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livingontheland - Re: [Livingontheland] What to do when the mulch runs out?

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  • From: yarrow@sfo.com
  • To: Healthy soil and sustainable growing <livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] What to do when the mulch runs out?
  • Date: Thu, 31 May 2007 21:59:05 -0700

In my climate, where it doesn't rain from May to November, more or less, comfrey wilts easily in the afternoon sun and needs regular water. But it is very easy to propagate -- I potted up some leftover tiny rootlets last year, and they have all produced small plants, which are waiting for a spot in the garden. I've found comfrey can survive in containers for a long time, but it needs a lot more water and doesn't get very large unless it can mine the soil. So if your comfrey plants get a foot high and stop growing, or never send out the taller flowering stalks, then they may not be breaking through the rock.

One of my herb books (Bremness) said, "For a higher nutritional yield, give each plant a bucketful of crude manure in spring and late summer." I had some horse manure handy (not fresh, but not yet composted), so I added a bucketful earlier this year, and the flowering stalks seem double their normal size. Or it could be that the root systems have grown a lot more since last year.

Another good reason to grow comfrey: Hummingbirds have been visiting the flowers the past month.



At 9:12 PM -0600 5/31/07, TradingPostPaul wrote:
If weeds grow there, so will comfrey.>

*********** REPLY SEPARATOR ***********

On 5/31/2007 at 7:09 PM E. E. Mitchamore Jr wrote:

Comfrey is often recommended for the reasons you mention. However, I've
been wondering whether it will perform as desired on my 6" of clay over
500' of limestone. Will Comfrey roots find the cracks in the rock like
natives do? I don't know where you go to learn this kind of stuff.



> When you don't bring organic matter in, but produce it on site, how do
you assure that all the minerals are present and being replenished in
sufficient quantity? Periodic soil tests?
>
> E. E. "Mitch" Mitchamore

----- Original Message -----
From: Harvey Ussery

Grow lots of comfrey (and other dynamic accumulators--but comfrey is one

of the best). Comfrey's roots grow 8-10 feet into the soil, tapping into

reserves of minerals that may not even be present in the top of the soil

profile, and making those minerals available to more shallow-rooted
plants.

I am propagating comfrey to the maximum I have the time to do so (it's
extremely easy to propagate)--I have far more of it now than a couple of

years ago, when I started the big push to fit it in along the borders,
under fruit and nut trees, out on the poultry pasture (where the birds
can self-harvest it), in every nook and cranny. A couple of days ago I
harvested a dozen wheelbarrow loads or more to mulch my potatoes.




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