Comfrey

[soil]

I find the animals like comfrey more when its dried and ground to a meal. we add it to wet leftovers and such. or when we sprout some grains for them we mix it on that too.

for potatoes its a EXCELLENT cell proliferate, meaning it makes cells divide like mad. along with that its rich in potash which becomes potassium that the potatoes will use to grow big tubers.

great mulch for pretty much anything, and you can make a comfrey tea too if you google that.

[rainbowgardener]

from Wiki re comfrey:

Comfrey is a particularly valuable source of fertility to the organic gardener. It is very deep rooted and acts as a dynamic accumulator, mining a host of nutrients from the soil. These are then made available through its fast growing leaves (up to 4-5 pounds per plant per cut) which, lacking fibre, quickly break down to a thick black liquid. There is also no risk of nitrogen robbery when comfrey is dug into the soil as the C:N ratio of the leaves is lower than that of well-rotted compost. Comfrey is an excellent source of potassium, an essential plant nutrient needed for flower, seed and fruit production. Its leaves contain 2-3 times more potassium than farmyard manure, mined from deep in the subsoil, tapping into reserves that would not normally be available to plants.

It also has a lot of medicinal uses:

This herb is a favorite first aid remedy. It contains a compound called allantoin, which when applied to the skin accelerates the healing of tissue and the closing of wounds.

When fresh leaves or roots are applied to a wound it causes it to contract and close quicker and inhibits the opportunity for infection while minimizing scarring. It is used topically for eczema, dermatitis, viral skin infections and ulcers of the lower leg and to help heal bruises and contusions. https://www.herbalremediesinfo.com/COMFREY.html

In the past comfrey teas were used for coughs and congestions. This is not much done these days because of some concerns re liver toxicity, but the toxicity has only been demonstrated at very high dosages.

[DoubleDogFarm]

[img]https://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h300/eric_wa/Double%20Dog%20Farm%20Fuit%20and%20Nut%20Orchard/ComfreyAug212011004.jpg[/img]
I didn't follow through on the spreading of duck house bedding, but I still might.

August 21 2011 update:

Just a few pictures of the comfrey beds. Not a huge flush of sprouts, they are starting to show.
[img]https://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h300/eric_wa/Double%20Dog%20Farm%20Fuit%20and%20Nut%20Orchard/ComfreyAug212011003.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h300/eric_wa/Double%20Dog%20Farm%20Fuit%20and%20Nut%20Orchard/ComfreyAug212011001.jpg[/img]

I suspect they are from some of the larger intact root crowns.

Eric

[nickolas]

Wow DoubleDogFarm those pics of your new comfrey plants are grate there the ones that you planted on the 6 of august right I ordered my root segments from Rick in America 4 weeks ago and they were cut and posted 3.5 weeks ago I rely hope they haven't died in the mail because I want to propagate from them as soon as they are big and old enough and then propagate from those propagations and propagate from those propagations and keep on propagating all my future comfrey plants until I get somewhere around 4665 Russian comfrey plants on my 30 acer property.

[DoubleDogFarm]

Wow DoubleDogFarm those pics of your new comfrey plants are great. they are the ones that you planted on the 6 of august right. I ordered my root segments from Rick in America 4 weeks ago and they were cut and posted 3.5 weeks ago. I really hope they haven't died in the mail. I want to propagate them as soon as they are big and old enough. then propagate from those propagations and propagate from those propagations and keep on propagating all my future comfrey plants until I get somewhere around 4665 Russian comfrey plants on my 30 acer property.

4665? Is this a magic number?

Eric

[nickolas]

Wow DoubleDogFarm those pics of your new comfrey plants are great. they are the ones that you planted on the 6 of august right. I ordered my root segments from Rick in America 4 weeks ago and they were cut and posted 3.5 weeks ago. I really hope they haven't died in the mail. I want to propagate them as soon as they are big and old enough. then propagate from those propagations and propagate from those propagations and keep on propagating all my future comfrey plants until I get somewhere around 4665 Russian comfrey plants on my 30 acer property.

4665? Is this a magic number?
Gene ID 4665
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/gene/4665
Eric

I have ordered and paid for 40 Russian comfrey root segments from the USA 2 weeks ago and when they get here I am doing to plant them in to a razed bed until the swale on the downhill side of my veggie patch is ready and by the time the swale is ready I will hopefully have grown and propagated enough Russian comfrey from the ones I have ordered by post to fill the swale with Russian comfrey. And according to a 1949 book called Russian comfrey - A hundred tons an acer of stock feed or compost for farms by Lawrence Hills 4665 Russian comfrey plants is the equivalent of one acer of Russian comfrey so I hope that if I propagate by root segments every year from my comfrey plants and I and plant them on every swale as well as many other places on my 30 acer property that I will hopefully in many years to come eventually get an acer worth of Russian comfrey.

[DoubleDogFarm]

Just a quick update on the comfrey planting.
One berm is growing, filling in a little better then the other.

Sept. 7th 2011
[img]https://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h300/eric_wa/Double%20Dog%20Farm%20Fuit%20and%20Nut%20Orchard/ComfreySept7th2011002.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h300/eric_wa/Double%20Dog%20Farm%20Fuit%20and%20Nut%20Orchard/ComfreySept7th2011003.jpg[/img]

Eric

[soil]

the big roots will take hold first. smaller roots emerge later. even if it doesnt completely fill out you can plant some other dynamic accumulators like nettle.

[Pedro]

Remember, it only spreads by root, so don't dig near it if you don't want it to spread. Mix it into your compost generously - it will help 'activate' it. Also,it is used as a poultice for bumps and bruises.

[soil]

it will spread if its official comfrey, by seed. the bocking cultivars are sterile and can only be spread by digging as you mentioned.

[DoubleDogFarm]

I'm pretty sure this is a sterile cultivar. Next summer when it flowers, forms seed heads, I'll collect and test. Not sure it forms seed heads.

Eric