Author Topic: Scared of comfrey (Read 8756 times)

bupster · « **on:** March 30, 2006, 12:45:09 »

I'm tempted by comfrey (again) but I don't really have the confidence to go ahead and buy some - most of the threads, advice etc that I've read keep warning that once you've put comfrey somewhere it's there for life. Has anyone got a comfrey patch? Did you put it in the right place first time? Have you ever regretted planting it? Should I screw my courage to the post?

flowerlady · « **Reply #1 on:** March 30, 2006, 12:57:03 »

Go for it ;D

I actually went looking for it last year. ;) I now have it planted at the back of my compost pens. :)

I'm sure you know it has long roots. This means the plants pull up all the goodies from below the heaps beside them.

Then it's comfrey tea and mulch away ;D

bupster · « **Reply #2 on:** March 30, 2006, 13:00:47 »

That's an idea. Maybe I could plant it as a border around my manure (fresh) and compost (currently theoretical) heaps. They'll be more or less permanent, I'd have thought.

Berty · « **Reply #3 on:** March 30, 2006, 14:10:38 »

I inherited a huge comfrey plant with my new house. The allotment has a real rough patch of ground by the road side that even weed have trouble making a living in. I dug out the plant from home. It came out quite easily although it left a big hole. I turned the ground over round the where the plant was and pulled out any bits of root I found. I dug out any bits that showed the next year and then the patch was cleared of comfrey.

At the allotment I cleved the comfrey into bits with my spade and planted in the rough ground with a bit of manure. I did this work in the winter and the very next spring fresh growth was thrown up. Since then it has gone from strength to strength.

I harvest about half the growth to go the potato trenches with the main crop or with the peas. If it get unruly in late summer I slash it to the ground and compost or mulch. I find it very useful and would dedicate a bed to it if I had to.

robkb · « **Reply #4 on:** March 30, 2006, 14:30:49 »

I inherited a few patches of it on the edge of my allotment, they're pretty big plants but if you can apparently harvest it several times a year. It's brilliant as comfrey 'tea' and one of the old boys at my site swears by it as a compost activator. Only thing to remember is how vomit-inducing the smell of comfrey tea is! :P :P

Cheers,
Rob ;)

Sprout · « **Reply #5 on:** March 30, 2006, 15:22:39 »

I bought some last year from the Organic Gardening catelogue and dedicated a permanent bed to it which runs along the edge of my plot at 90 degrees to the veg beds. Too early to say if I regret getting them but I doubt that I ever will due to it's very handy properties.

Go on, go for it. You know you want to.

delboy · « **Reply #6 on:** March 30, 2006, 15:52:04 »

I also bought plants from the Organic Gardening Catalogue and put them next to my main compost bin having dug out an area of 6' X 4' and made sure it was around 6-8" below the level of the neighbouring ground so that it would be wetter, as comfrey is basically a marsh plant.

Even in its first year I took 4 harvests from it.

The wilderness plot next door has a colony of wild comfrey, and that means there is lots by mid to late April for making the "tea" and for it to go in with spuds.

It really is great stuff, and I am going to dig out some of the wild stuff and give it a crack in better soil with tlc added.

waggi · « **Reply #7 on:** March 30, 2006, 16:12:15 »

what does it look like

what can you use it for

is it like mint and takes over

i lost my last site and now have a new one to start with on the 1st april

come on april

waggi

deboydoyd · « **Reply #8 on:** March 31, 2006, 10:36:03 »

has anyone got a photo of any, my allotment neighbour told me I have some on my plot but I don't know what it should look like.

CityChick · « **Reply #9 on:** March 31, 2006, 10:55:28 »

Oh that is a good idea, planting it right next to the compost heaps. Thank goodness I'm late and haven't planted mine yet (scuttles off to change lottie plan yet again ;D)

supersprout · « **Reply #10 on:** March 31, 2006, 10:55:47 »

Sorry for the huge pic, but thought detail of the thumbnail might be useful ::)

This is my Bocking comfrey last September (with stray dwarf bean). It has its own bed, and handy compost bin ;) Also has HUGE tap root, where it gets the nourishment in its leaves, so once planted it's there forever.

Bocking doesn't flower, so you don't get seeds everywhere. I imagine if you had wild comfrey you could cut off the flowering spikes.

It is coming through now, a sign that it's time to plant spuds, each wrapped in its own comfrey leaf :P

Quote from: Sprout on March 30, 2006, 15:22:39

Go on, go for it. You know you want to.

If you've got it in the right place, lucky you! ;D

MutantHobbit · « **Reply #11 on:** April 04, 2006, 00:12:11 »

Actually, I swear that's the stuff growing in huge patches by the stream in my local park... I'm gonna investigate!
(Grabs mac and dark glasses...) ;D

Robert_Brenchley · « **Reply #12 on:** April 04, 2006, 07:46:37 »

It probably is; that would be a typical comfrey habitat.

jeanaustin · « **Reply #13 on:** April 04, 2006, 21:11:32 »

I've got a Comfrey patch on my plot - my Comfrey is the flowering type and I cut it down before it gets to flowering size (apart from one plant which I let flower as the bumble bees love it) and use the first cutting of the season to make an organic fertilizer - put the leaves into a bucket and cover the top of the bucket; leave for two to three weeks, during which it will rot down, then pour off the liquid into containers (its very smelly!); dilute to use - about one part Comfrey juice to eight parts water. Subsequent cuts are put into the compost heap and are good compost accelerators.

MrsKP · « **Reply #14 on:** April 04, 2006, 23:35:00 »

i'm awaiting my delivery. i know where it's going and what it's going to do but am impatient to get it started.

:-\

waggi · « **Reply #15 on:** April 05, 2006, 17:22:30 »

hey there

well would comfry be a good thing in a area that is quite damp

as part off my plot is well quite wet

just a thought

waggi

jeanaustin · « **Reply #16 on:** April 05, 2006, 17:27:09 »

Comfrey plants would love and thrive in the damp area on your plot; it's often found growing on river banks.

waggi · « **Reply #17 on:** April 05, 2006, 17:30:46 »

ok that is settled

where can i get some from

is it quite quick to grow

does it spread like mint

waggi

MrsKP · « **Reply #18 on:** April 05, 2006, 18:06:03 »

i ordered my from The Organic Gardening Catalogue , 0845 130 1304, they've said delivery April, but I'm still sitting here twiddling me thumbs.

::)

euronerd · « **Reply #19 on:** April 05, 2006, 20:23:28 »

I do it all wrong. Cut it down usually after it's flowered, mainly as jeanaustin said, to attract the bees, then chuck the whole lot in a dustbin full of water and dip the watering can in occasionally, after de-scumming. The results aren't noticeably different from when I painstakingly collected the concentrate and then diluted it. Just a thought for the - er - less energetic of us.

Geoff.

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Author Topic: Scared of comfrey (Read 8756 times)