.......;)
Will my comfrey recover?
please send a map...........
:D
Glad to see so many comfrey experts in this thread. I hope you can give me some advice. I have 5 big, beautiful plants (ordered the roots from an organic farm in Oregon) ... Should I cut them back or just let them die back? They have already bloomed and dropped their flowers. The heat is taking a bit of a toll, but they are huge. I really should freeze a bunch of the leaves, but wondered about cutting back the entire stems? Thanks for your help. I love these guys and don't want to hurt them.
:)
I've cut off the flower stalks when they flower, and they reflower. My understanding is that if you've let the flowers drop, you've assured yourself a crop of comfrey for next year. I hope someone will chime in on the pruning question, though.
Cut those bad boys down, pop them in a blender, add some distilled water if needed to thin it out a bit. Pour in ice cube trays and freeze. Then pop them out and put them in a freezer bag...viola! You now have a fresh supply of comfrey for the winter. BTW, besides the medicinal uses, some folks use it as a thickening agent for soups and stews, full of protein and calcium and so much better than flour or cornstarch...
Now THAT'S good advice! Thanks!
I use mine mainly for compost and cut it down about three times. It regrows quickly. I make comfrey tea as a high potash feed for tomatoes etc. If there is plenty I just put the cut stalks as a mulch under fruit trees. If it is early enough I put some chopped in the bottom of the potato trenches when I plant them. It is also a very good lure for slugs - just cut some and put a heap on ground cleared before you want to sow seed or plant it up. The slugs love it and so you can catch them and dispose of them to reduce their numbers before your seedlings appear. It is also good to activate the compost heap. The variety I grow is Bocking 14 which doesn't set seed but is easily propagated from root cuttings.
I also use it medicinally mainly as a poultice or cream as I know someone who made themselves very ill by taking it internally as a tea, in salads and also mixed with cooked green vegetables. They obviously had too much, but did not think they were overdoing it. So it is best to err on the side of caution.
I personally love the beer in a pie tin for the slugs....
Those lushes just can't help themselves and the next morning I find a group of them drowned in the tin, makes me laugh every time....