Comfrey

I first heard of this powerful plant when I was doing research for the skin salve was planning to make  for the climbers of Bishop.  I had known how easy it is to make a salve and how useful it would be for people living in such hostile environments like the desert and the mountains, so my experimentation started and "Secrets of the Beehive" was born.

My friend Jenn, from Humboldt, had told me how well comfrey works on the skin and why it needed to be a major staple in my salve.  She told me that it was a hardy annual that can withstand anything. She could even put a chunk of the root in the mail and send it to me, and I grow a comfrey plant!
I never did receive that root in the mail, but right when I got into "The Land where all Grows" (Asheville, NC), I posted a classified on fromhere.org, asking anyone if they had any comfrey plants I could work-trade for.

I received a phone call from Maggie.  She said she had more comfrey than she knew what to do with. I came down a few days later, and sure enough, it was the most comfrey I had ever seen (i'd actually never seen it before).  All I had to do was weedwack a small section of her land and she gave me garbage bags full of the leaves and jars of oil she made from last fall.  She also hooked me up with a baby comfrey plant, allowed me to dig up comfrey roots and also transplanted a St. John's Wort Plant for me. Jackpot!

this is what her comfrey hedge looked like when I got there...

This is what it looked like when I left (hours later)

This plant is amazing.  First of all, its resistance to eradication is simply fascinating.  It takes people years to successfully rid their gardens of it.  What begins as a hedge, soon becomes a wall.  I will add pictures later of what Maggie's hedge looked like, but it was thick and tall, and, not too mention, thistly.  You have to be fully protected when removing it, longsleeves and gloves.  Comfrey also has a high nitrogen content thats great for compost and green cover.  I put three of the bags of comfrey on the compost at my rental and what began as a pile of rotten food, now is a big pile of comfrey and old leaves, breaking down into beautiful soil.

The main constituent of the herb is mucilage."The Way of the Herbs" by Michael Tierra, says that Comfrey root has the highest content of mucilage of any herbs, which has been used for soothing lung troubles and coughs.  And you can see and feel this mucilage when you start making things with the leaves and roots.  When I washed the roots to prepare them for drying, they felt craaaazy!  Super slimy and wiggly, it honestly felt like dead fingers.  The leaves are infusing in olive oil right now, and I can see the mucilage all over them.

What I love comfrey for is for its ability to heal the skin.  "A Modern Herbal" by Mrs. M. Greives, says "Comfrey leaves are of much value as an external remedy, both in the form of fomentations, for sprains, swellings and bruises, and as a poultice, to severe cuts, to promote suppuration of boils and abscesses, and gangrenous and ill-conditioned ulcers.  The whole plant, beaten to a cataplasm and applied hot as a poultice, has always been deemed excellent for soothing pain in any tender, inflamed or suppurating part."  Micheal Tierra notes, "Comfrey is indicated for any rapid wound or bone healing.  As such it can be used both internally and externally with outstanding results in the healing of fractures, wounds, sores and ulcers. The allantoin in comfrey increases cell proliferation, which accounts for its rapid-healing powers."

I've already turned some of Maggie's oil into salve and have given it to many of my new friends in North Carolina. I anticipate the results...  Personally, I do not doubt the powers of this plant.

But just as a warning to all who use this plant, It can cause or flare up liver problems.  If you are prone to liver disease or already hard on your liver, lay off! It has also been know to affect hormone levels.  Most notably,  testosterone.  Women in menopause can use it to help relieve symptoms.  All these warnings are from those who have used the herb in excess.

This is fresh salve, straight off the burner and poured into jars for distribution.

How to make Comfrey Salve:
Maggie's oil was made of fresh comfrey leaves infused in Olive Oil in a crock pot for a few hours.  If you do it this way, be extra careful not to let the oil burn.  It is stinky and messy and a waste of herbs and oils.

I prefer to make mine in a mason jar that sits in the sun for a few weeks.  This is called a solar infusion. I fill the jar up with chopped comfrey leaf and top it off with olive oil.  Be sure there is about half an inch of oil  above the leaves.  Put this out in the sun for 2 to 4 weeks, shaking it once a day or so.  If I am feeling especially crafty, I will start them on the full moon and leave them outside during the night for those three days and then continue the infusion until the New Moon or the following Full.

I then take the oil (after I strain the leaves/roots out), heat it up and melt beeswax into it.  I am still working on the ratio, but somewhere are around 1:4, wax:oil, ratio is good. Once the wax is melted, add essential oils and vitamin E.

Voila!  Now you can make healing salve too!

But, if you dont have time to make your own, I'll do it for you!!!

Thanks for reading!

P.S. Pictures will come soon.  I have to figure out an easy way to get them on my computer....