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Most
of the comfrey in the U.S. can be traced to English immigrants. Comfrey
is native to Asia and Europe.
Comfrey
can be easily cultivated. It is reportedly hardy from USDA Zones 4a to
9b. This plant is sometimes considered to be invasive or noxious because
of its prolific growth habit after it is established. It was evaluated
by the USDA as a potential forage crop over 80 years ago.
Once
established, comfrey grows densely making it a great weed deterrent. The
drawback here is that once it is established, you will have to work a
bit to remove it from your planting beds, should you desire to do so.
Most parts of the plant left in the ground will regenerate and grow new
comfrey plants. Like a mint or yucca, you have to remove all of the
roots to eliminate this plant.
Comfrey
prefers rich, well-drained, loamy soil, but will adapt to most growing
conditions. It will extract most of its nitrogen from the soil, but if
chlorosis occurs, simply side dress the plantings with a balanced
fertilizer. 10-10-10 is a good one to use for in-ground outdoor plants.
Comfrey
doesn’t appear to have many, if any, insect problems. It has few
pathogenic problems and even those are rare in this country.
There
are a ton of uses for comfrey! I have been growing it for years for my
personal use. I will share some of these tidbits of information with you
next month, along with some insight on why it is banned in the U.S.,
Canada, Australia, Germany and a few other countries. Seems some lab
rats had liver failure!
Do
your homework and I’ll be back in September! Thanks for reading!
If
you have any questions about other uses for Comfrey, email me at farmerht@yahoo.com
and I’ll tell you all I know. As always, check with an expert,
such as your doctor, before using this or any other herbal remedy. |
