Comfrey, scientific name Symphytum officinale, is an ubiquitous and quintessential element in the permaculture ecosystem. It's a perennial plant in my zone, which is nice because that means it will grow back year after year in my region . If you would like to learn more about comfrey, check out the following websites: Mother Earth News, The Spruce, and Wikipedia.
The reason it is often found in the permaculturist's repertoire is not just because it is very {and I do mean VERY} easy to grow. It's because it is considered a plant that pulls vital nutrients from deep within the soil into it's leaves. When the leaves are "chopped and dropped", cut down then laid around as a mulch, the nutrients are great feeders for other plants.
Wikipedia says:
Comfrey is an excellent source of potassium, an essential plant nutrient needed for flower, seed and fruit production. Its leaves contain 2–3 times more potassium than farmyard manure, mined from deep in the subsoil, tapping into reserves that would not normally be available to plants
This is the primary reason I see people growing it. While it's not edible because it causes liver toxicity, it is widely used in ointments and topical teas for bone pain, broken bones, sprains, etc.
I purchased an infertile variety of comfrey known as Russian Comfrey from MARSH CREEK FARMSTEAD after watching a short video from the ART AND BRI Youtube channel, which is a channel I really enjoy. This kind does not propagate by seeds, although it can and does spread easily by its very hardy and persistent roots. So, be mindful where you plant it as it can be very hard to get rid of once it's established because just a sliver of root left in the ground can potentially sprout. Of course, in permaculture, that's part of the appeal of this plant. Still, look to the future design and plan of your growing space so you are not frustrated later.
I have to say that I am very happy with my purchase because this comfrey is growing so well. After receiving it I was concerned I was going to run into the same problem as I did with the Sunchokes because I couldn't plant them right away and they were already sprouting. They were short sections of tough hairy dark roots. They looked like roughly one inch damp sticks. The instructions said not to plant them during the hottest time of the summer and to start them in pots.
Well, me being me, I ignored that advice. Good news, every single root cutting is growing. Maybe a little too good considering where I planted them. I planted them in any small open area in my "spiral garden" not expecting them to grow so fast. They are quickly taking over in size. The plan was always to move them. These were just temporary locations until the fall when I hope to have their permanent locations prepped. Well, they are growing so fast I might have to move them much earlier then I planned.
Here are what my comfrey plants look like as of today in the straw bale where the whole area was planted with about 12 cuttings spaced about 3 inches apart. Oops. It's not like the instructions said to plant them farther apart. sarcasm
This was last week after I had pruned off the largest of the leaves. There are so many leaves growing from the cuttings that I wanted to make sure they don't out compete each other before I get a chance to transplant them into their permanent homes. I threw a few leaves around the zucchini squash and at the base of the newly planted fruit trees.
This was two weeks ago before I pruned off the largest leaves. All those holes in the leaves are from hail damage from a storm. It's not super clear here, but in the time these comfrey root cuttings have been planted to now, this straw bale soil has shrunk in half!!! It has almost collapsed to the ground from all of the nutrients the plants have sucked out of it.
This picture is also from today from another straw bale that had open space. The comfrey is quickly overtaking the common white yarrow root that was transplanted. To the right of the comfrey are strawberry runners I pushed into the soil to get them to root. We bought 25 overwintered strawberry roots this spring and killed every single one of them.
A couple months later I found a really nice hanging planter with lots of shoots, hoping to propagate enough to make up for the mistake in the spring. I think they will be fine here next to the comfrey, but I'm not sure about the yarrow. That's okay, though, because there are probably at least 200 other yarrow roots here I can transplant. I know now that the yarrow roots are easy to transplant, which was the main purpose of putting them here in this straw bale, anyway.
This picture is flipped around but is the same planter as the above picture, two weeks ago just after the strong storm with nickel sized hail. THAT'S HOW BIG AND FAST COMFREY GROWS!
Ignore the puny onions that were damaged and stopped growing after that hail. This is another "open spot" in the spiral garden I thought I could fill in with comfrey root. Well, it's obviously going to have to go somewhere else if I want to use this space for a fall garden. Which of course I do because I have nowhere else even remotely prepared to plant.
And the final picture is what the comfrey looked like 10 days after planting. That is a month ago. Keep in mind, I have pruned off the largest lower leaves now at least 3 times.
As you can see, comfrey is a fast vigorous plant. I'm glad I didn't just pop them in the ground in some random spot. I am definitely looking forward to getting them into their forever home, although truthfully I'm still not sure where that is going to be lol. Probably close to the newly planted fruit trees. The thing is, I'm having an incredibly difficult time making any progress digging holes, amending soil, planting, weeding, keeping up with the bugs. Everything has pretty much gone wild.
That's why I want a permaculture food forest. I'm really not cut out for intensive gardening. Landscaping? Forget about it! Someone else has to do almost all of that as it is. So, the sooner this place is planted with plants that can basically fend for themselves, grow year after year, the better. Yes, I know. Fruit trees and orchards aren't easy. They require pruning, pest and disease patrol, etc. But, the fundamental goal of a permaculture food forest is to create a nature mimicking, or nature regulating, food jungle to attract beneficial insects and animals, everything balancing it each other out without the need for micromanagement. That's the goal. I'm increasingly frustrated that we are not making faster progress but I know that when everything is implemented, much of the stress will be reduced.
Okay, that's all for this post. If you found this post enjoyable, please consider upvoting, resteeming, following, and commenting! Thank you kindly for reading...
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Here are previous posts of mine:
STORIES:
BAREFOOT IN THE BOONIES: EXPOSING MY ROOTS (introduction post)
BAREFOOT IN THE BOONIES: Chapter 1
BAREFOOT IN THE BOONIES: FAMILY OWNED: Chapter 1 Section 2
BAREFOOT IN THE BOONIES: ABANDONED BASEMENT: Chapter 1 Section 2
BAREFOOT IN THE BOONIES: REWIND: GROWING UP WITH TURNTABLES
2011 GARDEN:
2011: DESIGN AND BUILD
2011 BACKYARD TRELLIS, PERIMETER, & VOLUNTEER
2011 TIRE PORTION OF THE GARDEN
2011 BRASSICAS-TIRE GARDEN
2011 DWARF ORCHARD
RECIPES:
SANTA DELIVERED SHROOMS-SHITAKE OYSTER SCRAMBLE
SWEET CINNAMON POPCORN
MOCK ALMOND JOY--CHEAPER AND HEALTHIER
HANGRY TERIYAKI
RASHES--WHY I SWITCHED TO THIS COMMON DIY LAUNDRY SOAP AND HOW I MAKE IT
SCRAMBLED EGGS WITH FORAGED FINDS: FIRST FOOD FORAGE OF 2018
WHAT'S FOR DINNER? BEETS ME! FIRST GARDEN HARVEST AND RECIPE
POEMS:
WATCHING THE SPRING WAKE UP
SHE IS DYING
WEEPING WILLOW
LIGHTS OUT BABY ROBIN
PLANTS AND ANIMALS-EDUCATIONAL:
GRASS IS OUR FRIEND
LITTLE BLUESTEM--BENEFICIAL AND BEAUTIFUL
BEHOLD THE BEAUTY OF THE FALSE INDIGO BUSH
WALK ALONG WITH ME:
WALK ALONG WITH ME 1
WALK ALONG WITH ME 2--WINTER 2017/2018
2018:
WILD TURKEY TAIL AND REISHI MUSHROOMS
HUGELKULTUR BED STARTED BUT THERE IS A LOGISTICAL OBSTACLE.
2018 CURRENT HAPPENINGS: FOOD FOREST EXPANSION
WILD EDIBLES AROUND THE HOMESTEAD
GRANNY SMITH APPLE FINALLY GOT SOME LOVE
PICKED MY FIRST PINT OF WILD NATIVE BLACK RASPBERRIES
TRANSPLANTING WILD PURPLE GARLIC PART 1
ORCHARD: PLANNING, PREPPING, AND PLANTING
WILD PURPLE GARLIC TRANSPLANT UPDATE
ZONE 2 OF THE FOOD FOREST
CONTESTS/REVIEWS
Chronic and Coffee MSP Review--25 SBD contest for the best MSPWAVES Radio Reviews
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Woohoo! I love comfrey :) They are such amazing plants.. I also planted my first ever comfreys in the middle of summer and they thrived and were so resilient and strong! I love seeing your photos and the comfrey thriving in your garden and growing so fast even despite the hail storm! Go comfrey!
There are so many reasons to love this plant. I'm glad I finally got some. It's leaves are quite beautiful, aren't they?
I started propagating comfrey one day because a friend was digging his comfrey plants up and turning them upside-down to thin them. I asked if that wasn't a huge waste, and he basically said they are an invasive species and there's no way to kill them. I took one root about 6" long and snapped it into 5 pieces and planted them in a pot. soon Ihad my first 5 comfrey plants. now I have a mad section of garden where they reign supreme. if I spaced them properly i'd probably have a 1/4 acre of comfrey.
I was flabbergasted to see you mention ART AND BRI! ART has been my best friend since I was 9 year old! I am trying to convince him to get on Steemit.
I like your idea of giving them and entire section. I did that with the Jerusalem artichokes on a slope that we find hard to mow. I'm in zone 6a. Comfrey is perennial here so I assume that it can be left in the ground over the winter? I hope so. I'd like to plant them rather than having to pot them up and take them inside. How do you take care of your comfrey for the winter?
I really enjoy their youtube channel. I've learned a lot from them. Art and Bri have the best dispositions. They are really great parents, too. I also watch a lot of the Justin Rhodes, Off grid with dough and Stacey, Dirtpatchheaven, and Honeydocarpenter.
That's sooo cool that you're best friends with Art. I really hope you succeed in getting him to come here. It shouldn't be that difficult for him to stream from his youtube channel into dlive. "simulstreaming. They've got about a hundred thousand followers on youtube I believe. The sustainable community here on steemit is an invaluable resource to learn and network with. It would be the bees knees to have them participating over here, too. I've thought about mentioning it to my favorite youtubers, but they don't know me and it would just come off spammy. Tell him he has a fan over here, and im sure Im not the only one.
Were you in a couple of his videos?
No, not yet. We live about 6 hours away now, so we don't get to visit often enough.
There is absolutely no way to kill comfrey that I know of. It requires no babying or cultivation at all.
You people are making me jealous with all the comfrey. I'm gonna have to get some.
Yes you are!!! Its a wonder plant!!!
I said that, too. I shouldn't have waited so long. It's an easy, fast, and beautiful plant with so many benefits.
I have two mother Comfrey plants in my little backyard and I regulary snap some leaves to propagate them. I snap down low against the body of the plant about one inch into the soil. If I need a lot to sell, then I would dig off the plant that is in a grow bag to take root pieces.
I might try to find other spots to plant more of them.
Interesting. So you are propagating them to sell? I hadn't even thought about that.
Yes, occasional local sales.
Yes, occasional local sales.
Awesome. Im a massive comfrey.fan!!! I love your photos too. Im waiting for our comfrey to come back to life here.. its late Winter where i am.
Do you have to do anything special to them before winter?
Nope. I just rip off all the dying leaves and chuck them in the compost or in the fertilser bucket.
This is beautiful
Phe rhymes with tree.
What do you mean by spiral garden?
I haven't done any posts about it yet but basically it is an area of the yard which was originally in the shape a spiral that we started a process called lasagna gardening. That's where you put alternate layers of materials that compost in place over the winter so that in the spring you're growing area is all ready to be planted. It is no dig, meaning does not need tilled. Ours is not without challenges, but that's mostly because of where it was put and me not being able to actively take care of the area just outside of it. It has been mostly weed free, but I have a feeling that's not going to hold for much longer as I have a shit ton of grass that has gone to seed right beside it. / :
I like Lasagna :)
I wish I had a good place to plant,
it takes so much work even when I had a
small garden staring. Once I figure something
out you will be the one I am asking for
growing tips :)
Do you have any yard, balcony, patio, room in the house? there are ways to do it. have you seen my posts from 2011? I had a potted citrus orchard. if you do things in pots, they can be moved easily and/or transplanted later
The only thing I have is a staircase and I built a potted plant garden going up each stair and my landlord made me take it down. So lame because it was doing really nice and I could take a bucket and water them when i walked down downstairs:)
well that's just plain rude. What a jerk. Is that the guy you filmed arguing with you and you took his chair? haha
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hi hi @phedizzle, I see you again and it is nice to be able to see your post again...I need to check this plant in my area, maybe I can find similar one. have a great day Phe
I'd make sure to get a variety that does not reseed itself. The Russian Comfrey does make flowers, but they don't make viable seeds. This plant is considered invasive by its roots and its seeds. it is a lovely plant, but it can take over.
Pretty much a WONDER / SUPER HERB! I know it for it's bone - Knitting / healing properties and as a poultice...
Great article @phedizzle
I'm pretty smitten with it now, tbh. Have you used it before for bone pain?
No, I have not used it at all, just know of it. I was reading about Comfrey last year. Apparently usefull in the healing process of bruises and fractures, not particularly for pain though.