COMFREY PLANT

A Healing Herb

A fast-growing, herbaceous, perennial plant of the borage family, comfrey’s thick and tuberous roots create an expansive root system, allowing the plant to “mine” compacted soils for minerals and other nutrients which are often difficult for other plants to obtain. It is this ability to help cycle nutrients through the soil that has given comfrey its designation as a dynamic accumulator plant. Like daikon, stinging nettles, and other plants that function as dynamic accumulators, comfrey leaves make an excellent fertilizer, and provide a nutrient boost to compost mixes. Additionally, comfrey leaves are used as a green manure and mulch, being cut, then spread over planting beds and left to decompose on site, further helping to condition soils.

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The comfrey plant is a multitasking master. It can be used as a nutrient-rich mulch, a beautiful pollinator attractor, and a “compost booster”. Additionally, it has been used a medicine for at least 2500 years.

 

Our comfrey is home grown on our family farm and is chemical free. We grow our comfrey naturally and with practices that give back to nature. Our comfrey leaves are harvested, washed, and lined dried in small batches, by hand, preserving quality, potency and tradition.

 

How to Use Comfrey for Healing:

According to Michelle at “Seeking Joyful Simplicity” Blog-

There are numerous ways to enjoy the healing qualities of comfrey, including:

Poultice, compress, comfrey-infused oil, tea bath and salves.

 

Comfrey is amazing plant traditionally used for healing broken bones, torn ligaments, cuts, bruises, and more.

The simplest way to use comfrey for a wound is as a poultice.

 

Poultice:

Using fresh or dried leaves. Chop up the leaves to a mush for best results.  Adding small amounts of water and flour will help make a paste. Next, place over the wound, covering with plastic wrap and some sort of bandage. The poultice should be damp but not drippy. 

 

Compress & "Tea Baths":

Another simple method is to apply a compress. With a compress, you make a strong “tea” by steeping the leaves (fresh or dried) in boiled water. A clean cloth is then soaked in the tea and applied (once cooled to prevent burns) to the injured area. Repeat this application, replacing with a warm compress cloth.

 

Tea Baths:

Bring a quart of water to a boil turn off heat, add fresh (cut into pieces) or dried comfrey leaves to the pot of water, stir, cover with lid and allow to steep 10 mins.  Once cool enough to not burn you, strain out the leaves and add the "tea water" to a hot bath.  Add essential oils and epson salts for deeper healing and realization. Soak 10-30 mins.      

 

Cold Oil infusion:

Comfrey-infused oils can be made by infusing an oil with the dried leaves. Dried plant material works best to reduce the chance of the oil becoming moldy. Simply fill a jar 2/3 full with the leaves, cover completely with oil, tamping down to eliminate air bubbles. Place the lid and allow to infuse for 4 to 6 weeks, checking periodically to make sure the leaves remain completely covered in oil. After 4-6 weeks, strain off the leaves and store the infused oil. This comfrey oil can be applied to the skin, or used to make a healing salve.

 

Salve:

Most salves are made by using a carrier oil, beeswax and powdered comfrey leaf. The salve can be applied to cuts, scrapes, bruises, sunburn, insect bites and more.

 

Safety:

Not for Internal Use

 

Although some herbalists continue the tradition of using comfrey internally, mainly through teas and infusions, some suggest the use of comfrey for external applications only. According to some sources, Comfrey leaf and root contain pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PLAs), a group of toxic compounds that can cause damage to the liver. Please do your research.

 

Infected Wounds:

The high levels of allantoin and rosmarinic acid found in comfrey cause rapid growth of new skin cells, which can cause a deeper wound to heal from the outside first, sealing in an infection.”