The Comfrey Patch

When I first became involved with herbs in the early 1970′s, comfrey was then known to be a miracle herb. It was the front yard insignia of the back-to-the-land movement. Back then, if you had a subscription to Mother Earth News, you had a comfrey plant–or a comfrey plantation. No herb so devoid of flavor and fragrance had ever achieved such popularity. You could do just about anything with comfrey. It was a nearly universal folk remedy, the answers to food shortages and even fodder for the livestock. Back in those days you didn’t have to look the plant up to find out how to use it. Comfrey was so well know back in the 70′s equivalent to what aloe vera would become in the 1980′s. Back then, it became my absolute favorite herb in the gardens.

Even today, as I cleaned out split and moved my comfrey beds around I had to smile remembering back on that old folklore. I think every gardener should have a comfrey patch, Yes, it has it’s place.. or rather shouldn’t be moved unless you really do want to have a comfrey plantation in your yard, but left undesturbed, it’s simply a lovely statured bed of flowers...and one of my favorites in the garden. When I sold our herb farm last year, I took with me one hundred and fifty perennial and herb cuttings to start again here in Maine, and remarkably enough I forgot to grab a snippet of comfrey! My good friend Cindy had some comfrey growing randomly around her farm and was good enough to give me four cuttings from her beds. I immediately transplanted them down at the farm to a dedicated comfrey bed that I would cherish. Not only do I adore the plant itself, I cultivate it for it’s healing properties to be used in my healing salves and balms as well as my herbal soaps. Well, those four ‘cuttings’ grew into a simply marvelous comfrey patch this year.

I hope you’ll try some comfrey in your gardens. Anyone can grow it. Just remember, it really is harder to get rid of than it is to grow. So plan to give it one dedicated spot of its own. It won't let you down.