Comfrey is one of the very best things you can grow in your garden as it can be used as a brilliantly rich, natural fertiliser in organic growing.
It’s a hungry, perennial plant that draws loads of nitrogen and other nutrients from the soil and into its leaves. Its leaves are therefore something of an instant superfood for other plants and can be used to make a powerful liquid feed, a mulch, a compost accelerator and all sorts of other handy things.
Our favourite use of comfrey is as a liquid feed. As your comfrey plants grow, cut the leaves off to leave about 8cm growth on the plant. You can do this several times in the season, but not after the summer as you need the plant to grow fully again during autumn before winter falls. Break the leaves up and pop them in a container of water. Leave the mixture, covered or under cover, for about 4 weeks until it turns a nice light tea colour (if it goes too dark just add more water as it’s a little over concentrated). It’ll smell bad but that’s a good sign that it’s ready!
Use the liquid to feed your veg plants with during the summer – it’s especially good for tomatoes – and throw the rotten leaves into the compost heap, or use them as a mulch.
