Found this info on Comfrey. Thought you guys would get a kick out of it. Comfrey (Symphytum officianale)also known as Knit-bane, Bone-set, Bruise-wort, Knit-back, Church Bells, "Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob",Knit-bone, consound, black-wort, slippery root, yalluc, gum plant, consolida, ass's ear and Saracen's Root. There are also several varieties of comfrey including: Bocking 4 which contains almost 35 percent total protein and in many areas is used for animal feed. Bocking 14 which has the highest potash content. Hidcote Blue which is known for its gorgeous light blue flowers and the most common used magically. Nothing pretties up an altar like Hidcote Blue Dwarf Comfrey which is the best medicinal comfrey and also makes a great composting plant, as it aids in rapid breakdown of other composting materials. Russian Comfrey which is the prettiest variant is most commonly planted in decorative gardens. All varieties of comfrey can be grown from seed, cutting or division. The occasionally suffer from rust and powdery mildew and infected plants must be cut down and burned. never compost infected plants. They prefer sun or semi-shade and thrive in gardens. Not suitable for indoor growing but can be grown on a patio if you have a large enough container. Medicinally, comfrey is a valuable healing herb that helps seal and heal wounds, hence many of its names. However, while it is a source of Vitamin b12, this herb should be used in moderation as it is reported to cause serious liver damage if taken in large amounts over long periods of time. As a poultice, it is used for healing burns and sealing wounds. You can also make a wash by boiling the leaves, however the longer you boil them the greater the coloration it leaves on the skin. Boiled comfrey dye is a beautiful golden yellow color that works on most fabrics. Comfrey has been cultivated for healing since 400 BCE. It was used by such notable Greek physicians as Herodotus, Nicander, Galen and Dioscorides. It continued to be used throughout history and its use spread throughout Europe. Magically, comfrey is represented by and representative of the planet Saturn and is a key ingredient in incense for those who are ruled by or Honor Saturn. Its element is Water and was once burned in incense and used in bouquets and sprays to honor Hecate. Comfrey is used in protective magic for the traveler and to protect against theft by placing a comfrey leaf in your luggage to make sure it isn't lost or stolen and use the root in sachets for protection while traveling, as well as to keep your lover faithful while you are gone. The sachets can also be used to protect vehicles; just hang from your rearview mirror or hide it under a seat. Thanks to its well known binding properties which make it so useful in healing, comfrey is used in any form of magic where you want to create, maintain, or even strengthen a bond, but it cannot be used to break a bond. Gamblers wrap their money in a comfrey leaf for several days before going to a casino or poker game to keep their bets coming back to them. Women the world over have used comfrey baths and washes to bind love about them and bind their lovers to them. Burned with mugwort, seers can use it to create a stronger divinatory bond and gain clearer insights. In spells on unhelthy relationships, it often strengthens the bonds so ad some comfrey to heal the wounds of such relationships as well for greater magical success. Comfrey flowers, especially blue ones, can be substituted in any spell calling for borage.
JaK That part caught my eye - sure sounds like a quote from Rudolf Steiner's Bioidynamic Demeter Group and their writings. Take a look sometime at the NPK numbers comparing Comfrey vs. thermal compost and animal manure on Nitrogen, Phosphorus and particularly Potassium. Then consider that the Phosphorus in Comfrey is water soluble and is not Phosphoric Acid - the favorite grow store 'solution' for 'P' that decimates the mycorrhizal colonies particularly with container plants - captive audience. LD
JoeDudeGuy That process wouldn't be applicable to Comfrey. Comfrey has an extremely low Carbon number vs. Nitrogen (C:N) which is something like 1:15 Simply put, it turns into a liquid because once the water evaporates there's not much 'there' 'there' Products from Great Britain that are pellets of a combination of Kelp, Comfrey and Timothy Grass (not sure why these products don't contain Alfalfa vs. Timiothy Grass) appear from the images that are posted on the manufacturer's web sites to be a meal which all 3 materials were mixed together - turned into silage (the garbage method is 'a way' of creating silage though certainly not the most efficient on any large scale). Once it's silage and is dried then it looks like it goes through the type of cutters/choppers similar to those that turn oat grains into steel-cut oats. About the same texture it appears. Again that's only based on the photographs posted. I'll have the palletized Comfrey, Nettle and Yarrow this weekend so it will be interesting to see what this group of biodynamic farmers have come up with. Could be a win-wini deal for urban organic growers and especially those that don't have open lands adjacent to the city. Not a problem here. I drive about 23 miles every week down to one of the main agricultural centers in Oregon and with the exception of those areas on this country road that have commercial activity, both sides of the road are covered with indigenous Yarrow - in this case the 4' tall variety with the huge white flowers. Go to any stream and you'll find Stinging Nettle and Horsetail Ferns. ChunkDaddyo has a garden plot in a community garden and all around this garden spot is Comfrey. Hundreds of plants. Cut it one week and 2 weeks later it looks like you never touched it. The amount of biomass off an established Comfrey plant (at least the Bocking 14 cultivar) is something you have to see to believe. LD
Here's a couple of pics of my comfrey patch. This ribbon of comfrey extends along the road to the right in the first pic. I literally can't harvest all of it, as the road is about 200 yards long. This 20 foot section was picked down to the ground 2 weeks earlier and as of today, it's knee high again. This is the invasive species Symphytum officinale, not the Bocking 14. ·
Chunk I am re-reading the Comfrey book by the developer of the Bocking series and these non-invasive cultivars are identical in compounds with the wild cultivars with the exception of one specific compound in particular - Allantoin Not that it means much but I thought some of you growing Comfrey might find it interesting. On another note, while I haven't tried this yet (but will), according to several web sites from England you CAN propagate these sterile varieties by cutting off the top flower stalk and root this cutting. One video showed a tray of rooted flower tops from their Bocking 14 plants. Easy way to get a large patch of this Comfrey type up and running for zero expense. Not that buying the root starts is some kind of investment @ $2.00 each which you can cut in half or even into thirds. HTH LD
LD, It seems that allantoin is found primarily in the Comfrey species I have available. In the ethnobotanical database, allantoin has a lot of benefit in human health. Is there a benefit to plant health from this compound? Since it is used in cosmetics for skin rejuvenation, would it regenerate plant tissue cells as well? This time it's me that's curious. chunk
Chunk I misspoke - it's not that only the wild varieties have the allantoin compound. What I should have said is that the levels are higher and not by leaps and bounds. I'm going to look at SCIRUS later this evening. Big events going on here in River City - the annual Tualatin Crawdad Festival 2011 and the Bite of Oregon - artisan bakers, craft beers, great food and music. Should be a real hoot! LD