Putting comfrey to work: documented

Got my first comfrey in a trade last year. It's growing happily, now to utilize it... What were those things I would've done before, if I only had comfrey?

One bunch is growing next to the worm tower. We sometimes scoop the litter box into there, so not going to use any of that comfrey for medicine or on edibles. Sometimes I throw some of the leaves into the tower.

One bunch is growing at the swingset bed, right at the edge of the pasture. Bermuda grass is rampant in there. Sean on edibleacres says comfrey is a rhizome barrier. That bunch was about two feet across. I dug about half of it out and picked out thirteen viable looking starts. Four went in where I transplanted the grape. The others are in a row extending the original bed by five or six feet.



The darker spots are where comfrey got planted. ↑



The new starts are planted from the original bed to about the end of the row of jars. ↑

I figured the roots could develop better without having to maintain the tops, so I cut them off. I rinsed them in the sink and removed the best looking leaves. Those leaves are in the dehydrator. I rough chopped the rest and food processed it. I used it to side-dress some sad looking radishes and sweet potatoes (and lethargic cabbage). It looks kinda gross, but it'll probably look better when it dries a little. Doesn't matter, if it makes my plants happy, I'll call it a win.

Love it! Comfrey is my hero. Comfrey makes me happy, comfrey makes my plants happy, comfrey makes my ducks happy. Hell, comfrey makes my kids happy! All hail the mighty comfrey.

Nothing really photo worthy has happened yet, but most of the side-dressed plants seem a little greener. If it really works out, I have a few more places where I'll do the same.

I think you'll see big results as time passes. Comfrey saved my three sisters crop this year, planted in a lasagna bed with really poor soil layered in--poured a 3-day comfrey tea all around the bed, and those plants just shot up. My roses love it too.

And of course there is no better remedy for aches/pains/bumps/bruises/scrapes, than a decoction made with plenty of comfrey root. I would bathe in it if I had enough! 😜

I think they all look better. Sure some of the radishes seem to be marigolds now, but there's a chance the comfrey didn't do that. Not that I would drop a seed, or let any get away before collecting the rest.

Ever since the fiasco when I found out that submerging things in oil and leaving them (without proper precautions) is how you encourage botulism, I've wondered about comfrey salve. I know eating comfrey is no longer reccomended, but what if I whip up a big batch of botox oil and send it out into the world and somebody gets it in a cut?

Seems to me it'd be perfect if I could kill the botulism spores before putting the comfrey into the anaerobic conditions.

I could soak it in vinegar, then submerge it. Vinegar is water based, so if I can't get it all evaporated, my salve's gonna seperate. Plus people probably won't wanna use it if it makes them smell like vinegar.

I could soak it in everclear. I guess alcohol kills botulism. May have to google it. I think the everclear would be pretty easy to evaporate. Here's the kicker: Will it harm the comfrey or the oil, or can I make a good product that way?

Or do I just put the comfrey in the oil and label it "External use only. Do not apply to broken skin."?

I don't have experience making comfrey root salve specifically, but I do love making all-the-things infused with herbs. I've never had an herb-infused oil create botulism. I think lots of people write lots of things based on theory, that in reality aren't necessarily a danger at least not in my experience. In my conspiracy-theorist mind, the big guys filter down lots of "information" that scares little guys away from doing cool things. But don't listen to me I'm known as somewhat of a whack job.

Back to your salve: the bigger danger, in my mind, would be an oil molding on the top from the amount of moisture in the herb material, which I have experienced. I just open the bottle every morning and scrape off any nasties, which probably also aerates the mix and keeps botulism from happening. My husband did create botulism once in a past life, canning meat without sufficient acidity in the mix--they opened a jar and it turned into a living Thing, foaming all over the counters and the sink. They innocently dumped all the rest down the drain, and guys in white moonwalker outfits showed up a few days later to clean it up. Moral of the story, if you create botulism you'll know it. Everybody else will too.

I saw a thread on here recently (can't find it again) where someone suggested making a concentrated decoction of comfrey root and then mixing that with horse liniment to make a salve. Sounded like a good idea to me, and lots of people were saying that it worked fabulously. If it helps you find the thread, a lady had asked for suggestions on what to use to help her husband heal up after shoulder surgery, and the general consensus was comfrey. She said the doctor was shocked by how fast and how completely the shoulder healed after they used the horse liniment/comfrey salve on his shoulder several times a day. But I digress... I did find this thread here on permies: https://permies.com/t/19040/kitchen/Comfrey-salve
The general consensus seems to be that the best method is chucking your herbs and oil into a crock pot and infusing it all together on very low heat, then straining out the material and heating it again with a bit of beeswax to make the salve. Sounded safe and efficient and probably less hassle than my method.

Something that is interesting to note re:comfrey being supposedly toxic; I looked it up in my copy of Culpeper's herbal (originally published in 1653) and he describes using the original non-hybridized comfrey (the stuff with yellow flowers that propogates by seed) for internal as well as external use. Given that the source is quite old and theoretically not as enlightened as more current sources, it is nevertheless quite interesting that he indicates lots of positive experience in using the stuff internally.

I am not a doctor, just sharing my experiences and research. When I show up dead someday you all can guess what crazy thing I did that turned out wrong.

For a year or two, I didn't have anywhere to grow my duckweed other than the fish tank of my aquaponics. The fish like to eat it, so I made a floating basket to protect it. During the freeze/thaw cycle this winter, it ended up sitting on top of a thick block of ice with it's water drained out. I couldn't get rid of the ice, so i put the duckweed in the stock tank, which has a de-icer. Later, the sheep ruined the basket. There's still some green, but it's really sad.





It reminds me of those sad radishes. Hmm... How to apply comfrey tea in a meaningful way?





Fingers crossed.

T Melville wrote:I rinsed them in the sink and removed the best looking leaves. Those leaves are in the dehydrator.

The leaves are dry now. I was just able to put them in a gallon ziplock. This was about ⅓-½ of what I could produce this year. 2.6 oz, including the bag. No selling by the pound yet. I'll get there. I'm still propagating.

Decided to make some salve. Chopped leaves fine until I had all I could pack into a cup. Put that in a bottle with 2½ cups of olive oil. Letting it steep (cold method). I don't know if it wants to be out of the light or not, I put it in a cabinet to be safe. I think I read to let it steep two - three weeks. I think I remember reading six - eight weeks elsewhere. Opinions welcome. Otherwise, I guess I have at least two weeks to figure it out. And to get beeswax. I didn't take pictures of the fresh harvested leaves, and I don't have the required journal entry, so no BB this time around. I'll have to remember next time.

For external use only. Do not apply to broken skin. Use only as directed. Do not taunt. Ask your doctor if comfrey salve is right for you. Contains ingredient(s) known in the state of California to cause discomfort for sufferers of olive allergies. Not evaluated by the USFDA. Not packaged for indidual sale. Produced in a non-commercial kitchen. Facilities NOT inspected by city, county, state or federal health officials. Slippery when wet. Not a fat free food. Flammable. Dolphin safe. Gluten free.

Am I covered legally now, or should I continue disclaiming?

T Melville wrote:For external use only. Do not apply to broken skin. Use only as directed. Do not taunt. Ask your doctor if comfrey salve is right for you. Contains ingredient(s) known in the state of California to cause discomfort for sufferers of olive allergies. Not evaluated by the USFDA. Not packaged for indidual sale. Produced in a non-commercial kitchen. Facilities NOT inspected by city, county, state or federal health officials. Slippery when wet. Not a fat free food. Flammable. Dolphin safe. Gluten free.

Am I covered legally now, or should I continue disclaiming?

Made us laugh here!!! I'm sure it is actually dolphin safe though! One thoroughly unexpected use for comfrey salve hehehe

You sent me far more seeds than I sent you comfrey.  If you want more roots, send a PM and I'll ship you a box.  I have roughly 17 billion lbs. of roots.

A couple random pics of my comfrey yesterday, for no good reason at all.

Your comfrey that you sent me starts of is Bocking #4, right?

Yes

T Melville wrote:Decided to make some salve...

Looks like Bag Balm. I'm curious to see it work, but not curious enough to cut myself to find out. I'm trying it on a pretty mild cat scratch, and my son put it on some bug bite scabs. I'll post here if things heal faster than normal.

T Melville wrote:I'm trying it on a pretty mild cat scratch, and my son put it on some bug bite scabs. I'll post here if things heal faster than normal.

My cat scratch was so minor anyway that it's hard to be sure, but it sure seems to be fading fast, after two applications.

Finished my Dave's Fetid Swamp Water™ brewer. Filled about ½ full of water and added about six shovels full of old sheep and goat manure. Then I cleaned up the comfrey under the redbud tree. Cut off everything that was too tall to stand up straight and made mulch from most of the leaves. Some of the leaves and the stems went in the Swamp Water™. I pulled a few crowns and transplanted them to the new bed by the grape vine. (Pulled, not dug. A few had visible root and are pretty sure to make it. Others didn't and are more iffy.) One more comfrey bed to process similarly. (With room to dig, so probably more chance of success.)











Sorry for the fish-eye view. I wanted to get the whole bed, so I shot panoramic. This phone takes really nice panoramics, but only from further away, I guess.

T Melville wrote:Ever since the fiasco when I found out that submerging things in oil and leaving them (without proper precautions) is how you encourage botulism, I've wondered about comfrey salve. I know eating comfrey is no longer reccomended, but what if I whip up a big batch of botox oil and send it out into the world and somebody gets it in a cut?

Seems to me it'd be perfect if I could kill the botulism spores before putting the comfrey into the anaerobic conditions.

I could soak it in vinegar, then submerge it. Vinegar is water based, so if I can't get it all evaporated, my salve's gonna seperate. Plus people probably won't wanna use it if it makes them smell like vinegar.

I could soak it in everclear. I guess alcohol kills botulism. May have to google it. I think the everclear would be pretty easy to evaporate. Here's the kicker: Will it harm the comfrey or the oil, or can I make a good product that way?

Or do I just put the comfrey in the oil and label it "External use only. Do not apply to broken skin."?

You can't kill the botulism spores. They are everywhere. We even breath them. What you need to do is not give them a chance to hatch. A better, faster method for making an oil infusion is heat. Put the jar of oil with comfrey leaves in it open in a pot of hot water, about halfway up the sides of the jar. The leaves don't have to be dried using this method. Make sure the water doesn't quite boil, but stays on a low simmer.after an hour or two, It should be done. This process doesn't give botulism time to grow. You should mix it with beeswax to make the salve immediately. I don't know if this will keep botulism from growing, but I like to think it will.

This webpage: https://wasabi.org/botulism-in-infused-oil/
says this:

Food scientists Drs. Shirley VanGarde and Margy Woodburn suggest depriving the bacteria of food and water [7]. One way to do this is to strain out the vegetable matter after infusion (with cheese cloth and/or a wire strainer). Of course, this won’t do you any good if the toxins are already there, so you have to do the infusion quickly (probably with hot oil) or do it under conditions where the toxin won’t be formed quickly (like in the refrigerator). Another way to deprive the bacteria of water is to use only dried ingredients (dried chilies or peppercorns, for example). This means no fresh garlic, though. Remember that the effectiveness of these methods will depends on how dry your ingredients are or how well you strain it, so it may be difficult to tell if you’ve done it well enough. Also, I could not find independent verification that these techniques are regarded as safe, though they do make sense.

Heating the oil hot for a couple hours after you take the leaves out should eliminate any water, hence keeping botulism dormant.

EDIT: You can kill the botulism spores, with temperatures of 250 degrees fahrenheit.

T Melville wrote:For external use only. Do not apply to broken skin. Use only as directed. Do not taunt. Ask your doctor if comfrey salve is right for you. Contains ingredient(s) known in the state of California to cause discomfort for sufferers of olive allergies. Not evaluated by the USFDA. Not packaged for indidual sale. Produced in a non-commercial kitchen. Facilities NOT inspected by city, county, state or federal health officials. Slippery when wet. Not a fat free food. Flammable. Dolphin safe. Gluten free.

Am I covered legally now, or should I continue disclaiming?

I would definitely continue disclaiming.  I have it on good authority the NSA particularly watches makers of Comfrey products.   🥸