Picture of Organic 1 year old comfrey root.
We
have grown & distributed thousands of comfrey starts to people over the
years.
We ship out nice sprouted plant cuttings year-around!
Price: $2.00
apiece + shipping.
The
bulk discounts on comfrey are:
$10.00/6 cuttings,
$30.00/20 cuttings,
$100.00/100 cuttings.
To order bulk via website, simply use the "special instructions" field
on the shopping cart order form, or call us at (541) 846-6704. We aim to please!
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Comfrey (Symphytum officinale) Family: Boraginaceae Comfrey was invented by a benevolent God. Even haphazard attempts to cultivate the plant will result in great riches of biomass. I once tried to dispose of a Comfrey root by dropping it into a 4 foot chimney tile that was sitting on the ground. After about 6 weeks I noticed a single green leaf peeping up over the rim of the tile. The Comfrey had rooted in the dark and produced a leaf with a 4-foot stem in order to reach the light! The leaves contain 20% protein and the entire plant is rich in the cell-proliferating compound allantoin. The leaves make excellent food for domestic animals such as rabbits, goats, horses and cows. Feeding fresh Comfrey leaves is a simple and effective treatment for a broad array of veterinary ills including internal and external injuries and especially digestive upsets such as scours (diarrhea). Humans also derive great benefit from using Comfrey in home medicine. The salve made of the oil infusion of dried Comfrey roots and/or leaves is the fastest and most reliable healing embrocation available to treat injuries to the skin. Taken orally, Comfrey tea or tincture will speed healing of internal traumatic injuries such as broken bones and deep bruises. The widespread concern that Comfrey may prove toxic is only applicable to the ignorant misuse of the plant—when used properly, that is on a short-term basis for treating acute maladies the herb is perfectly safe (please read information under “Contraindications” below). Furthermore, here on Horizon Herbs Seed farm we make a biodynamic tea from fresh Comfrey leaves that we use to water our potted greenhouse plants, which makes them grow fast, stay green and resist disease and pests. Comfrey, we bow down to you, who has made such a joyous expression of being green and healing all that walks, crawls and breathes on this planet! Cultivation: Although I am told that Comfrey makes viable seeds and that you can start the plant this way, I’ve never actually seen it done. A much more practical and surefire way to start the plant is by burying a piece of the fresh root (about the size of your as-of-today undeniably green thumb) in rich, fast-draining soil in the part shade to full sun. To buy certified organic, live, sprouted cuttings of Comfrey, click here. Once planted, the green portions will appear in a few weeks time and grow quickly into an impressive rosette of rough, dogtongue shaped leaves. So the cell proliferant allantoin speeds growth not only of animal tissues, but the tissues of the plant as well. Comfrey is an undeniable self-promoter. The new plant doesn’t take long to go into flower, producing blue scorpioid inflorescences, cherished by bees, that dangle merrily in the sun, are very pretty for awhile and then get scraggly. When they scraggle, simply cut back the elongated stems and lay the leaves and flowers back down on the crown of the plant. It will grow back through itself with renewed vigor to begin the flowering cycle again. This can easily happen several times in a growing season. Meanwhile, the plant is producing an underground octopus of mucilaginous roots. Sandy soils encourage formation of the largest and finest quality roots, but even clay soils are tolerated. Wet, poorly draining soils will produce plants with a lot of black slime and rot on the roots, making them less useful for medicinal applications. Comfrey appreciates occasional watering during the growing season. The plants will stay exactly where you put them and will not spread by underground runners. The crowns will expand with age, but they will stay put. However, if you disturb the roots and spread them out (by rototilling the patch, for instance), then new plants will arise and the Comfrey patch will expand. To some, this is an alarming trend, so caution is advised around any activity that spreads pieces of the fresh root to new ground. Parts used: Root and/or leaf, harvested anytime during the growth cycle, but preferably not when in full flower, used fresh or dried. Tincture of fresh root: 1:2 (50A:50W) (The explanation of this pharmaceutical shorthand follows: Combine each gram by weight of fresh comfrey root with 2 ml by volume of a liquid composed of 50% grain alcohol and 50% distilled water.) see Making Plant Medicine
The alcohol content of this tincture is kept to a minimum, since alcohol causes the healing mucilage to precipitate in globs. Due to the thick viscosity of comfrey tincture, it is important to press slowly and at low pressure. Filter through porous cheesecloth. Water extract : Cold infusion of dried leaf. Practical uses: Comfrey speeds healing of cuts, ulcerations, bruises, broken bones, pulled muscles and ligaments, and sprains. Dosage: For a period not to exceed three weeks: the tea of dried leaves up to 3 cups a day, or the tincture of the fresh root, from 30 to 60 drops, 3 to 5 times daily. Oil, salve, or cream: Make infused herbal oil of the dried root powder or dried leaf powder by covering with certified organic olive oil, then maintaining at about 105 degrees F for a full week, stirring daily. Press in an herb press, allow to settle overnight, then filter the oil through a cheesecloth. This oil can be used as-is or made into a salve by combining hot with beeswax. For step-by-step instructions on how to make Comfrey root tincture or infused herbal oils and healing salves read Making Plant Medicine. Poultice: The fresh leaves and chopped roots of Comfrey are combined with a little water and blended in a blender to a mucilaginous mass which is applied to the skin. Contraindications: Do not use when pregnant or nursing. Ingesting large quantities of Comfrey during pregnancy or using large Comfrey poultices daily during pregnancy is potentially life-threatening to the fetus. The herb contains liver-toxic PAs. The PAs are of higher concentration in the root than in the leaves. Taken internally, a 3-week course of comfrey root extract or Comfrey leaf tea is considered harmless to the liver of a healthy, nonpregnant person. Do not take for longer than 3 weeks. For nonpregnant individuals, there is little danger of absorption of toxic levels of PAs through the skin from Comfrey salves, creams, and poultices. Do not use this herb externally on new puncture wounds or deep cuts, due to the likelihood that the outer skin layers will be stimulated to close up and heal prior to the draining and regeneration of deeper tissues. Instead, first use Epsom salt soaks containing Calendula or Chamomile tincture. Once the swelling and pain have subsided and the wound is clean and healing normally, Comfrey may be safely and effectively applied to speed the process. Other species: Russian comfrey(Symphytum asperum) and hybridized types coming from Eastern Europe (e.g.
S. x uplandicum) are actually higher than S. officinale in echimidine,
one of the most toxic of the PAs found in Comfrey. Price:
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