What is comfrey?
Comfrey is a lengthy, course-leaved flowering plant that can be found growing in a variety of conditions. It reproduces rapidly, & can often out compete neighboring plants. This plant is easy to grow & harvest from!
Harvesting:
Both the leaves & root are used medicinally. The leaves should be harvested from a healthy plant, ideally during flowering season. The comfrey root can be dug up in early spring.
In harvesting comfrey, you can simply pinch or cut the leaves at the base of the stem. Depending on what you would like to use them for, you do not need many leaves to make comfrey infused oil for salves, tinctures, or other projects.
After collecting the comfrey leaves, dry them completely by either hanging them or placing them on a towel in a well lit room.
You can use a fresh leaf applied directly to the skin as a poultice. This can help with bruising, wounds, rashes, insects, & more.
Comfrey has some truly amazing medicinal properties.
Comfrey is well-known for its wound healing benefits. In fact, comfrey leaves contain the main ingredient found in most healing salves used for wounds, sunburns, insect bites & more.
Comfrey has many more medicinal qualities, as it has been used as an astringent, has helped with stomach & duodenal ulcers, & has relaxing effects on the respiratory system.
Please note: DO NOT ingest fresh comfrey leaves. Ingesting these leaves can potentially be toxic & hurt the liver. However, dried comfrey leaves can be made into a tea that can help various ailments.