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podster wrote: Sorry Paulwheaton ~ I am on dialup and do not have the option of watching youtube excerpts.
But Porkpal, if there is a lobby, I want in on it. I grow and use comfrey.
Cajun ~ if you make a tea of its' leaves it serves as an excellent fertilizer to water plants with. It also is a beneficial addition to a compost pile so would probably benefit the fruit trees by adding nutrients to the soil.
I also use salves (commercial preparations) for healing skin wounds. It is amazing how quickly it aids healing. It used to be used internally but has since been considered a carcinogen. It is now recommended for external use only.
I suspect we will continue to see the FDA becoming less receptive to various herbs and supplements used in preventive health care. The logic is not there. One would think the FDA, AMA and all the other alphabet agencies would encourage preventive health maintenance rather than discourage it.
This was an excerpt from an earlier DG article by Sallyg
Quoting: Garden uses
Comfrey is very useful in a very different way for farmers and gardeners. Growers can use comfrey leaves to make a fantastic, potassium rich, compost additive or liquid "tea" fertilizer. Tough far-ranging roots make Symphytum hardy, and hard to remove. But those same roots extract vital potassium (the K in fertilizer's N-P-K) from deep soil layers and it is distributed throughout the comfrey plant. Plants need potassium for many metabolic functions; keeping crops supplied with potassium is essential for their overall health, and flower and fruit production and quality. Comfrey roots also hold extra potassium.
I've looked through several pages of "hits," trying to find a university-based page about using comfrey plant parts in the garden. So far I haven't found one. I have found numerous links to discussions, anecdotes, and even videos on making and using comfrey leaf tea or juice. The general idea is this: harvest a lot of comfrey leaves, fill a bucket with them and let them rot. Then drain off the resulting dark liquor. Dilute it and use it as fertilizer, foliar feed or compost boosting liquid. The-Organic-Gardener.com says that raw comfrey leaf tea has an N-P-K ratio of about 8:3:20. That site recommends diluting the tea with fifteen to twenty parts of water before pouring or spraying it on garden beds or crops. Another writer dilutes with only ten parts of water. Without more specific advice, you'll have to use your judgement. Understand that the nutrients in diluted comfrey tea are soluble and quickly absorbed by plants. Frequent applications of a weak tea are better for the plant's health than one concentrated treatment. One other caution: hold off on comfrey tea treatment until plants are near maturity (ready to flower or set fruit.) Younger plants are more sensitive to excess nutrients that alter their growth.
If comfrey tea isn't quite your cup of tea, reap the gardener's benefits of comfrey by using freshly cut leaves. The leaves are unusually high in potassium, and contain nitrogen (N) and phosphorous (P) as well. Established comfrey plants can be cut close to the ground a few times each summer and will rebound without harm. Use the fresh leaves as a mulch, or chop them and mix them into the soil near growing plants. Use juicy green comfrey leaves to balance the dry "browns" of your compost. Comfrey roots hold potassium too, but might resprout. Roots can be used if completely dried. If you plan to harvest comfrey in quantity, keep your plants thriving by supplying them with plenty of water, sun, and rich soil.
Not the best photo but comfrey has beautiful ornamental flowers also... |
