Freedom_Fighter
2025 Circle of Excellence
Comfrey: The Plant That Heals Soil and Bones. #permaculture #organicgardening
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This Plant Replaces All Fertilizer FOREVER. Why Did the FDA Ban It?
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Comfrey: The Plant That Heals Soil and Bones. #permaculture #organicgardening
Uncle Jack
Well-known member
One thing he doesn't mention is how bad it smells when making liquid fertiliser from it.
Otherwise he covers most things.
Chicken and goats love it as well.
In permaculture it is usually planted in the orchard directly under the fruit trees to suppress weeds, fertilize and open up the subsoil with its taproot.
Otherwise he covers most things.
Chicken and goats love it as well.
In permaculture it is usually planted in the orchard directly under the fruit trees to suppress weeds, fertilize and open up the subsoil with its taproot.
Freedom_Fighter
2025 Circle of Excellence
Thanks for the tip(s), UJ. You're the first to warn me about the smell. That's the second strike against it. I've been contemplating growing it for medicine, fertilizer and possibly food, in case of a food famine; but it's a "forever" plant that you can never get rid of, due to its deep roots. I imagine it will spread everywhere once it's planted. The last thing I need is to hear the wife constantly complain about the smell, but it could save us in hard times.
THIS PLANT IS AMAZING!
Is Comfrey Edible?
Eating Comfrey Plants: A Complicated Traditional Food
Is Comfrey Safe for Home Use? The Comfrey Conundrum
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Uncle Jack
Well-known member
Well, I would not be relying on it as a food source but if it is prepared properly it can be added to our diet without damaging our livers.
Su Dennett who is the partner of David Holmsgren, one of the originators of permaculture with Bill Mollison has some recipes online.
*When saying originators not forgetting that permaculture principles have been in application for thousands of years and other people were practicing what Bill was teaching without ever having met him or having read his books. See Sepp Holzer.
As for the tap root it is not impossible to kill.
If it is cut back continously eventually it will succomb and they do not spread.
They just get bigger each year.
So easy to grow from root cuttings as well.
I think they are a brilliant addition to the garden.
As far as using them on your favorite plants.
There really is no need to make a liquid compost if you are growing outside.
Simply dig the leaves into the area where you plan to grow and keep doing it year after year.
A finer free soil addition you will struggle to find.
The plant itself can be cut back multiple times each growing season.
Su Dennett who is the partner of David Holmsgren, one of the originators of permaculture with Bill Mollison has some recipes online.
*When saying originators not forgetting that permaculture principles have been in application for thousands of years and other people were practicing what Bill was teaching without ever having met him or having read his books. See Sepp Holzer.
As for the tap root it is not impossible to kill.
If it is cut back continously eventually it will succomb and they do not spread.
They just get bigger each year.
So easy to grow from root cuttings as well.
I think they are a brilliant addition to the garden.
As far as using them on your favorite plants.
There really is no need to make a liquid compost if you are growing outside.
Simply dig the leaves into the area where you plan to grow and keep doing it year after year.
A finer free soil addition you will struggle to find.
The plant itself can be cut back multiple times each growing season.
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Freedom_Fighter
2025 Circle of Excellence
One of the videos I posted describes the smell as as being like a "rotting corpse". How does it smell during the bloom stage?
Uncle Jack
Well-known member
It smells like a rotting corpse during the making of liquid fertiliser.
The plant itself does not have that much of a smell.
Kind of a smell like ivy sap.
That same family of plants with white sap anyway.
It doesn't smell if mixed into the soil.
If growing indoors it can be dried, crumbled and added to potting mix.
Instant leafmould.
The plant itself does not have that much of a smell.
Kind of a smell like ivy sap.
That same family of plants with white sap anyway.
It doesn't smell if mixed into the soil.
If growing indoors it can be dried, crumbled and added to potting mix.
Instant leafmould.
Freedom_Fighter
2025 Circle of Excellence
Thanks, UJ. I appreciate the confirmation. Just out of curiosity, would next door neighbors smell it in their backyard? I'd prefer to not give neighbors any idea that I might have a rotting corpse in my backyard. I'm thinking of having a couple barrels of the liquid sitting outside in the shade.
Is there a way to mask the smell, or kill it? I'm wondering if EM-1 liquid might, at a high enough concentration, kill the odor, temporarily? Repeat EM-1 treatments as necessary, to keep it under control. EM is used to treat toxic chemical waste-lands.
If the rotting odor ever got out of control, for any reason, to a degree of negatively impacting my neighbors, it would be a problem, I think. Above and beyond my own family members.
That's good news. I don't imagine that being a problem, even if grown indoors.
Sounds great; but how does it smell when drying out? Would it stink up the house? If it does, then the indoor drying method is not an option. I will do a bit more research on it before deciding if it's a good fit for my situation.
Uncle Jack
Well-known member
No smell when drying.
Can be brewed with a lid on as long as some air can escape most of the smell would be contained.
For instance a piece of wood over the top that would allow gas to escape but keep a seal up to a cetain psi.
A brick on the piece of wood kind of thing to stop it flying away and killing somebody.
The other thing about the deep tap root that I am not sure if it is mentioned in the other videos is that it is a bio-accumulator,
Which means it brings nutrients from way down below to the soil level in the form of leaves.
Which is why an analysis of comfrey leaf has so many available nutrients and why it is so highly regarded.
Can be brewed with a lid on as long as some air can escape most of the smell would be contained.
For instance a piece of wood over the top that would allow gas to escape but keep a seal up to a cetain psi.
A brick on the piece of wood kind of thing to stop it flying away and killing somebody.
The other thing about the deep tap root that I am not sure if it is mentioned in the other videos is that it is a bio-accumulator,
Which means it brings nutrients from way down below to the soil level in the form of leaves.
Which is why an analysis of comfrey leaf has so many available nutrients and why it is so highly regarded.
I am quite familiar with this plant and would like to pass along some info.There is a wealth of misinformation floating around about this plant.Yes, there are several varieties and as far as i know all are rampant travelers by root multiplication and heavy re-seeders except one variety called "Blocking
14 ".The plants are sterile so no seed production and they very slowly over the years multiply by root multiplication,I bought 5 roots 5 years ago and now each plant is only 3 feet across and in it's own little circle.This variety produces heavily.Give it nitrogen and water early in the spring and 1 or 2 fertilizations and waterings mid season and cut it down about 3 inches above ground a couple times a summer and you will have all the comfrey you can shake a stick at.This is the one you want to get.In the spring roots are sold on E-Bay.They sound expensive but worth the money.After 3 years your can separate babies and enlarge your bed.Everyone says not to feed Comfrey to animals because it is poisonous.Blocking 14 is not.I feed my rabbits around 50 grams 3 or 4 times a week and one lived to be 8 years old.
14 ".The plants are sterile so no seed production and they very slowly over the years multiply by root multiplication,I bought 5 roots 5 years ago and now each plant is only 3 feet across and in it's own little circle.This variety produces heavily.Give it nitrogen and water early in the spring and 1 or 2 fertilizations and waterings mid season and cut it down about 3 inches above ground a couple times a summer and you will have all the comfrey you can shake a stick at.This is the one you want to get.In the spring roots are sold on E-Bay.They sound expensive but worth the money.After 3 years your can separate babies and enlarge your bed.Everyone says not to feed Comfrey to animals because it is poisonous.Blocking 14 is not.I feed my rabbits around 50 grams 3 or 4 times a week and one lived to be 8 years old.
Nice to meet you mu.You picked up on that pretty quick! I raise Califonians for meat.
It's one of my prepper things.3 rabbits will give 200 pounds of meat a year.I have 10 breeders now.I've been at it for 10 years.If you or anyone is interested in info on raising them Iwould be glad to help.
