Growing Comfrey (Was RE: How to get the best action out of comfrey root ???)

[Guest guest]

Hi Ylva,

 

Comfrey is easy to grow, really pretty (nice big green leaves), and if

you grow it in a pot or with a border around it, its invasive nature is

not bad ... and if it starts to spread where you don't want it to, just

yank it out by the roots and voila! comfrey root!

 

If you need some in a jiffy and you can't find it I can get you some and

mail it over to you Dried leaves and root ...

 

*Smile*

Chris (list mom)

 

http://www.alittleolfactory.com

 

 

 

-----

First, there is no comfrey leaves to get on this side of the pond ;-)

if I don't cultivate them myself....I will, I promise, but from what

I understand they are pretty invasive, so I need to find something to

keep them in check.

 

<snipped>

Fragrant Blessings,

Ylva

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

At 10:27 AM 11/12/2003 -0600, you wrote:

>

>Hi Ylva,

>

>Comfrey is easy to grow, really pretty (nice big green leaves), and if

>you grow it in a pot or with a border around it, its invasive nature is

>not bad ... and if it starts to spread where you don't want it to, just

>yank it out by the roots and voila! comfrey root!

 

Just make sure you get the C. symphytum and not the uplandicum, for sure.

 

Now, Chris, for you, the bad news. Comfrey grown in the subtropics contains

a very, very high amount of the liver-toxic pyrllizidine alkaloids (PAs)

that can really harm you. It's because we don't get the chilling period.

Somehow I guess, the chilling period up north retards the PAs. I have a

beautiful plant in my yard, about six years old now. It's so weird. It's

not invasive, rarely flowers, just sits there, growing slowly and meekly,

unlike any comfrey I've had before.

 

In a pinch, I might use a leaf for a poultice, but not I buy my leaf and

root from the store, or a supplier in the colder climates.

http://member.newsguy.com/~herblady

[Guest guest]

At 11:43 AM 11/12/2003 -0500, you wrote:

>In a pinch, I might use a leaf for a poultice, but not I buy my leaf and

 

now

 

^^^^

>root from the store, or a supplier in the colder climates.http://member.newsguy.com/~herblady

[Guest guest]

At 11:43 AM 11/12/2003 -0500, you wrote:

>Just make sure you get the C. symphytum and not the uplandicum, for sure.

 

Of course I mean Symphytum officinale and not uplandicum. Just another

brain dead day in hot Miami (no wisecracks about what the heat does to the

thinking processes down here.)

http://member.newsguy.com/~herblady