Comfrey [100% veg*n ] Digest Number 413

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>

> On a horticultural note, Graham, what do you make of comfrey? i planted a

> little organic seedling who is rapidly becoming a bush

 

Comfrey (Symphytum officinale) is generally grown from root cuttings- the most

useful variety is Bocking 14 or Russian Comfrey, which was championed by

Lawrence D

Hills, founder of the Henry Doubleday Research Association www.hdra.org.uk

 

- but mostly slug

> food.

 

CAT (centre For Alternative Technology) actaully published a leaflet all about

using comfrey as a slug attractant- their reasoning, if I remember, being that a

pile of cut comfrey leaves placed near your crops will attract masses of slugs

which will congregate underneath- you can then collect up the slugs with ease

and

take whatever course of action you deem appropriate or necessary, depending upon

your reverence for the lives of slugs :-)

 

and i am not friend to slug either. it kind of looks much like the

> stuff that lines the nearby canal bank.

 

Comfrey grows wild in just such an environment. It's unlikely to be the Bocking

14

variety however. personally I wouldn't advise digging up these plants and

transplanting them to your garden tho as they would most likely self seed and

spreade all over the place (one of the reasons B14 is favoured is that it is

sterile and non spreading, and can be propogated only from root cuttings)

 

i know that you can make tea out

> of it, the leaves I take it.

 

There have been cautions about ingesting comfrey internally- aparently it is

suspected of causing liver damage- though I'm sure small amounts shouldn't be a

problem

 

but is it right that it is good just for

> compositing or something?

 

Comfrey has many uses, primarily these are medicinal (it's synonyms include

'knitbone', 'boneset' and 'healing herb')

also as a liquid feed or compost ingrediant- it is very deep rooting, hence

pulls

up many nutrients from the subsoil. Leaves can be harvested up to 4 or 5 times a

year and either pressed to obtain a black liquid feed which should be diluted @

15:1 with water, or the leaves can be directly rotted down in rainwater (with

nettle leaves as well if you like), the resulting strong smelling brew also used

as

a plant food (again dilute it down as it may otherwise be too strong and damage

your plants).

It's also valuable as a wildlife attractant (bees love it) and has some value as

a

barrier to other undesirable plants (eg, couch grass) encroaching onto your plot

when planted all around. It's also said to be a good poultry food but I geuss

vegans won't be too concerned about that aspect of it's usefullness!

 

Personally I feel that growing plenty of comfrey is the back bone to any vegan

organic gardening system and plant as much as I can!

 

Once your plants are established, take root cuttings (just dig a lump up and

break

it into smaller pieces) and plant these around, they will all take- once you've

got

comfrey you'll never get rid of it (not that you'd want to!)

 

More at

 

http://www.futurefoods.com/comfrey.htm

 

http://www.comp.leeds.ac.uk/cgi-bin/pfaf/arr_html?Symphytum+officinale

 

http://www.ghorganics.com/page34.html

 

Grow for it John!

 

Graham

www.landandliberty.co.uk