Homesteader Depot

Tag: comfrey

  • Never Buy Fertilizer Again

    Never Buy Fertilizer Again

    It’s not just a clickbait title, with a few easy steps you can have nutrient rich soil forever, and never need to buy fertilizer again.  How?  Grow comfrey.  Comfrey is beneficial it is borderline supernatural.  As a dynamic accumulator comfrey gathers nutrients from where other plants cannot and transfers these nutrients to its leaves.  These leaves can then be used in the place of store bought fertilizers with amazing results.  Not only is comfrey an amazing alternative to expensive fertilizers, but it is also incredibly easy to grow, propagate, and use to enrich your soil, here’s how.

     

    1. Purchase some comfrey starts, or better yet make your own from a friend’s plants. To make starts from an existing plant all you need to do is to dig it up and split the larger portions of the roots.  Any root segment that is more than 1 ½ inch long should grow.  Although comfrey is very hardy once it is established it is prone to pest attack when it is just getting started because of how nutritious its leaves are, so place them on a table or inside to get them started.
    2. Comfrey is not a picky plant, it is able to grow in just about any reasonable soil and can tolerate shade. But if you want to get a lot of nutrient rich leaves to use as fertilizer it is best to plant it in the sun so that it will grow fast.  Comfrey grows very dense, and can be used as a border for your garden or around trees.
    3. Once your plants are established they will be virtually impossible to harm. You can take 90% of their leaves at a time and they will continue to bounce back.
    4. Though many people will tell you to make a compost tea with the leaves, a slow release process is much easier, and in reality, just as fast since the act of making the tea will not take any less time. Simply cut off the leaves, and mulch with them.  Worms love comfrey, and the leaves will quickly be part of your soil, releasing the nutrients that their roots have gathered from up to 30 feet into the subsoil where your vegetables will never be able to otherwise access.

    Gardening usually requires hard work with no shortcuts, so it can be difficult to believe that comfrey can so easily solve your soil nutrient problems, but it’s true.  Comfrey is a natural wonder and no garden is complete without a supply of it.

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  • How to Propagate and Use Comfrey

    How to Propagate and Use Comfrey

    Free medicine doesn’t just come from the government (kidding!).

    The wonder plant comfrey is one of the easiest herbs to grow and among other amazing benefits it has been known to speed healing in bruises and broken bones.

    One hardly needs a green thumb to take advantage of this plant’s healing properties.  Comfrey is most commonly grown from root divisions.  These can be purchased online from your favorite gardening website, or even on Amazon. But even easier, they can easily be taken out of ground from any mature comfrey plant that you have access to without doing the slightest damage to the existing parent plant.

    If making your own cuttings, simply dig up the entire parent plant, and cut off the existing leaves. You can save them for poultice or just “chop and drop” them near any plant that you wish to add nutrients to.

    Then divide the root base-which is about all there is going to be left of the plant after removing the leaves-into as many pieces as you can given the plant that you have to work with. Cutting the pieces too small may reduce the chances of survival or at least increase the time it will take for the cutting to regrow, try going with pieces about the size of your fingers.

    Next, all you need to do is put the new cuttings in containers with potting soil, keep them moist, but not saturated, and in indirect sun for around two weeks.  When your new cuttings first sprout, it will be only time that these hard plants are vulnerable, so try to keep them on a start table to reduce pests.

    Once established, these plants will continue to produce medicinal leaves and grow more roots, allowing you to easily and exponentially grow your comfrey supply.

    Once you have a hearty supply of comfrey in your garden, turning it into useful medicine for treating burns, bruises, sprangs, and broken bones is just as easy as growing it.

    First, harvest the leaves. Consider leaving at least 20% of each plants leaves intact will help speed regrowth, but if necessary comfrey can recover from being run down with a lawn mower so don’t worry too much.

    Then puree, the leaves in a blender that you don’t use for food-or at least one that you will clean thoroughly before using again for food, since comfrey does contain hepatotoxic pyrrolizidine alkaloids which can cause liver damage if ingested.

    If no blender is available, the leaves can be finely chopped and beaten to a juicy pulp.  The puree or pulp can then be placed directly on the wound site and wrapped with plastic wrap or cellophane, which would in turn be wrapped in an ace bandage to keep it in place.  This can be left in place over night and changed out in the morning.

    This isn’t all this plant has to over though, so check back soon for more information on how, among other things, comfrey can increase food production and help with weed control.

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