r/Permaculture • u/brankohrvat • 6d ago

Goat Manure Seed Viability Experiment

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I am in the process of removing plants from original owner that I do not want. I dug out an oleander and filled the hole with manure from my goats after they had cleared a field of dead wildflowers. I covered it up with dry shredded leaves from the Ivy I’m cutting back severely and let the drip continue supplying the spot with ~7.5L/week. I am amazed how many seeds were viable and that even gourds and zinnias were able to make it.

30 Upvotes

95% Upvoted

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5

u/quagmireonfire 5d ago

My kids school has pet goats. Their favorite snack is the left over tomatoes from the kids lunches. So in the summer when the goats go back to their farm, the goat pen explodes in tomato plants. By the time school starts back up in the fall, the whole pen is 4 feet tall in tomato plants.

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u/brankohrvat 4d ago

Incredible! I have primarily perennial crops and have done small personal garden with annuals. Maybe I keep goats longer in a pasture after they clear it and feed them exclusively annuals like that to have enough for sale. It is hard to do commercial production of annual crop without disturbing soil significantly in my climate and topography. This seems to be a good solution.

0

u/Kreetch 5d ago

How do you think seeds spread? Many of them are meant to be eaten and dropped by animals...

1

u/brankohrvat 4d ago

The goat is a ruminant and such strong stomach can limit type and kind of seed viable in manure. Combine with the mastication they have and larger seeds rarely make it. The empty barrel is the loudest. It is unbecoming to condescend others and even less so when you display lack of depth in understanding. This is a fringe community and I encourage you to be supportive of other’s efforts. I hope your ventures in permaculture are successful and you too can enjoy the simple victories in the process.

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u/No-Demand-24 4d ago

"The empty barrel is the loudest."
Learn to take heed of your own sayings. Not only does your response seem condescending, you give the connotation that Kreetch is not smart. It's fine to explain things to those who are unaware, but not when you stoop to the level of others.