NO MORE COMFREY IN THE PERMACULTURE ORCHARD 

It's fine to say no to comfrey if conditions don't suit it, but it's great for me; I crop mine FOUR times a year for liquid feed. Its leaves are low in cellulose, so it decomposes very quickly, making it ideal for the purpose. I have the tastiest potatoes & tomatoes as a result.

Confrey is also known in ancient times as 'knit bone'. Romans for example, set a broken bone, and made a comfrey poultice to use over the break. Bones healed very quickly. The leaves are edible but in small quantities and for short periods of time (it is hard on the liver). Comfrey can send down a tap root a whopping 12 FEET. It takes a piece of root as little as 1/4" chunk to start another comfrey plant. It's leaves contain a concentrated amount of minerals. Use it in the compost bin, side dressing for other plants, or to make a comfrey fertilizer tea. Of course for medicinal value too but check with a Dr on using it. Borage is in the same family but is an annual and the oil from the seeds is used for medicinal purposes. Comfrey does need fertilization (soil amendments) to grow and regular watering. Be forewarned that once established it is pretty hard to kill. It can take a whole year to kill a plant. Comfrey does not grow well in containers BUT if you use a clay pot with a hole in the bottom, plant a sprig of comfrey root, it will grow. It sends a root out the bottom hole. A year later pick up the pot and cut off the root. You made a clone. And the one in the pot can still grow and make another clone by repeating the above. Choose your location wisely!

I put it near my compost pile to recapture leached nutrients. It loves its location.

Well, comfrey does GREAT where I live and I have tons of it. I'll stick with my comfrey, it works well for me.

I have Bocking 14 Comfrey that has sterile seed, meaning I can only propagate it by cutting a piece of the root and replanting. It’s amazingly healthy everywhere I’ve planted it. I plan on growing more this year for the chickens. Good video.

I appreciate the soil I have very much. I planted small comfrey starts last year--they are now blooming and as tall as I am at 5'4". I never watered or fed it. Its helping me reclaim a spot that was growing toxic black walnut trees. thanks for the video.

I am speechless and thrilled at the information coming from these videos. I have a memory disorder but I think your use of principles will help me follow your methods. Many thanks.

Comfreys great, I have a market garden on a slope, one section of hillside has a vertical drop of like a foot and a half. The soils just clay, and a year ago I planted a whole row of comfrey on the side of the steep bank. It worked great, the deep knotted roots have completely stabilised the bank, no erosion. The plants have grown positively massive with no attention and once they get too big I simply use the leaves as fresh green mulch to break down around other food plants/fruit trees I grow. It's a real useful plant to just take up space if you don't want weeds to colonise that bare space instead.

I've discovered I like big weeds. Little weeds are hard to get rid of. Big weeds are easily turned into great compost.

I don't understand how that comfrey isn't growing more vigorously. It grows in every possible condition for me. I have it in shade, sun, dry, wet, barron, and fertile areas. It all grows like a weed everywhere.

Our comfrey tripled its first year. We use it for medical balm and the chickens and bunnies love it. Cincinnati, Ohio USA

You are brilliant, Stefan! Thank you for sharing the abundance & health! Sending you gratitude from Virginia

Thank you for the reply, your videos are very interesting I can watch it all day. I am so interested to permaculture now, I want to convert my organic farm to a permaculture farm, yours are very informative and easy to understand, most of all I can’t stop watching them. Thank you

Great advice and great explanations. Shade also reduces sunlight. This forces understory plants to produce larger leaves. That explains why the comfrey under the locust has such large leaves. I like your explanation of the plants growth response to the interrelationship between the amount of sunlight and the amount of water. Like you we plant our accumulators around the drip line. Then I just chop and drop right there close to the feeder roots. Easy peasy! I tend to use mineral rich stone mulch close to the base of the tree. This favors a low ground cover, promotes air circulation that prevents unwanted mold, mildew and vines from being established and makes hand weeding easier and mechanical weeding safer near the vulnerable trunk.

New subscriber here. Thanks for teaching me how to 'listen' to what my plants are telling me. I will try an experiment with my comfrey seedlings by giving them different soil types.

well said- the best plant to use is usually the one already growing and thriving in place. Their role is to build and correct the soil deficit for some botanist and ecologist; many other plants have deep root system indeed- But nature as its own way to build soil and make soil life richer and set conditions for further species to germinated and establish.

MAAAANNN T'es Qubébecois dude!! So awesome to find your channel!!! We're from the Eastern Townships and we're thinking of moving to the Gaspésie in the zone 3 and permaculturing! They have have so most cheap land there! :D Thanks for the video!!

My comfrey is gigantic, even when there is no good soil, it grows like crazy, attracts pollinators and makes a great compost tea...

I enjoy hearing different perspectives, I’ve just started dividing some of my comfrey up to create more . I find Pigeon peas and QLD arrowroot unbelievable for growth and nutrient extraction from the soil.

Kinda interesting to see all the negative comments. I thought the message is fairly clear... if a plant doesn't grow well in your area (or in your soil), grow something else. I live in a dry, arid area and can't be bothered to plant comfrey (or mullein which might grow substantially better). Why not grow a native plant in its place? They grow like weeds.

I chop comfrey leaves into a bucket of water, let it steep and then use it for watering plants. Works for me :)

The comfrey in my garden grows about four feet high, and makes a potent liquid compost. Feed my runner beans with it the leaves are as big as plates and deep green in colour, and the beans are big and healthy to. The liquid compost has quite a fragrance with it and when I water with it, it seems to draw dung flies from miles around.

I have a comfrey cultivar that does not reseed. It is on a hillside with poor dry soil and I never water it. It sends up a large clump of plants that get nearly 4 feet high and covered with beautiful flowers. After a rain it fell in all directions and sent up a new flush even fuller than the first. This massive plant grows in an ever expanding clump that again, never reseeds.

I've grown comfrey in every garden I've ever planted. It grew like a weed in MI and OH but it pooped out every time in Houston, TX. I don't necessarily grow it for it's dynamic accumulator properties, but for it's medicinal properties and so I am very happy to have it in the garden. I've not had a problem with it spreading except when I lived in OH - it went EVERYWHERE. But when I lived there you could plop anything in the ground and it would thrive :)

Fascinating video! I love the editing, it's hilarious

What an incredible plant. I've only ever known it to be used medicinally. This plant is amazeballs.

I plant my comfrey next to trees too! I figure it will help bust up the clay. But in very dry areas it dies quick. Now i know why.

Thanks for another informative video!

Interesting, thanks for sharing Stefan! Your videos are getting better and better!

Great video Stefan! Thanks so much! Trying to catch up on all your videos.

I just planted comfrey this summer. I'll have to see how it goes. Just subbed to your channel!

My comfrey in Va is doing wonderful

Hey Stefan! This is a different type of Comfrey that doesn't get as tall or lush like Bocking 14 which is sterile, which does not spread and gets HUGE! Here in Washington this type of Comfrey is wonderful for mulch and so much more. It gets 3 to 5 feet around and its very tall. That looks like Russian Comfrey and they seed all over. I prefer the Bocking 14 for its huge size, height and the fact it doesn't seed. Beautiful purple blooms. Bocking 14 has a very deep root as well. Far superior to Russian Comfrey!

Glad to find that you have a channel now. I ' ll be watching from now on.

Stefan, I agree with you. Comfrey is not the plant to plant in a poor soil. Weeds are! But comfrey planted in a fairly fertile soil that has moisture and isn't compacted will grow well . Then you can use it for compost tea or to start your compost heap to fix your poorer soils.

Love comfrey for mulch/fertilizer. I been propagating to make my life easier. Plant it in spots I can't get with a riding mower like a fence line or culvert ends. I've cut my weedeater time down a good bit so far.

Comfrey is the best! My orchard is doing fabulously with my Comfrey "weeds." South Africa here.

Thank you for sharing your knowledge.

It seems to me the science of permaculture seems to get ahead of itself. I guess its the label to use for the way I garden, but I always figured the best soil fixers, cover crops, and bug feeders is native wildflowers. just sprinkle the seeds and your work is done.

Thank you! Fabulous stuff!

Thank you for adding this one to your list.

You can't expect of water lilies to grow in the sandy desert - comfrey is a plant of moist environment - plant it around the pond and you'll have your weeds.

I planted comfrey in pots, all same size root pieces, same soil, same size pots, all in same part of the garden. Some plants are one foot tall after a year, some are more than 3. I think maybe it's like seeds, some are stronger than others? Yes, I will be planting them in the ground this year. ;)

depends of your soil and climate!! Comfrey does really well where I live...

I learning much from you thank you for sharing your knowledge,,,a true gift

I have my comfery up near my house on a southern exposure where it gets plenty of sun and it is huge onky planted two plants and it is growing in clay

EXCELLENT!

There was a row of comfrey plants next to the road where I grew up near Nelson in BC. Those plants grew 6 feet tall and their leaves were enormous. We used to pick the leaves and stick them to our clothes. You could completely camouflage yourself this way.

I find the naturally growing curly dock in my fields and dandelion work very well so have not introduced comfrey, yet. Curly dock grows 5 ft tall!

Classic, wilting in the rain, that should tell us something about it Loved it all, extremely entertaining, definitely no.1 in my favorites. Once I get my computer I'll actually ''BUY'' your videos

Comfrey has so many pluses i will always keep it around...i dont need ALL my plants to grow like weeds...i appreciate slow growers as they demand less maintenance....also, planting those plants which cost $0 (easy to propagate), is a higher priority for me than "perfect " plants

Someone gave me a root of comfrey a few years back and honestly I really didn't pay attention to the soil conditions when I stuck it in the ground. I have one spot that is rocky and in my garden and I decided to plant it there because of how deep those roots can go. Figured if a dandelion can grow there so can the comfrey. It must really love where it's planted cause that plant is always lush and I've never had to water or fertilize it since I got it. My soil is clay and it gets only the morning sun and it also sits right next to my wood pile where it gets all the wood bark and splinters that falls all around it. Perhaps the wood bark every year fertilizes it. All I know is it's happy and singing.

For me it's an amazing free mulch. Don't have a lot of green waste so harvested and transplanted some comfrey in a nearby hedgerow. Now I get 3 or 4 batches of mulch from each plant.

Great video!! I was like... "wwwhhhaaattt????" and then I watched the video... Lol. I have figured out how to get my comfrey large enough to get 2 harvests from it but before that I could NOT get it to grow. It would die back every summer and every winter while just struggling to peep out during spring and fall. I'm happy with it now but totally get your point!

FYI the volume is way too low, can you fix this? I want to hear everything you say, its very valuable, experienced expert info. You are a true Gem!

Comfrey bocking 14 is what I have. It is a great fertilizer and also great for a poultice or soak for healing. I'll keep our comfrey. It grows great here in my north florida garden and flower beds.

Loved this video! New sub!!! TFS!

Words of wisdom !

editing is next level

thanks Stefan!

I said the same thing about my common mallow 'infestation '. They too have long tap roots, so I thought it should be good to leave them on the ground. I just chop and drop, I don't pull anymore.

My experience has been the of this opposite of this video. In shade in sun, in dry soil in wet, in rich and poor soil I have happy health HUGE comfrey plants all over my property starting from 2 plants 7 years ago.

I just stumbled across your channel !!!!! Subscribed !!!!

comfrey grows nuts in deep clay and there it's hard to get rid of

Yes i love conphrey. I have 4. So nice and powerful

I’ve been using my mulberry trees (the ones that don’t make berries but used for feeding silk worms)... I just cut them down to about ground level every time they get 3-6’ tall 😂 probably 2-3 times a year.

You are lucky. Comfrey is taking over my garden here in MA and I can’t get rid of it.

Great video.

Lol I love the editing 😆

Everything is growing really well near the Comfrey because Comfrey is the best fertilizer compost in the world

Goodness! Your plantain looks amazing! My plantain leaves are lucky to be the size of a lemon!

Thanks!! I was wondering because I have sandy soil.

I don't know why i find it so funny when you say weed 😂

For the comphrey under the tree is doing well ..is also because the tree is shedding his leaves which makes a richer soil ...

So true. You can't accumulate what isn't there... I bring in organic manner and minerals from a variety of sources because I don't want to perpetuate my soil's deficiencies by just composting locally. Of course I compost everything from my property. Just outside sources too.

Another wonderful video, Stefan. It should be mentioned that all three of the plants you covered, comfrey, plantain and mullein are valuable medicinally. I encourage your viewers to learn about the benefits of all three and plant them.

GAW!!! All you people, he says it doesn't grow well THERE. If it grows well over at yours, great. It's all about your context, remember?

Thank you

Who is editing this? BRILLIANT

"Wilting is a very easy thing to observe." Keep that as a tip! lol

The dynamic accumulator that works on my property are the pesky cedar trees.

Well...I just planted bother the Russian, Bock 14 as well as the common comfrey. I plan to use them in compost making with chicken, sheep and cow manure. From 6 root cuttings there are 2 extra that have sprouted nearby. My soil is primarily heavy clay. As it puts out more shoots, I’ll transplant cuttings along the forest edges too. Eventually, I’ll have it all over the 39 acres. I’ll find out where it grows best and plant more cuttings there. Also started mullein seeds and have them sprouting now, same deal. Fortunately, lots of narrow leaf plantains are already growing in the pastures. Have Daikon radish seeds waiting to be planted later.

I love my comfrey patch.

Yup, mullein definitely grows better than comfrey in our sandy soil in SW Michigan (very similar climate and soil type, maybe a zone warmer here). And, yes, mullein grows well. We don't even plant it, it is wild here.

Comfrey grows very well everywhere around here, 14 inches of topsoil and 6 feet of clay under that.

also depends on the variety of comfrey, try B14 or russian comfrey

Try tithonia diversifolia. You can start by seeds, but in some places can invade. If you have that time of climate, use sterile cuttings.

My chickens love it

My comfrey is amazingly beautiful here in subtropical Australia...

Comfrey is great as a medicinal. It grows wild here in pnw and domestic varity is invasive. Mine is huge and growing in an old container with pop cans in the bottom. It gets better every year.

It's the beginning of autumn here in Australia and I just planted 2 of the Bocking14 comfrey last week. They were almost dead when they arrived in the mail. I planted them anyway and now both of them look quite healthy. I planted one straight in the clay and the other in a garden bed right beside my compost heap. I wasn't expecting the one in the clay to survive, but after a couple of days a green leaf came up and every day I get more leaves. I think it may even do better than the one in the good soil.

My comfrey dies back every winter and emerges again after it warms up. So in terms of size it starts anew each spring. Maybe my climate is colder in Missouri.

Grow some stinging nettle as well. You can eat it and use it as well for mulch and prolific food supply full of iron

I like this guy

Our comfrey grows huge, and its everywhere.

Excellent advice! I had been looking for comfrey to purchase, but my soil is all orange clay and crummy limestone. Better stick with my dandelions! :)

I planted one plant 3 years ago, it has taken over half of my garden and orchard🤣😂 I couldn’t get rid of it now if I wanted to.

That comfrey was stunted because it was shaded out by the Ribes and other plants.

The commercial sale or supply of Comfrey, or Comfrey products, was made illegal in Australia some time back because it has been deemed to be toxic. In some council areas it is on the noxious/toxic weed list and where it is illegal to have it growing.

I keep a little comfort because it's pretty but I do use my broad leaf burdock more. My comfrey grows in heavy shade under my apple tree too💗 but it doesnt spread there.