If you have animals, need a great fertilizing cover mulch or are ever in need of a healing salve, then you really need to get up close and personal with Comfrey! A good friend gave me some little potted up Comfrey starts last Fall and I planted them in the middle of my herb garden where I could baby them. HA BAAAA HAAA! I laugh about that now.
I was so pleased to see them poke their little heads out of the earth in Spring. But then they GREW and GREW! I chopped it down and fed it to my rabbits and chickens. It grew back.
I chopped and dropped it as a nitrogen rich fertilizer/ mulch under my plants. It grew back.
I cut some and made it into a healing salve and still it grew! You get the idea.This is a beast of a plant that has many wonderful uses on the homestead.
Warning for the urban homestead: put your baby starts somewhere fitting for the beasts that they will become. Um, yeah, probably NOT right in middle of your herb garden.
Don’t get me wrong, I am loving every leaf I get! See this beast for yourself in my video. I explain about the different types of Comfrey in the video and link up to a place where you can buy your own in the description. Fall is the best time to get started with comfrey. So order your plants or seeds and get to know your new best homestead helper!
Links to more info on Comfrey and Calendula, where to get it and how to make a healing salve out of it:
9 herbs to grow for healing salve; https://www.oakhillhomestead.com/2018/03/9-plants-for-your-salve-garden.html
Making salves and ointments:https:https://www.oakhillhomestead.com/2016/06/making-salves-and-ointments.html
All about Comfrey podcast by Harold Thornbro: https://smalltownhomestead.com/all-about-comfrey-on-the-homestead-2/
Where to buy comfrey: https://marshcreekfarmstead.clickfunnels.com/squeeze-page-11353955?affiliate_id=653857
How to get free wood chips to start a garden bed: https://youtu.be/NH-OcHjyPfM
Dash, thanks for the info. Can comfrey handle full texas sun or does it do better in part shade?
Ha ha! I did almost the same thing: mine is along the edge of my 4×8′ herb bed, and it takes up way more than its share of space! I guess the secret is to keep it cut back all the time. But it’s worth the space, it’s a real workhorse, isn’t it?
I have it in full sun. I doesn’t even look stressed after weeks of 100 F heat! I also don’t water my herb bed very much and the soil is not that great. Mine is called common comfrey so I don’t know about the Russian kinds? Good question!
I am glad someone else way under estimates the grown size of things! I love your detailed posts about how to make salve out of it.