Spring green thumb. All the pics of comfrey are so beautiful . I had no idea there were so many different types of comfrey.
Also looks like a great recipe for smoothies. Thanks for sharing all your pics now I will be hunting for them to add to my garden next season. Their leaves are all,so different I wonder how well they will dry?

They all dry the same. Quickly and crispy. Lol. Just pick them and lay them on a screened rack.

Recipe for comfrey tea.

Steep comfrey leaves in water with shaved ginger root. Remove leaf and sweeten with honey and lemon to taste.

gardengus said:

• Comfrey (Symphytum)
• Uploaded by gardengus

Anyone have the blue comfrey

I saw a whole hillside at the Chicago botanical gardens this spring and really liked the look
Reminded me of Virginia bluebells.

I have the blue comfrey.

gardengus said:I have also read that about the comfrey and possible liver damage . I have feed it to my goats for 8+ years and they seem happy and healthy , of course they get it in limited quantities and have plenty of other choices.

I think it is a very good addition to gardening especially if you are growing chemical free.

In the liver damage tests what they did was extracted the alkaloids into an extremely condensed form and then fed it in massive quantities to rats and it overdosed the rats causing damage. Too much of anything can create problems. The p. alkaloids in comfrey are actually more mild than the same alkaloids in apples. Basically, apples are more toxic than comfrey. My family as well as extended family has eaten comfrey daily as a regular part of our diets and no one ever suffered liver damage. Rabbits, goats, cows, etc who are also fed comfrey regularly have not suffered liver damage. I suspect that occasionally there are big money corps who will pay for particular outcomes in studies that will support their financial empires. The FDA is never kind to natural healers that work better and are safer than their drugs. Such a product would cost them billions of dollars.

dave said:Comfrey is safe for dogs.

Safe for dogs, horses, cattle, goats, sheep, rabbits, cats, humans, raccoons, grasshoppers. Comfrey is a vegetable in the spinach family that was used for thousands of years as a food source in Europe, British Isles, and Scandinavia. Roman soldiers kept it with them and planted it wherever they camped for food as well as medicinal use after battles.

This is Comfrey Official. It grows on tall stems but I like to cut the whole plant back when the flower stalk rises. I use the leaves for food. After the first harvest the comfrey springs up again in a few weeks in a beautiful border plant that looks similar to a massive hosta. It's quite ornamental.

Is comfrey edible? I heard somewhere it causes liver damage.

Comfrey article banned in many countries ... toxic cause liver damage.
http://pennstatehershey.adam.c...

I'm not afraid of comfrey. I think anything in excess is likely toxic to some degree. That said, I use mine primarily in ointments and lotions (I'm not a tea drinker). I also feed it to my chickens, who love it. And, it is a bee magnet when in bloom.

Interesting link @bumplbea. Thank you. That parallels all my reference books.

I also use it in ointment form - Kytta Salbe. In February I confirmed how well it worked. I gave myself a concussion and had bad bruising. I applied the salve to my eye and cheekbone. Within a few days the bruise had faded. Then a friend noticed bad bruising behind the ear. I didn't use salve there as I had already used it for a week. I don't like to overuse it due to the warnings.

I agree the blooms are lovely. Mine is just beginning to bloom.





Ugly photo but... You can see the yellowish color from the fading bruise on the cheekbone but the lingering bruise behind the ear.

pod ... oh my goodness...wow that's a nasty bruise. I'm so sorry to see you hurt 😔. What happened?
I hope you are feeling better and doing well. It's especially hard when a fall can be very dangerous as we age . I've had a couple bad falls ended up in emergency room and I now try to think more about my movements and plan the gardening chores step by step. Especially during quarantine. It's not a time to go to a emergency room.
Nice the salve has helped . Take care . Hugs🐝

Thanks for the kind words... I have to admit I did something dumb... what else. I saw a spider on the bedroom wall, took off a flip flop and hopped up into my rocking chair. Needless to say I got the spider but lost my balance. I came to about 15 minutes later and drove myself to the emergency room. They hospitalized me for observation but I was o.k. I agree, not a good thing to do during the quarantine but this was before Valentines Day so a bit better in this rural area. I am 70 but still working. Needless to say my customers won't let me live it down. I have a good sense of humor and this has been the source of many jokes.

The case of the rocking chair spider. Bad falls can be very painful and tricky. Especially bruises tend to take awhile to dissolve. We are the same age. I honestly don't know where the years went. All of a sudden everyone is younger. Hope you stay safe and humor is always a positive.

I fell down one step in Livrm and broke one ankle and tore the ligaments in the other . I tripped over a pine cone on driveway, right after hip surgery, saved my cup of coffee but tore ligaments in my knee and back. Now health workers are sent out to make sure my home is safe....YIKES 🙀

OK now ..Funny but not so much. Learning better coping skills from Physio therapy.

Happy to hear your OK. Gardeners have more than just plants to make connections with others, we are proof of that....
Sending good vibes your way.👍👍👍👍

Oh my goodness Pod! I'm glad you're okay!

Thanks Christine... it's all good. I have too many plants and pets counting on me. Can't hurt myself yet.

No health care workers inspecting my home but interrogated about family violence. When I convinced them that my 11 YO and 14 YO Labs really did not do this to me, they started to ask if I used a cane, walker, grab bars... Grab bars! I need to install them on the rocking chair. One young friend attached a flip flop to a long pole and named it the spider swatter.

I had always used the comfrey crème as I bruise easily but was astounded at the dramatic proof of its' success.

Comfrey has been eaten regularly by my family for 6 generations and no one has gotten liver damage.

The alkaloids in comfrey are a lower level than in an Apple. (Which has the same kinds)

The study performed was simply an atrocious amount injected into rats and it damaged their liver.

Too much of anything can cause damage. There are NO cases of humans suffering liver damage from eating comfrey despite that millions of people eat it.

Oh yes...

Liquor (Alcohol) is regularly damaging human livers and even causing death. It causes deaths and destruction in a scale that is non existent among the comfrey herbal eaters.

Think about that. (Something to do with $$$)

So strange that it has not yet been banned. It's the miracle herb the FDA doesn't want competing. Your supposed to go buy their drugs... not heal yourself.

bumplbea said:Comfrey article banned in many countries ... toxic cause liver damage.
http://pennstatehershey.adam.c...

This is a pretty damning article.
I wonder if there are any positive articles about eating it. I have to keep it from spreading and the bees love it, and I use the leaves as part of my ?mulch" and nibble a leaf here and there, but when i planted it years ago I thought it was something edible and healthy. I use an overturned watering tank with a hole in it to keep it from spreading in one direction.

I have been following this thread because I want to propagate my 'Axminster Gold', which I love. So I am going to try your method SpringGreenThumb. I have heard from a nursery owner that it has to be propagated from a meristem and not division to keep the variegation so your way sounds good. Except I hate to cut up my plant right now because it looks great to me.
Also, how did your calico plant do?
Finally I remember being warned when I bought 'Axminster Gold' that Russian Comfrey was not edible so I was curious when you mention you eat it, SpringGreenThumb. And in fact, there are deaths attributed to comfrey according to this article below which also acknowledges its medical uses and that it has been used by humans for 2,000 years. Most of this article is over my head but it is well referenced. It does seem they are still trying to figure things out. Maybe like many other things, certain people are more sensitive to a reaction than others.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/p...

My Father ate comfrey official everyday from the time he was in his early 20's. He died age 91 with a full thick head of hair and without a grey hair on his head. (Nope. He did not color his hair). His hair retained its natural color. I'll choose my Dad's way. Whatever miracle comfrey does to generate healing outside the body in t does the same for the inside.

Eat your caffeine and go bald...

I'll eat my comfrey.... see you around in 30 years if you make it! 😄