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Garden Gate:  Getting Rid of Comfrey  |
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MulberryMama
Farmgirl in Training
37 Posts
Jill
Prospect Heights
IL
USA
37 Posts |
 Posted - Apr 04 2007 : 06:57:46 AM
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| I have a Comfrey problem, which I am sure is a common refrain from anyone who has ever planted the invasive herb in their gardens. While it is a pretty plant with its long sword-shaped leaves and its clusters of purple-blue bell-like flowers, it is popping up everywhere it is not supposed to. My 2 and 3 year-old girls want a garden this year, so I am trying to reclaim my garden spot. Any recommendations on how to get rid of this "weed" for good? |
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TheSoapMaven
True Blue Farmgirl
691 Posts
Susan
LA
USA
691 Posts |
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ThymeForEweFarm
True Blue Farmgirl
705 Posts
Robin
An organic farm in the forest in
Maine
USA
705 Posts |
Posted - Apr 04 2007 : 08:19:14 AM
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You can flame it every time it breaks the surface. When the roots have exhausted their energy supply the plant will die. If you keep this up faithfully you will be comfrey free by the time you're 99.
I have five big beautiful plants. That's about 4 1/2 too many. Nobody warned me before I planted them. I do use them though. I strip the leaves, pulverize them with the god-awful weedwhacker and make 55 gallon barrels of fermented comfrey tea. It's excellent in the garden AFTER it's been run through a filter to be sure I haven't missed anything that will root.
I've seen compost piles with big signs saying the same thing Susan said - NO comfrey in the compost pile.
Robin
www.outdoorwriter.wordpress.com
www.thymeforewe.com
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GaiasRose
True Blue Farmgirl
2552 Posts
Tasha-Rose
St. Paul
Minnesota
2552 Posts |
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MulberryMama
Farmgirl in Training
37 Posts
Jill
Prospect Heights
IL
USA
37 Posts |
Posted - Apr 04 2007 : 09:21:05 AM
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ThymeforeweFarm: What is your formula / proportions for making the comfrey tea, and how long do you let if ferment?
I am hesitant about mailing roots to anyone, lest you realize what a terrible thing I have sent you, and hate me forever. But if you really want some, I have plenty to give.
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GaiasRose
True Blue Farmgirl
2552 Posts
Tasha-Rose
St. Paul
Minnesota
2552 Posts |
Posted - Apr 04 2007 : 09:27:44 AM
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I use it as the weed it is. I have a little bit here already, but I want more. I understand what it is and it isn't terribel to me :) I mix it with calendula and plaintain as well as a few essential oils and make salve. I have been experimenting with it since the end of last summer. I haven't made any for a time now because of winter, but am anxious to have mroe comfrey and anxious for what I have to bloom from its Winter sleep....
I would love to have some of yours....it is in no way a terribel thing to me....
~*~Brightest Blessings~*~
Tasha-Rose
Blogs: http://gaiarose.wordpress.com
http://tasharose365.wordpress.com/
Homepage:
http://gaiasrose.etsy.com
http://ForestFaeries.etsy.com
Birth is safe, interference is risky; TRUST BIRTH |
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Miss Bee Haven
True Blue Farmgirl
4331 Posts
Janice
Louisville/Irvington
Kentucky
USA
4331 Posts |
Posted - Apr 04 2007 : 09:52:21 AM
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Wow! I'm trying to get some started, too! I have a little clump. A friend of mine made me some healing salve this winter and it worked wonders on my cracked and bleeding hands! I wish I could come and dig some up! :)
"If you think you've got it nailed down, then what's all that around it?" - 'Brother Dave' Gardner |
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therusticcottage
True Blue Farmgirl
4439 Posts
Kay
Vancouver
WA
USA
4439 Posts |
Posted - Apr 04 2007 : 10:51:57 AM
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One thing you don't want to do with comfrey is disturb the roots. That is what makes it spread. I put mine in a pot and it did really well the first year. This year I'm putting is in the ground but doing it in a black nursery pot with the bottom cut out. Hopefully that will keep it contained for a while.
www.annarosetta.com |
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babs
True Blue Farmgirl
226 Posts
Babette
MN
USA
226 Posts |
Posted - Apr 04 2007 : 10:56:13 PM
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I don't know as if I'd ever heard of anyone wanting to be rid of it. It has 1,001 uses.
Root it out good and sell it on craigslist or wherever. People will and should pay you good money for this wonderful healthy plant. if it keeps growing back all the better - a lovely little perpetual source of spring seed money. ;)
Babs
Hatching Eggs: www.countryegg.com
& Home Goods: www.mugwortmaggies.etsy.com
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Miss Bee Haven
True Blue Farmgirl
4331 Posts
Janice
Louisville/Irvington
Kentucky
USA
4331 Posts |
Posted - Apr 05 2007 : 05:13:57 AM
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Yes, I'm with Tasha on this. I'd be happy to pay you for some roots and shipping, too, Jill. It's been hard to find here.
"If you think you've got it nailed down, then what's all that around it?" - 'Brother Dave' Gardner |
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emma.birdwhistle
True Blue Farmgirl
187 Posts
Elizabeth Ann
Ontario
Canada
187 Posts |
Posted - Apr 05 2007 : 07:02:43 AM
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This has been an interesting thread for me to follow. This summer, I think I'll go with both the "do plant comfrey" people and the "don't plant comfrey" people, and take my father up on his offer of a plant from his patch - being careful to keep it duly contained, of course! Thank you all for posting your thoughts here.
- Elizabeth Ann
If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours. - Thoreau
http://resolutelyoutmoded.etsy.com |
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Phils Ann
True Blue Farmgirl
1095 Posts
Ann
Parsonsburg
Maryland
USA
1095 Posts |
Posted - Apr 06 2007 : 4:16:53 PM
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I'm a fan of comfrey... I know it's supposed to be harmful for the liver if eaten, and I quit doing that (but my grandmother made comfrey tea and drank it every day into old age, dying from emphazema... I also drank it back in those days), but it's great for the compost pile if you tear off the leaves and just add them to the mix. Comfrey is high in protein, so adds great value to compost/soil, with its deep roots bringing minerals up from way down. I read now that chickens like to eat it... hope to find that out for myself soon!
Ann
There is a Redeemer. |
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ThymeForEweFarm
True Blue Farmgirl
705 Posts
Robin
An organic farm in the forest in
Maine
USA
705 Posts |
Posted - Apr 07 2007 : 08:25:24 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by MulberryMama
ThymeforeweFarm: What is your formula / proportions for making the comfrey tea, and how long do you let if ferment?
When the plants are done flowering I cut all the leaves off, put them in a 55 gallon barrel and pulverize them. However much there is, is what I use. I fill the barrel to the top with water, cover it, and let it ferment for two weeks. It smells horrible. I dip out a bucket, filter it and mix it with water. Depending on how strong it is I might mix a gallon of tea to four gallons of water, or 50/50. I'm very unscientific in my garden. The darker it is the more water I add.
Robin
www.outdoorwriter.wordpress.com
www.thymeforewe.com
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livelife
Farmgirl in Training
45 Posts
Penny
Michigan
USA
45 Posts |
Posted - Apr 10 2007 : 3:57:40 PM
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???? I'm a little confused ladies I have been reading about comfrey as a great additive to the compost great source of nitrogen...which equals heat... so on and so on. Phils Ann so you must tear off the leaves before adding it? at what stage of growth? Thanks
In His presence |
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Annab
True Blue Farmgirl
2900 Posts
Anna
Seagrove
NC
USA
2900 Posts |
Posted - Apr 11 2007 : 09:54:28 AM
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HMMMM very interesting. And here I am babying the stuff. Never realized it is considered a pest in the compost. But then again I have divided the root and given it to people and haven't tried to get rid of it.
I use it in pe packaged salves too.
Now don't get me started on fennel! That's our trouble herb! |
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Phils Ann
True Blue Farmgirl
1095 Posts
Ann
Parsonsburg
Maryland
USA
1095 Posts |
Posted - Apr 17 2007 : 11:01:54 AM
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Penny, I let the comfrey get a good start in the spring, then pull off the biggest leaves every few weeks, letting the plants continue to grow. Mind you, I'm not making tea, just adding them to my "tumbler" of compost.
Ann
There is a Redeemer. |
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Phils Ann
True Blue Farmgirl
1095 Posts
Ann
Parsonsburg
Maryland
USA
1095 Posts |
Posted - Apr 17 2007 : 11:04:53 AM
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Oh, I just saw the Soap Maven's comment about composting the plants, and had a chuckle... My current comfrey plot is where I tossed out the plants after digging them up 25 years ago because of the "bad for the liver" reports. Now here I am babying them. LOL
There is a Redeemer. |
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MulberryMama
Farmgirl in Training
37 Posts
Jill
Prospect Heights
IL
USA
37 Posts |
Posted - May 07 2007 : 06:36:26 AM
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Thanks to the farmgirl at MJF, I have a new appreciation for comfrey, but also have a bumper crop. I am trying to re-claim my garden after abandoning it during grad school, having babies, and a job that put me on call 24/7. I know have a much saner job, and two little girls who love to stick seeds in the ground.
GaiasRose gave me the idea to sell some of my comfrey, and since I have always dreamed of "growing herbs and wearing outrageous hats", what better time to get started.
Any one interested in comfrey roots, should email me directly.
I wasn't born in a barn, but I was raised in one. |
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brightmeadow
True Blue Farmgirl
2045 Posts
Brenda
Lucas
Ohio
USA
2045 Posts |
Posted - May 07 2007 : 5:21:34 PM
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I had to chuckle when I saw this. I checked the images on google because I couldn't remember for sure whether it was comfrey or yarrow that I had that was so invasive. Turns out it was yarrow. I had to sell the house to get rid of it.....
You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands - You shall be happy and it shall be well with you. -Psalm 128.2
Visit my blog at http://brightmeadowfarms.blogspot.com ,web site store at http://www.watkinsonline.com/fish or my homepage at http://home.earthlink.net/~brightmeadow |
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Garden Gate: Getting Rid of Comfrey |
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Getting Rid of Comfrey
