Manure compost...how long before using??

[Milk n' Honey]

We cleaned out the barn...all the manure pack from over the winter. It has hay and goat berries and nothing else. We moved it outside into a pile. How long does it have to sit before spreading on the garden? Thanks!!

[ozark_jewels]

Goat manure is what they call a "cool manure" meaning it won't burn plants if put straight on the garden, like chicken or cow manure will. So you actually don't have to compost it at all. The only thing you might worry about is if there is any weed seeds in the hay.....

[Milk n' Honey]

OK, thanks!! At least we can get rid of the pile!!

[christij]

Everything we cleaned out this winter/spring went into our garden and we are seeing excellent results already! I plan on using the poo as a compost tea later on in the season.

[Shazza]

Originally Posted by christij

Everything we cleaned out this winter/spring went into our garden and we are seeing excellent results already! I plan on using the poo as a compost tea later on in the season.

Compost tea???? You need to explain that one!!!

[vallyfarm]

If yoe are plowing it under then fresh is fine, but let it sit untill fall and give it a stir once a month or so, and it'll be almost "top soil". If you can wait it is better, but unless chicken manure is mixed in or has a lot of bedding (will tye up the nitrogen in the soil) now would be fine. Mike

[cfarmher]

What about e-coli and stuff like that? Doesn't it have to be composted first to kill bacteria?

I would LOVE to clean out the barn, and put it directly into the garden before we till it, but after the whole spinach fiasco, I thought it was a no-no.

[steff bugielski]

Yes the e-coli will possibly transfer to your plants. I let it sit for 3 months. I usually put all my barn stuff directly on the gatden in the fall and much of the winter. In the spring it goes on the pile for next years finished compost. I like to sidedress my veggies with the finished compost. I do have a ton to cover my garden all fall and winter. in the spring the soil underneath is teaming with worms, soft and dark.

[holleegee]

Originally Posted by cfarmher

What about e-coli and stuff like that? Doesn't it have to be composted first to kill bacteria?

I would LOVE to clean out the barn, and put it directly into the garden before we till it, but after the whole spinach fiasco, I thought it was a no-no.

For root crops (carrots, radishes...) I wouldn't put the fresh manure around them. For other plants where the veggie doesn't have direct contact with the dirt (tomato, cucumber, corn...) I put the frest goat manure around them.

[cfarmher]

Originally Posted by holleegee

For root crops (carrots, radishes...) I wouldn't put the fresh manure around them. For other plants where the veggie doesn't have direct contact with the dirt (tomato, cucumber, corn...) I put the frest goat manure around them.

Ah! That makes sense, thanks. It is so hard not to use all that good stuff thats just sitting there. I'm glad I can use it on the higher-up stuff.

[southerngurl]

I'm using that exact thing for my watermelons. I dump a wheelbarrow full of the hay/bedding/poo and shape it a little and put my plants in there. I put the hills 6 foot a part, staggered, and then use the black plastic mulch over the whole thing. This is what I did last year and we had WONDERFUL watermelons... until the horses got in there. That's why we have an electric fence now though.

[steff bugielski]

Actually all plants can take up the bacteria in the manure along with the nutrients. That is how those scallions at Taco Bell got people sick with e-coli. Granted that that was 'h-15707'(?) Type of e-coli. Your animal has to be infected with it first. But any e-coli can be transmitted through the manure.

[christij]

Compost tea -- I read about it in Hobby Farm or Countryside

Basically you use the larger containers that your seedling plants come and fill them with your manure/compost and set them out near your plants then when it rains or you water the water filters through the compost and the nutrients seeps out of the bottom holes the containers to feed your plants

The person who submitted this learned about it from his grandpa