Re: Comfrey

countrynaturals 7/9/2017, 6:26 pm

Ginger Blue wrote:
sanderson wrote:I just searched for seeds and all I found was "Annie's Heirlooms." Another, a Comfrey farm sells root and crown cuttings. CN, would you be interested in splitting an order of roots or crowns? I'll work up the cost and let you know. I'm thinking 12" pots for mine. Or maybe we could just split a seed packet. Cheaper that way. ??

Sanderson, I purchased a packet of seeds from Outsidepride, last year. I'll be sending some to CN tomorrow and will be happy to share with you, as well. Nothing on the package indicates these are a special variety, so I suspect they're true comfrey and may be invasive unless contained. Let me know if you'd like some.

GB

I really messed up on my seed-starting this year and lost track of what I planted. Turan and Beetles identified these as comfrey, which means they came from you. Thanks, GB. Right now these babies are in the house, safe from our triple-digits. Should I keep them inside and protected or try putting a couple outside in the "real world" to toughen up?
Comfrey - Comfrey - Page 3 Myster11

Today it's too hot to play outside, so I'm binge-watching Youtube garden videos. I just watched one that says to use comfrey leaves as mulch around tomato plants. Anybody try this?

countrynaturals 7/9/2017, 6:32 pm

CapeCoddess wrote:
countrynaturals wrote:The original link is broken, so, why do I want to grow comfrey?

The leaves are a great addition to the compost pile where I use it in place of manure. I cut it back 2 or 3 times a year for that purpose. You can also make comfrey tea to water or spray your plants with.
Medicinal example: I taped a piece of leaf on a festering wound my mother had that wouldn't give up the ghost, and the next day it completely drained and then healed quickly.

This is awesome! I just lost my main manure source -- both of our sweet horses died in the past month and we aren't getting any more. Sad

I still have chicken and rabbit manure, but not in large quantities. If comfrey can be a manure substitute, that is great news. cheers

countrynaturals 7/9/2017, 6:46 pm

camprn wrote:I've comfrey in my garden, dont baby it and it thrives. My advice to those planting your first comfrey, consider carefully where you put it as you will never be able to get rid of it.

That's one of the great things about our hot, dry climate. Nothing can ever spread beyond the boundaries I set, because there's no water. Razz

countrynaturals 7/9/2017, 7:13 pm

trolleydriver wrote:Interestingly, the Government of Canada does not like comfrey and says it is a poison when ingested as a herbal medication because it causes liver damage.

According to Sloan Kettering:

Comfrey contains compounds that are toxic to the liver and can cause liver cancer.

So, if we use it as mulch or in our compost, are we spreading carcinogens to our soil and on to the plants we eat?

BeetlesPerSqFt 7/9/2017, 7:39 pm

countrynaturals wrote:
trolleydriver wrote:Interestingly, the Government of Canada does not like comfrey and says it is a poison when ingested as a herbal medication because it causes liver damage.
According to Sloan Kettering:

Comfrey contains compounds that are toxic to the liver and can cause liver cancer.

So, if we use it as mulch or in our compost, are we spreading carcinogens to our soil and on to the plants we eat?

It seems more likely that bacteria break the compounds down again, detoxifying them.

countrynaturals 7/9/2017, 8:07 pm

BeetlesPerSqFt wrote:
countrynaturals wrote:
trolleydriver wrote:Interestingly, the Government of Canada does not like comfrey and says it is a poison when ingested as a herbal medication because it causes liver damage.
According to Sloan Kettering:

Comfrey contains compounds that are toxic to the liver and can cause liver cancer.

So, if we use it as mulch or in our compost, are we spreading carcinogens to our soil and on to the plants we eat?
It seems more likely that bacteria break the compounds down again, detoxifying them.

I like the sound of that. thanks, Beetles.

BeetlesPerSqFt 7/10/2017, 6:59 am

countrynaturals wrote:
BeetlesPerSqFt wrote:
countrynaturals wrote:
trolleydriver wrote:Interestingly, the Government of Canada does not like comfrey and says it is a poison when ingested as a herbal medication because it causes liver damage.
According to Sloan Kettering:

Comfrey contains compounds that are toxic to the liver and can cause liver cancer.

So, if we use it as mulch or in our compost, are we spreading carcinogens to our soil and on to the plants we eat?
It seems more likely that bacteria break the compounds down again, detoxifying them.
I like the sound of that. thanks, Beetles.

Here's more, I didn't have enough time to find an article last night. The toxic compounds are pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs). This article studied PA degradation from plants other than comfrey - but PAs are all similar molecules so the results are relevant. The scientists say "Pyrrolizidine alkaloids and taxines were shown to degrade completely during the composting process."
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20579691

countrynaturals 7/10/2017, 11:51 am

BeetlesPerSqFt wrote:
countrynaturals wrote:
BeetlesPerSqFt wrote:
countrynaturals wrote:
trolleydriver wrote:Interestingly, the Government of Canada does not like comfrey and says it is a poison when ingested as a herbal medication because it causes liver damage.
According to Sloan Kettering:

Comfrey contains compounds that are toxic to the liver and can cause liver cancer.

So, if we use it as mulch or in our compost, are we spreading carcinogens to our soil and on to the plants we eat?
It seems more likely that bacteria break the compounds down again, detoxifying them.
I like the sound of that. thanks, Beetles.
Here's more, I didn't have enough time to find an article last night. The toxic compounds are pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs). This article studied PA degradation from plants other than comfrey - but PAs are all similar molecules so the results are relevant. The scientists say "Pyrrolizidine alkaloids and taxines were shown to degrade completely during the composting process."
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20579691

**trolleydriver** 7/10/2017, 12:32 pm

In the study, what do they mean by 1200 degrees C cumulative temperature?

BeetlesPerSqFt 7/10/2017, 2:56 pm

trolleydriver wrote:In the study, what do they mean by 1200 degrees C cumulative temperature?

I can't get to the article, but here's a definition
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cumulative%20temperature

The abstract says the cumulative temperature is for about 3 months, so about 90 days. 1200/90 = 13 1/3
If the reference temperature is 42*C, adding 13 gets to 55*C (~131*F.) This temperature makes sense for an average hot composting temperature.

**sanderson** 7/11/2017, 2:12 am

Very interesting.

BeetlesPerSqFt 7/11/2017, 7:13 am

Here's another article relevant to composting poisonous plants:
https://laidbackgardener.wordpress.com/tag/can-you-compost-poisonous-leaves/

Summary - Yes: rhubarb, walnut leaves, foxglove, and nettles No: poison ivy/oak/sumac

CapeCoddess 7/15/2017, 4:02 pm

I just cut down a stock of comfrey and blended the leaves in the Vitamix with some filtered water. I then divided the mix between 3 five gallon buckets of water and proceeded to water my sfg veggies with that. Has anybody tried this? If so, what were the results?
CC

CapeCoddess 11/11/2017, 7:57 am

Sprained both ankles when I fell off the stoop leaving work last night - one slightly, the other a bit more severe. Once home I immediately raised both legs onto pillows and iced. Then applied comfrey salve.

This morning I found this lovely video about how to make a poultice using comfrey:
http://ancestralthunder.com/heal-a-sprain-with-comfrey/

Seems a bit messy to me, and so far the salve is working beautifully, but if I ever need to bring out the big guns, this may be the way to go.

I I love you

comfrey.

**AtlantaMarie** 11/11/2017, 8:31 am

Oh, CC! So sorry to hear this! And glad the salve is working...

**sanderson** 11/11/2017, 5:17 pm

Ouch, sounds like something I would do! Sad

Thank you for the comfrey info.

**llama momma** 6/2/2018, 12:19 pm

I have comfrey available if anyone is interested. It's true in that it's very hardy ! Sorry the pic is sideways.
Comfrey - Comfrey - Page 3 20180610

**sanderson** 6/2/2018, 4:13 pm

I successfully sprouted seeds sent to me. I was think of planting them in the 3'x3' backyard flower bed. They would be perennials, hopefully. Zone 9A. ??

ronbart 6/2/2018, 8:12 pm

sanderson wrote:I successfully sprouted seeds sent to me. I was think of planting them in the 3'x3' backyard flower bed. They would be perennials, hopefully. Zone 9A. ??

How did you sprout your seeds? Did you have to chill them first? I tried to start some from seed this spring and had no luck. Luckily I found started pots at a small local nursery. I have some seed left and want to try again.

**sanderson** 6/2/2018, 11:36 pm

I started them in small plastic seedling pots with Mel's Mix. Watered from the bottom. I hope you have good luck.

OhioGardener 4/18/2020, 9:10 am

CapeCoddess wrote:I just cut down a stock of comfrey and blended the leaves in the Vitamix with some filtered water. I then divided the mix between 3 five gallon buckets of water and proceeded to water my sfg veggies with that. Has anybody tried this? If so, what were the results?
CC

While searching to see if anyone does Comfrey Tea fertilizer, and came across this post from days gone by. I've never done put them in the Vitamix to grind them up, but last year I did make Comfrey Tea by just filling a 5 gallon bucket with Comfrey leaves (stems were cut off), filling the bucket with well water, put a lid on it and let it set for 4 weeks. I then strained the liquid out of the bucket and mixed it at the ratio of one quart of the tea with two gallons of water. It made great fertilizer for the peppers, tomatoes, kale, and chard. But, it wouldn't be good for root crops as it would force lots of top growth with small roots. The tea is reported to be a good source of phosphorous and potassium, with trace amounts of nitrogen, manganese, and calcium.

I am thinking of starting another batch of Comfrey Tea to use in fertilizing the young plants after they are transplanted in the beds. If I start a bucket of the leaves now, it will be ready for fertilizing the plants by the end of May. The plants are currently about a foot high, so I could easily get a five gallon bucket full of the leaves.

lvanderb 4/18/2020, 7:54 pm

Thanks for the reminder to make comfrey tea to give my plants nitrogen! I've been growing comfrey for a while - hahaha when I first planted it, I was so nervous, I dug it up again and put it on our yard waste pile...then I did some more research and planted the comfrey a couple of days later.

Now that I have fruit trees, I'm growing cuttings out and planting with the trees.

I'm also taking comfrey cuttings and growing them out a bit and selling them, after I saw how hard they are to get. My comfrey is just starting to grow - our last frost day is May24ish, so it is a bit frost tolerant.

Linda

OhioGardener 4/18/2020, 8:30 pm

That is great, Linda!

lvanderb 4/23/2020, 4:13 pm

Well now, I'm planning to edge my wood chip gardens with comfrey to stop the encroachment of grass into the wood chips. I hope this help! I might also add blood red sorrel behind the comfrey, making the outer edge of my wood chip areas more of a permaculture area.

Linda

**Kelejan** 4/23/2020, 4:46 pm

Sounds a good idea Linda. Keep us posted as to how it pans out as we like to follow the progress of ideas. Very Happy

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