permaculture

[Toby Hemenway <hemenway@jeffnet.org>]

>Could you list some of these uses [of comfrey]?

I was hoping to get away with that "15 uses" crack without having to list
them; I should have known that sort of vagueness would get queried on this
list!

Okay: fantastic mulch plant, keep it watered and you can slash it back and
mulch with it 5-6 times a summer (I like the big-leaved varieties because
of this; some of the cultivars are smaller). Nutrient accumulator:
potassium, silica, calcium, iron. Good spike root, busts up heavy soil.
Adds humus deep in the soil since its massive root system goes through a
pronounced growth and dieback rhythm. Great bee plant, the blossoms are
irresistible to bees and other beneficials. All this makes it a good guild
pioneer, put a ring of them around a fruit tree for mulch and soil
building, etc, then shade them out with shrubs as the guild matures.
Excellent medicinal for wound healing and skin irritations (mash the leaves
up until a brown juice forms on them, then apply as a poultice. But look
this up before doing it on deep wounds, they heal over too fast, trapping
pathogens in the wound, people tell me). Many other medicinal uses, look
'em up. Roots make a tonic tea, plus other good uses for the roots I'd have
to look up. Pretty good forage plant, tho some sources say its hard on
animal livers in large doses. Young leaves are edible, with the same
caveat, fresh, or steamed for bigger leaves.  Makes an impenetrable barrier
to weeds and invasive grasses when sown thickly in a hedge. Most varieties
never set seed, so spread can be controlled if you don't till.

Oh. It's pretty, especially in flower (why do we always neglect aesthetics?
Graham Bell even says that "looking pretty" isn't a function. But it is;
ugliness starves the soul).

I'm sure there are more uses. Can anyone add to this?

I've never tried outside sources for them; some local growers have given me
cuttings of a couple nameless cultivars, and that's all anyone will ever
need. Lawrence, stick tiny cuttings in a big pot for a year to get them
established so your overzealous cultivators won't get them. Don't start
them directly in a nursery bed since they take a lot of work to eliminate.

Toby