Turning a goat pen into a garden?

[Godiva]

Hi, brand new here! Just moved into a rental house that had goats in a pen right next to our house. The goats were moved out about a month ago. We thought we would put the area to use as a vegetable garden... we started today by tilling a couple of beds. One of the beds is right where the goats used to eat their hay and had a lot of very stinky layers of hay and poop packed down. We took the heaviest layer of matted stuff off and tilled it. Do you think this is going to be too hot? And if so what should we do - I was thinking of maybe adding something like peat moss, but I don't know if that is necessary or even if that would be the addition needed. I would love to hear your feedback on this. Thank you!

 

[RidgebackRanch]

Just my opinion but the biggest worry is the urine in the ground. The manure is not "hot" so to speak but the urine in the soil could be a problem. If possible have the soil tested. Good luck and welcome to TEG!

 

[seedcorn]

Always good to have it tested but I'd wager spot is very rich, will have tendancy for tomatoes to go to more vine and less fruits.

Good luck.

 

[patandchickens]

The two best gardens I've been privileged to have, or to harvest from, have been 1) on the site of a long-standing goat pen, or 2) on the older portion of a goat compost pile. Wowie were they good for growing things.

A month might well be old enough for all except the most sensitive plants or direct-seeding. But, if you want to be on the safe side, it'd be smart to get numbers for at least the N content and pH of the compost AND of the underlying soil (or anyhow the humusy stuff underneath the strawier part). Test those and see whatcha got, that should give you a really good idea of how things will go and whether any adjustments are necessary.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[Godiva]

Thank you all for your feedback - and the welcome! I know I am going to learn so much here! I have gone the route of buying seedlings this year as I have not had the time to grow my own with moving across the states!

Where do you get your soil tested - or do you use the little kits you can buy at Walmart etc.?

 

[Ridgerunner]

Usually the best way is to contact your county extension agent, in the phone book under county government. They should know the least expensive way to get a pretty good spols test.

Here in Arkansas, it is free. Just pick up the kit, collect the soil, and drop it off at the extension office. Each state is different, but your agent should know the options.

 

[hoodat]

Remember that when any cloven hoofed animal has been in one place for long the soil may look loose on top but there will be a compacted layer 6 inches to a foot down; sometimes depper depending on the soil. On cloven footed animals all of their weight is concentrated at the pont of the hoof so it penetrates the top layer and comapcts farther down. Be sure to dig deep to break up that compaction. You can find out how deep it is by driving an iron pipe into the ground. When it gets hard to drive deeper you have found your compaction layer. Of course you can also find it with a post hole digger or even a shovel also.
Sheep foot rollers used to compact soil in construction work on that same principle, hence the name.

 

[Godiva]

Thank you again! Hoodat, that is very interesting information about the cloven hoofed animals impact on the soil! I was wondering why the soil was not as easy to work as I had imagined! Great tip, will try that for sure.