Comfrey is the quintessential (or maybe a quintessential!) permaculture plant. Its deep roots pull otherwise inaccessible minerals up from the soil, and its leaves make a great weed tea (not to be drunk!). It can provide fodder for animals, and it has healing properties. People used to eat it, or rather make teas from it (not to be confused with the fermented soil tea above!), but in these more enlightened days, that’s frowned upon. Nonetheless, it makes a good poultice, and I swear by the comfrey salve I have. And it’s great at attracting pollinators.
Also, one of those things which can be a problem, can be a solution, comfrey is prolific. It grows and grows and grows. It makes a great border plant, but mine is smack in the middle of my poorly designed vegie gardens, so I’m constantly battling to keep it under control. Yet… this particular problem has now presented itself as a possible solution.
Like a good student of permaculture who believes in diversity, I am using comfrey, with other plants that I have growing in profusion (lemon balm, I love you, but you send me to sleep! Parsley, if I used you in proportion to the amount in my garden, I would never eat anything else!), are going to be turned into a side hustle to generate a bit of extra income, desperately needed at the moment. Comfrey is going to become a soothing salve for bites, itches and other skin issues. Lemon balm, a soothing tea. Parsley… I’ll think of something!
Let me know if you have any ideas!
