Comfrey Questions!

Hi all,

I am new to this, so forgive me if this is a silly question. I keep reading about the benefits of comfrey in regenerating soil, but try as I might all I can find for sale are little clippings rather than seeds, so I am not sure how I could plant enough in my 3+ acres of pasture to get this going in any real way.

Any suggestions? I am in Canada.

Although not at the area size you are describing, I have found comfrey very very easy to grow...because I dumped three pots of soil on my lawn, which I had forgotten contained small comfrey plants from a friend, onto my frustrating tight clay soil last fall. In the spring these forgotten plants started growing, and growing, and they have gone absolutely crazy this spring/summer. Now all three are absolutely humongous with tons of leaves, also there were lots of flowers on them for a couple months. (I have watered this area well all year, but other than that, no particular maintenance.) So in my experience, you just put the things into soil, and let them go. My comfrey will be "chopped and dropped" in the autumn by my husband when he mows the lawn for the last time.

Frank Voi wrote:Hi all,

I am new to this, so forgive me if this is a silly question. I keep reading about the benefits of comfrey in regenerating soil, but try as I might all I can find for sale are little clippings rather than seeds, so I am not sure how I could plant enough in my 3+ acres of pasture to get this going in any real way.

Any suggestions? I am in Canada.

Hi Frank. They are two categories if you will of Comfrey. The bocking varieties are planted from root cuttings and are sterile, so they don't produce seeds. The common variety has seeds and will spread like wildfire. Most people opt for bocking 4 or 14 because they don't want it to take over everything.

I am a huge advocate of Comfrey, and I sell bocking 4 here occasionally. That said, I wouldn't want to plant it on all of 3 acres unless you plan on growing only Comfrey on that land. Once established, it's very hard to get rid of. If you dig it up or rototill it, every piece of root will make a new plant. You may consider making a patch of Comfrey on whatever size spot you like, and then use the leaves from those plants as part of your soil building endeavor on the rest.

Comfrey is usually available in the spring or maybe now.  

Here are some sources:

https://permies.com/t/146518/Russian-Comfrey-roots-fresh-dug

https://permies.com/t/52936/Marsh-Creek-Farmstead-Bocking-Russian

https://permies.com/t/180802/Source-Bocking-Comfrey

https://permies.com/t/178296/Comfrey

There might also be some comfrey for sale close by via the permapeople marketplace:

https://permies.com/t/155731/Trade-Sell-Swap-seeds-plants