permaculture

[rick valley <bamboogrove@cmug.com>]

>I too have heard that it is not good to put on deep wounds because it tends
>to close them up from the outside first and trap whatever is in deeper.

This time of year, when I'm digging bamboo can see to can't see, my 
fingers develop bleeding radial cracks out from under the nails- not very 
deep into the live finger, but the callous is thick enough and being a 
stress point, there's no way the cracks can close. I mush up a comfrey 
sprout and pack it on there- maybe with a bandaid to hold it on- and it's 
better by morning. No problem w/ infections.

Other uses:
edible flowers
"manure tea" from cut tops
as mulch: esp good for sheet mulching w/ potatoes- seems to help keep the 
quack grass out. 
as an animal feed- use wilted or dried cut tops, not fresh.
as a nutrient accumulator:
I have dug up a root and found it enveloping a round steak bone (a 
section of cow femur, eh?) that was off to the side; feeder roots were 
penetrating it.
Comfrey can tolerate wet and nitrogen heavy situations- trapping soluable 
nitrate, sucking it back up into the sun & presenting it in an 
easy-to-harvest form.
example: "my neighbor has a pen of goats on the fence line and it's a 
mess! what can I do?!!" That's were you plant a comfrey bed.
-Rick