Description
Russian Comfrey is a great plant to grow for making fertilizer, activating compost piles or to help supplement animal feed. Some also use it topically in herbal medicine preparations. In the garden, you can chop off the greens and mulch your tree collard plants with them, or make a fertilizer tea by filling a bucket with the leaves and covering them in water then letting it ‘brew’ for a few weeks.
The plants can grow to about 3′ wide and 3′ tall. Russian comfrey is unfortunately not edible for humans but it is an important part of a small homestead to help with soil fertility The plants have a deep, vigorous root system can help it accumulate a number of important minerals that are then stored in its leaves and can become available to other plants when used as a mulch. We know one organic farmer who has maintained the fertility of one of his fields from a large comfrey patch growing nearby. Three times a year he cuts the tops off the comfrey and mulches the vegetable fields with the comfrey leaves. This could be done on a small scale in a home garden with just a few comfrey plants planted under a fruit tree or in a back corner to help build the soil.
Russian comfrey will not spread by seed (the seed of this variety is sterile) or the leaves, but they do tend to spread easily if you dig up the roots. Give some thought to where you want to plant it before planting one. If you later want to move or remove a plant they will readily regrow from any leftover roots, so it can take some effort. If they are too heavily shaded out they will eventually tend to die back. We like to plant them under deciduous fruit trees such as Persimmon, Plums and Mulberry.
Please note that while we hope that every order we ship thrives in your garden, we cannot be responsible for plants that freeze or get cooked in your mailbox or suffer for any other reason outside of our control. Please consider the weather in your region when ordering. If there is a defect with your order please take photos and contact us within 24 hours of arrival. We hope you enjoy your plants! Shipped USPS Priority Mail.
