1000 copies came off the press. She says she never could have done it
without the help of her friends"
Bainbridge
Review, May 1975
- "Minnie
Rose knew what she was talking about."
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- Betsy
Leger, book designer friend of Minnie Rose
- Bainbridge
Is., WA, April 2009
"To
a barefoot farm child, Mrs. Lovgreen was the old lady in the house up the
hill; the giver of first dolls and keeper of sweet treats. Among my
snippets of memory one vividly stands out--of Mrs. Lovgreen chopping the
head off a rooster with a hatchet. The headless rooster landed back on its
feet and began to run, with me in curious pursuit."
- Kristan
Hutchison, journalist (Elizabeth Hutchison's daughter)
- April
2009
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If you are just getting started with
chickens, this charming book has the fresh, natural
voice of a wise old neighbor sharing a lifetime of experience and
skill. As Minnie Rose Lovgreen explains, chickens are the
gardener's best friends,
eagerly eating weeds, seeds, and bugs. They fluff up soil beautifully,
enriching it with their home made fertilizer as they make it ready to
plant. This book will be a splendid guide for beginners and an absolute
delight for chicken lovers everywhere.
Ann Lovejoy, author, educator, chicken lover
"Her
advice is in the form of friendly conversation, including sounds
chickens made and observations about their termperment: 'If you peek in
at a setting hen, she says Kwark, kwark, kwark in a deep ugly voice, to
say Don't bother me. She's very protective when she's setting.' "
The Bremerton Sun (now Kitsap
Sun), April 1975
"
'The main thing is to keep them happy.' That's the summary and subtitle
of Minnie Rose Lovgreen's new book, Recipe for Raising Chickens. Mrs
Lovgreen, an English-born Bainbridge farmwife, became a published author
at the age of 86 when she dictated into a tape recorder a book based on
her own experience....If you don't want to raise chickens, the book is
delightful for pure entertainment. Mrs. Lovgreen gives the reader a look
at the personalities of chickens, besides lots of helpful hints for
raising them. If you want to raise them, she' offering 60 years of her
own experience to help you get started with as little money as possible.
You feel as if she's right there across the table, sharing a cup of
coffee. And there are times you might wish she were, just for the sake
of the sound effects."
Bainbridge
Review, April 1975
"Minnie Rose
Lovgreen tells us not only about chickens, but about living with our
fellow creatures in the world. This whimsical, endearing book announces
itself with wisdom, the wonder of her sage advice, & an antique
knowledge to revere & treasure."
- Bob
McAllister, teacher, poet, actor, & wannabee farmer
- Bainbridge
Is., WA, April 2009
"If you've
never raised chickens, you may just want to start a flock of your own
after reading Minnie's recipe for raising chickens. If you're raising
some now or have in the past, you'll appreciate this little book
describing their mothering techniques, their funny ways, and the reward
of fresh eggs. Delightful bedtime reading for all ages. It's been on Bay
Hay's bookshelf for thirty years."
Bay
Hay & Feed, Bainbridge Is., WA, April 2009
- "A
fascinating, funny, & charming book. This 3rd Edition will
certainly be a collector's item for all who have a desire to once
again be interested in the art of raising chickens."
- Henry
R. (Hank) Helm
- Executive
Director
- April
2009
"If
you ever had the thought you might like to have farm fresh eggs, with
free-ranging chickens, this book is a must....An absolutely delightful
& educational book."
- Diana
Davis
- Snohomish,
WAy
"My
mom's bookstore (Betty's Books) opened 30 years ago in Baker City, OR, and
the first book she sent me from it was yours. Little did either of us know
that within five years my farmer husband and I would find ourselves
renting an old homestead on Lovgreen Rd on Bainbridge Island, raising
organic produce plus chickens, rabbits, etc. Serendipitous...a sweet part
of life for me."
- Bainbridge
Is., WA, April 2009
"As
in the FoxFire magazine of the late '60's, Rekow, Frost, and Hutchison
have effectively preserved an authentic voice of our past--the character
and hen-house wisdom of Minnie Rose Lovgreen. You'll be charmed and
enlightened by this early islander's narrative even if you buy your eggs
at the grocery store."
- Ralph
Cheadle, retired English teacher
- Bainbridge
Is., WA, April 2009
"How
can anyone resist Minnie Rose Lovgreen whose advice to someone being
pecked at by an angry rooster is to swat him with a piece of board? You
don't even have to like chickens to find her book, Recipe for
Raising Chickens, charming & fascinating."
Ann
Combs, author of Helter
Shelter, April 2009
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