Comfrey

[stevetc]

Hi there,

One of my mates moved away a couple of years ago, and her gardening space - close to mine - has been lunched out ever since. . . I was having a poke about in there the other day, discovered many yummy things under the bindweed. The comfrey has run amok, though. She grows herbs for medicine, so maybe that's why she planted it . . . but I've been told that you can also use it as a fertiliser. . . and I wondered if anyone knows how it's used? My mate's not around at the moment, or i'd ask her. My soil is so rocky and rough that I reckon anything I plant probably needs all the help it can get. . .

[MKG]

Try this, Steve ...

http://www.growveg.com/growblogpost.aspx?id=87

And there are a lot of people on here with their own ways of doing it. I'm sure some will pop in soon.

Mike

[JulieSherris]

I love, love, love that little website, Mike!

I had the opposite problem - out of all the weeds we have around this place, do you think I could find any comfrey? Not a sign.

Most people I asked only had the type that behaves & doesn't spread - I didn't want that one though, I wanted something that could battle with the ground elder & nettles I managed to find a seed seller on fleabay & luckily she's not too far away from me as well - I have since ordered bluebell seeds, lawn thyme, proper shamrock, as well as a few of the more old-fashioned shrub type seeds as well.

Anyway, the two methods I will be following the most are the mulch & the dig in methods - sooo easy!

[Millymollymandy]

My little comfrey (anyone remember the thread where two of the tiny comfrey plants my mum brought over turned out to be teasels? ) has spread very well (about 2 foot wide now) and is competing with all sorts of wild stuff on the boggy side of my pond. I don't have enough to make tea from this year but am hopeful for next year and it was very pretty when flowering.

[stevetc]

Hey, cheers for the link mike . . . That looks like a quality website too. I'll be making use of the comfrey, then. My comfrey must be the self-seeding type, cos it's holding it's own against bindweed, brambles & nettles, actually it's spreading. And if anyone needs seeds when it's seed time, i reckon i'll have plenty.

[greenishfingers]

Hi,I bought a Bocking 14 comfrey plant last year on ebay,planted it in amongst flower bed and this year its really taken off.I cut a few leaves off and cover with water and leave til its a bit smelly,then dilute and use as plant food. I read somewhere that comfrey benefits from a feed of nettle tea once its been cut,I'm hoping it will rejunivate the pant so I get another cut later in the season.I've also heard that a few leaves in the compost bin helps to speed things up x

[growingthings]

ack! Comfrey!

My allotment is over run with the stuff! I use it to mulch my potatoes and squashes, and also soak it to make a liquid fertilizer.

I haven't quite resorted to drinking the flowers in my tea, but I am tempted to let some of it flower, as the 'old boys' down the allotments have a fit over it, saying that they wouldn't have my patch for anything not with all 'that' stuff growing in it!!

They've even been over with their shears and cut it down when they think I'm not looking!

They were told, quite politely, to never do that again thank you very much! It's very hard when most of them are (semi) retired farmers, and use gallons of Agricultural grade roundup, not mixed to correct proportions. ( A plot owners dog ( jack russel) had to have some very expensive trips to the vets after it licked itself clean and got internal burns because of the roundup!)

Anyway Roundup rant over!

Huzzah for the Comfrey!

Lorna x

p.s. Julie If I thought it could survive the trip you could have as much of my Comfrey as you like x!

[Andy Hamilton]

Ah yes mine had run amok too. I let if flower as the bees love it. I've read somewhere that it is good to grow at the base of Apple trees, which is good as we have a patch there.

I thought I could move it, dig it up and move it. We now have two patches of comfrey! I find it holds its own against other weeds too.

It is also eaten but many foragers don't recommed it due to the possible liver damage. Studies force feeding tones of it to mice "prove" this. I'd read up before eating and make your own judgement. Leave alone if you have liver damage or are pregnant/nursing. Otherwise, battered then fried leaves. Chopped up and added to stews.

Its also used in herbal medicine to reduce bruising and help cell division. Called knitbone travelers would wrap leaves around broken bones to help heal them.

[SaveSomeGreen]

Comfrey is fab stuff, I am itching to get some on my allotment to have as ground covering gubbins as opposed to bloody nettles which are persistant buggers... can't find any near me that I can blag though ... annoyingly!!