Allotments 4 All
Allotment Stuff => The Basics => Topic started by: bupster on March 30, 2006, 12:45:09
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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?
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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
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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.
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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.
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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 ;)
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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.
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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.
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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
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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.
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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)
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Sorry for the huge pic, but thought detail of the thumbnail might be useful ::)
(http://img438.imageshack.us/img438/2176/plotsep055comfreycompost5ov.th.jpg) (http://img438.imageshack.us/my.php?image=plotsep055comfreycompost5ov.jpg)
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
Go on, go for it. You know you want to.
If you've got it in the right place, lucky you! ;D
(http://img92.imageshack.us/img92/4909/plotsep055comfreycompost9ce.jpg) (http://imageshack.us)
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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
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It probably is; that would be a typical comfrey habitat.
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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.
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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.
:-\
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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
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Comfrey plants would love and thrive in the damp area on your plot; it's often found growing on river banks.
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ok that is settled
where can i get some from
is it quite quick to grow
does it spread like mint
waggi
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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.
::)
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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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Waggi
Don't buy it ~ i have been up to the lottie this evening and see that i have a 'new' growth, send me your address by pm and i will gladly
send you abit of the root, the only thing is ~ is that i won't be up the lottie till middle of next week, but that
shouldn't pose a problem. Let me know.
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Think I have comfrey after reading this thread. Mines has bright blue flowers though ???
The leaves etc are identical to the photos, do comfreys have bright blue flowers?
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There is a bright blue variety, I have some. But it's normally various shades of purple. Can you post a pic?
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I'll try off hubby's phone. It's a root I took from my mums and as far as i know it
has beautiful blue flowers and some purple along a stem that is slightly curled. The
leaves have a hairy papery texture. Am looking forward to it flowering this Summer.
:D
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Here it is ....
(http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j29/sairasahmad/8d0612ed.jpg)
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Could be a small one; what size does it grow to? It doesn't really look like typical comfrey.
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I'm probably wrong but I'm sure I've got weeds like this on my plot. My comfrey leaves are rather narrow and pointed.
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It looks like pictures I've seen of comfrey. Do the different varieties have different leaf shapes?
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Anyone tried growing comfrey in a big pot? Or would the roots be just too big?
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No doubt it would survive, but it's a massive plant. Think of something the size of rhubarb; how would that be able to flourish in a pot?
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Anyone tried growing comfrey in a big pot? Or would the roots be just too big?
I've never tried this, scuffs (see Robert's post) but several of my gardening books recommend planting comfrey in pots - like planting mint in pots - to make sure it doesn't get 'out of control' :o 8)
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???
Pinched a few bits of comfrey from my old plot and stuck it in on Tuesday. Its been well watered by torrential rain yesterday, looked tonight and it seems ok. Do the experts think it will be ok?!!
???
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I'd lay odds on it katy, comfrey definitely has a Will to Live ;)
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Hi All,
Love the stuff.
Someone gave me a few seeds 20yrs. ago & I now have a 30 by 8ft. bed. at the bottom(damp) end of one of my plots.
Use it for spuds/compost accelerator/tea et al.
Recommend it to anyone!
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Cardinalflower: borage looks similar to comfrey in many ways - hairy leaves, can have blue flowers, and a similar shaped bush, if you can call it that. The easiest way to identify borage is to sniff it: smells like cucumber. There's loads of pics (of both) on an image search. I've no idea what you use borage for, btw. ;D
Geoff.
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Geoff,
If you do not know the uses of Borage you haven't lived!!
I'll let the oldfarts expand on this, but if you haven't tried wakky baccy then this is for you! (You don't smoke it).
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am all ears :o
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Now what am I supposed to say to a reply like that tel? ;D That's pure cruelty. ;D I'm going to stay logged on now till the 'old farts' expound. I've masses of the stuff.
Geoff.
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I'll try and send a pic when it's abig bigger, defo not a weed tho!
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I've no idea what you use borage for, btw. ;D
I will be growing borage with my toms this year. It's supposed to be a good companion to tomatoes, squash and strawberries, deter tomato pests and improve growth and flavour. We'll see!
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I had borage down as a weed - wish I'd never got rid of it now:
http://www.purplesage.org.uk/profiles/borage.htm
Restricted in Australia and New Zealand? :o Must have something going for it then.
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Hiya,
just looked at the borage plant geoff, I definitely don't have borage, I'll post a pic in a few weeks time on the plant i have and maybe you guys can give me a clue what it is. all i know is that it has gorgous blue and purplish flowers and spread like mad. Mine is a new plant and this is it's first Spring in my garden!
Thanks alot all :D
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I planted a bit of borage the first year I had the plot, and it's now a weed. I do let a bit grow though, where it isn't in the way.
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This is how my comfrey looks now (top right) sprouting again after winter. When the comfrey came up was always my mum's signal to the Gardener's Assistant to plant the spuds, a comfrey leaf went in the hole with each seed spud (can't remember why). Does anyone know what the connection/benefit is supposed to be? ::)
(http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e220/supersprout/comfrey2006_sprouting.jpg)
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Supersprout,
Full of minerals etc. from being brought up from the depth that the roots reach. Excellent compost accelerator & liquid feed.
Back to borage - use it as an infusion! Gives you a lift, know what I mean?
Hears to you!
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Hey telboy, could do wiv some of that borage uplift! Leaves in the pot, like tea, or flowers, or both? SSx
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Leaves. Great stuff. It's also good for liquid manure.
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Have you tasted borage as an infusion ss? It is ABSOLUTELY FOUL. :o Might as well be drinking liquid manure. I hope that's not what telboy meant:
...If you do not know the uses of Borage you haven't lived!!
;D
Geoff.
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Thanks for the tip euronerd. All herbal teas taste foul to me. But will give it a go anyhoo when the borage come up. Roll on Summer! :-X :P ;D
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I'm just reading a book at the moment called 'Close To The Veg: A Book Of Allotment Tales' by Michael Rand. A very funny read and there's a 20 page chapter or so on the benifits of comfrey... which he concludes are few (I'm not going to be popular now, lol)... He traipses through each use of the plant and seems to methodically disprove them, with apparently good reason. He suggests using seaweed extract as a relatively odourless alternative to comfrey tea and his findings for a dissertation that potato yields were actually lower when planted with a comfrey leaf are now in the HDRA library.
Just thought it'd be worth a mention as I was all ready to go out and get some. Think I'll keep saving for that womery. :)
(And apologies to anyone whose back I have just well and truly rubbed up the wrong way, lol) .
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LOL@CC, that reminds me of another sacred cow.
My saintly friends would always offer to pray for me whenever I got poorly, and I was properly grateful. However I read an article in the New Scientist about 18 months ago which compared poorly people who were prayed for and people who weren't. The people who weren't did slightly better :-[ :'(
Will carry on using comfrey and receiving prayers nevertheless ;)
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lol@supersprout, I like that... so if I 'think' comfrey, it'll do just as well. ;)
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Supersprout,
A bit more on the Borage front.
A herbalist, Gerard says
- "the leaves and flowers of borage, put into wine, make men and women glad and merry and drive away all sadness, dulnesse and melancholy".
- It is an essential garnish for Pimms.
- An infusion of the leaves(a heaped teaspoon or more per cup) with boiling water and left for five minutes before straining is good hot or iced with lemon and sugar.
Hope you get to try it.
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I certainly will tel, as well as all the drivinge away melancholie it is said to have precise medicinal benefits I'm looking for. Seeds are poised! And thanks for getting me started on this track :)
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I've been 'rummaging' round our allotment avenues today looking for nettles to add to water butts and I found a plant that I THINK might be comfrey??!!??
I've tried Googling images of comfrey and the basic leaf shape/plant spread is the same. But it's got hairy leaves, white spots and small purple flower buds on it. Do you think it's comfrey???
I was about to dig the whole lot up and plant it in my allotment then I thought .... MAYBE NOT :o Ask the experts first!
Over to you!
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Got a picture trixie?
I don't think comfrey would have white spots. Is the leaf surface smooth or hairy?
Sounds a bit like viper's bugloss?
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Is it a pulmonaria? sounds like one I have growing in garden.
See this link for a picture...
http://www.broadleighbulbs.co.uk/images/spring/miscnp/pulmfrughling.jpg
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hello trixiebelle
Im no expert but im 99.9% sure the plant you have seen is Lungwort (pulmonaria).If you look on google you can see some pics.
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Thanks Sprouty, Debs and Slippy! Yes, it is in fact lungwort. But someone today gave me a huge root of comfrey that they've dug out of their garden and it's split into 15 bits to plant :D Can't decide where to plant it though ... decisions, decisions ::)