Planted More Comfrey Today

Discussion in 'Crops & Gardens' started by Yvonne Smith, Apr 15, 2015.

  1. Yvonne Smith

    Yvonne Smith Senior Staff
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    When I lived in Idaho, I had a lot of comfrey, and every spring I would divide it and start more comfrey plants. Each year, I had more.
    Comfrey grows like a weed, and is usually just as hard to kill. If you chop it up with a rototiller, then you have just started a whole patch of comfrey, because every single bit of chopped root will grow.
    However, comfrey has a lot of medicinal uses, from both the roots and the leaves, so it is an excellent plant to be growing.
    Plus, it is also a great green tea to feed your plants , made from the comfrey leaves. Mainly, I have used it as a cooked green, or made into a tea, or in a green smoothie.
    It makes a good substitute for spinach when cooked; but not so good raw because the leaves are fuzzy underneath (which goes away when cooked). People have eaten comfrey and used it as a medicine for centuries, however, some company did a research test and decided that lab rats that were fed comfrey extract were more likely to get cancer than rats that were not, and they said it was bad for the liver.
    So (just like sassafrass tea) we are told that it is not safe to consume.
    People DO still eat it anyway, and I have used it for many years, with no harmful results.

    Anyway....back to my story.... somehow, the comfrey that I transported here from Idaho and have grown for several years , died last summer, and did not come back up this spring. So, I ordered more from e-bay, and just finished planting 15 nice comfrey roots out alongside of the house.
    Hopefully, these will all come up and start growing. It will take a good year for the root system to get developed; but I will still have a few leaves to use this summer, hopefully.
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  2. Yvonne Smith

    Yvonne Smith Senior Staff
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    The place where I planted the comfrey was in too much shade, maybe, and gradually, fewer and fewer came up each year, and they didn’t grow well when they did come up.
    This spring, I had one lone comfrey plant, so I dug it up and moved it out in the sunshine in one of the tire planters.
    So far, it seems to like it there and is growing, so by this fall or next spring, I should be able to separate out some roots and start a few more comfrey plants again.
     
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  3. John Brunner

    John Brunner Senior Staff
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    I've yet to study medicinal herbs & medicines (and more in-depth botany) as I've often wanted to do.

    Years ago I read an article in the paper discussing the continued use of Queen Anne's Lace as birth control among Appalachian women. Goodness knows how they discover that particular use, but it does work when a tea is brewed from it.

    Doesn't comfrey prefer things to be on the cool side? And I wonder if you got too much clay where you are now.
     
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  4. Yvonne Smith

    Yvonne Smith Senior Staff
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    There is definitely a LOT of clay in this ground. Where I lived in north Idaho, we had wonderful sandy soil, which I enhanced with fresh llama droppings and rototilled them in. Everything grew really well in that mix of sandy soil and fertilizer. I had comfrey and oregano growing all along my back yard fence line, and enough oregano to dry it and give some away to friends and family each year. It came back every year and kept spreading, just like the comfrey and the chives.

    Here, we have a combination of the hard clay, which is either mud or cement most of the time, and huge trees all around the property, so we do not get that much sun. However, it is also a hot climate, so even plants that are in shady areas get too hot, while not getting enough sunshine.
    I planted Jerusalem artichoke in the same area as the comfrey, and I think that it shaded out the comfrey. The one that I have left seems to be doing fine now that it is out in the sunshine and in good soil, not just the clay.
    It is still little and scruffy, but making new leaves, so I have hopes for it.

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  5. Yvonne Smith

    Yvonne Smith Senior Staff
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    This spring, I trimmed back the comfrey plant, dug it up, and divided it into little sections and put them all into a container to root and grow. When I had several nice ones, I planted those in the front of the area which is going to be my herb garden. They seem to be really happy there and are growing fast. I have more coming up in the planter that will be ready to set out somewhere else by next week.

    Here is how the comfrey plants in the herb garden are looking.
    The little plants in the long container are my mullein starts. It is a plant with fuzzy leaves that can get 5-6 feet tall in its second year when it goes to seed.
    The leaves are used medicinally, especially for lung issues.
    Mullein grows wild out in north Idaho, and we just mowed it down when it spread into the yard out there.
    I started these from seeds, and so far, they seem to be growing and doing okay.

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  6. Don Alaska

    Don Alaska Supreme Member
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    We have LOTS of comfrey. Some years it doesn't winter over, but lately it has been coming back every year.
     
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  7. Yvonne Smith

    Yvonne Smith Senior Staff
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    Since I decided to start dehydrating more greens, and my comfrey is growing prolifically, I decided to cut some comfrey leaves and dehydrate them. I know that the literature now says not to eat comfrey, but it has been consumed as a food for literally thousands of years, and my mom grew comfrey back when I was a kid, so I have used it for years with no bad effects.
    I was reading that people in Ireland ate comfrey to live on during the potato famine, so they would have been eating it in large quantities if that was what they lived on, along with whatever else they could grow or forage.

    Anyway, I have some that I washed and shredded into smaller chunks and it is in the dehydrator.
     
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  8. Mary Stetler

    Mary Stetler Veteran Member
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    Uh Oh, I didn't know we could not eat it although I was told to use it as a soil replenisher. I think it tastes like cucumber. Thanks for reminding me.
    Good bye cruel world!:rolleyes:
     
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  9. Yvonne Smith

    Yvonne Smith Senior Staff
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    The leaves are sort of fuzzy, so it is not great to eat raw in salads or sandwiches, although I have done both. Once you cook it, you can eat it like cooked spinach or any other greens, and it cooks fast like spinach.
     
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  10. Yvonne Smith

    Yvonne Smith Senior Staff
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    I transplanted my baby mullein out to the front yard and planted then in the ground with some of the garden/potting soil over top of the clay. So far, they seem to be doing okay and are growing.
    Mullein does not do much in the first year, so all they should do is make a few more leaves; then next year, they will grow the tall stalks and the flowers.

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  11. Mary Stetler

    Mary Stetler Veteran Member
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    Aren't they cute!
    You can still pick a few leaves this year. The tea is pleasant but not strong tasting. I am amazed at the ground it will grow in. We have red and black clay here and it will grow on almost vertical slopes and one year it grew very well in an old kids sandbox here.
     
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  12. Mary Stetler

    Mary Stetler Veteran Member
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    So you grew the mullein from seeds you gathered?
     
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  13. Yvonne Smith

    Yvonne Smith Senior Staff
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    Actually , these are from a package of seeds my daughter-in-law sent me. I had intended to dig some starts the last time I was out there last year, and then didn’t get the chance. I asked her if she could send me a few starts; but instead she ordered me a seed packet and sent that. I saved them all winter and planted them in the container this spring, and then transplanted them into the ground this week.
    By next year, I should have seeds if I want to grow more plants.
     
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  14. Yvonne Smith

    Yvonne Smith Senior Staff
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    My comfrey has been thriving, and I have about a dozen nice plants growing, some in the front yard and some out back. I have been watching videos about making comfrey salve, so I decided to try a really simple recipe that i watched on youtube. It is just comfrey leaves soaked in an oil for a day or so in the crockpot and then strained well.
    I also added a few mint leaves for some fragrance.

    After washing and chopping a big handful of leaves, I put them a little at a time into the food processor and shopped them even finer, packed all of the chopped leaves into a quart jar, and covered them with coconut oil.
    I put on a loose lid and have them sitting in hot water in the slow cooker for the next 24 hours, and then I will cool and strain them and squeeze out as much of the oil essence as I can.
    To harden it, I would have to put the coconut oil in the refrigerator , so I am thinking about just setting it out on the counter, and then giving it a shake and getting some of the salve from the lid each time I want to use it. I will decide that after i see how it turns out.
     
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  15. Mary Stetler

    Mary Stetler Veteran Member
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    Be careful what you wish for. My comfrey grows wild now out with my wormwood and some blackberries. I always wanted an edible forest with medicinals. I will get it finished by the time I am dead.;)
     
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