Comfrey Balm ~ Green Goo of Goodness

 Step into my herb garden and you'll see my blue-bottle tree , a blue bird bath, a dovecote my husband built me that houses a pair of white doves, and many herbs that grow abundantly all year long with little tending. Comfrey is one of those herbs. Sometimes it is considered almost a weed for it's ability to thrive and take over a flower or herb bed. I don't have a problem with that though because any comfrey I don't keep for our pantry or medicine chest is promptly pulled up in the fall and fed to our sheep and chickens. They LOVE it ! We can't grow enough for them.

 

 Comfrey ( Symphytum officinale ) ointment for bruises and cuts. It encourages the growth of scar tissue. " 'New Book of Herbs ' by Jekka McVicar.   Here is a comfrey plant that grows in the shade of the dovecote. You can see the slugs love to eat it too. I am going to show you a simple healing balm recipe using comfrey. First I cut baskets' full of comfrey, washed it and then dried it all in my small dehydrator. After I had a few gallon ziplock bags full I stored most in my pantry for future use, then I began to make my healing Comfrey Balm. You will need 1 pound of petroleum jelly or soft paraffin wax  and 2 ounces of dried or 5 ounces of fresh comfrey leaves.

 Melt the petroleum jelly in a glass bowl over a pan of boiling water. Add the comfrey leaves and simmer, stirring constantly for about an hour.

 Here you can see the petroleum jelly is dark green and the simmered comfrey leaves look like spinach.

 Pour the mixture into a jelly bag or strainer , squeezing and smashing the leaves to get as much liquid out of them as possible, after all, it is the healing properties of the comfrey you're after for the balm.

 I poured the comfrey balm into the jar the petroleum jelly came in and store it labeled and covered in the refrigerator. It can be kept and used for about 3 months. So there you go, some wonderful Green Goo of Goodness !

I use this balm all the time for my feet. I have always had very dry feet that crack and bleed all year around and this truly soothes and heals them. I also use the balm on my other cuts and bruises. For years before I made a balm I would cut the comfrey, chop it up and simmer in a pot of boiling water, cool a bit, and soak my hurting feet in it. You can do that too, but this balm is so simple and affordable, much better than so many other healing creams you pay a lot for in the stores.  Comfrey grows very well in city lots and suburban yards too.

 A baby comfrey plant popped up in the oregano & thyme.

Comfrey : " This invasive plant may be considered a weed by many, but the nutrients it contains are useful to an organic gardener. The leaves are naturally high in protein, potash, and potassium, and make a wonderful mulch or liquid fertilizer. Medically, its potential for healing external wounds and broken bones is unchallenged, hence its common name "knitbone" and "boneset". Currently one of the key constituents ,allantoin, which stimulates the growth of new cells , is undergoing research. Do not take comfrey internally unless it has been prescribed by a qualified herbalist. "  'J McVicar  New Book Of Herbs '

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Blue-Bottle Herb Garden

 The dovecote my husband built me for my herb garden makes me happy . I especially love the detailing in the roof ridge that mirrors the roof ridges he put into our larger dovecote , the goat house, and also the grape & kiwi arbors.

 I keep only 2 doves in my herb garden, my Blue Bottle Herb Garden. You can see how we decided on the name...

 ...there are blue bottles everywhere in this garden.

 These blue bottles are holding the prongs of upside down tomato cages together to form supports for my comfrey . Comfrey loves to get big and floppy , and does so very quickly, often taking over this shady corner of my herb garden if left unattended too long. I use a lot of comfrey for my livestock, poultry, and also make poultices out of it for my feet which have a tendency to get very dry and crack & bleed. Comfrey poultices are great for this. ( I will do another post on this later.)

 Our dog Hawk keeps me company as I weed the garden.

 This old bike holds an old milk crate stuffed with blue bottles and flowers. It is leaning up against a picture window we had to replace after a big earthquake here a few years ago caused the window to split & crack. I like the window in this garden and it helps  keep the woods on the other side of the garden fence at bay.

 Fennel has a lovely licorice scent and thrives in my garden. The fennel has seeded itself in other parts of the herb garden too. It is like growing feathers ! You can see some of the sage and Lady's Mantle growing at the foot of the fennel.

 Lovage also thrives here. I have metal cages and stakes around and through the lovage to keep it from bending and breaking. I love this herb. It tastes like celery, the leaves are yummy chopped up and used in salads, eggs, soups. Anything celery adds flavor to would benefit from lovage. It has a little stronger celery taste, so not too much is needed. The stems grow up to 6 feet in my garden and are hollow so if you strip them of leaves ( or not ) you can use the stems as straws in any drink you might garnish with celery such as tomato juice, delicious!

 My rosemary grows quickly in this garden, and thrives all year, even in the coldest winters. Since my older rosemary plants are now unruly bushes I decided to start 2 new rosemary bushes and encourage them to be more orderly and well-behaved. I placed a large tomato cage upside down over rosemary planted in a large pot. The blue bottle holds the prongs of the cage together. I like the touch of blue it adds.

My blue bird bath sits in the thyme portion of the garden, along with a sun-dial ( not shown here). There are several varieties of thyme in this garden and when they bloom it looks like the bird-bath is perched on a beautiful carpet of color. Our honeybees love the thyme garden especially. My Blue Bottle Garden is a source of herbs my husband and I use for cooking . Some of the herbs are especially beneficial to our health. The garden is also a place of delight on sunny days to soak up the sights, sounds, and scents of Cedar Pond . God is so good and we are truly blessed !

I am joining the Thursday Farm Blog-Hop*. Please check out all the blogs offering useful and inspirational information regarding all things farm,gardening, crops, food preservation keeping poultry & livestock...decorating too. You don't need to have a farm to appreciate all you can learn as you visit these blogs !*