COMFREY FOR THE HOMESTEAD

Enlarge Image Image Gallery PHOTOS BY NANCY AND MICHAEL BUBEL

Four years ago—mostly from curiosity, because we'd heard so much about the plant's virtues—we set aside a small rectangular spot on our acre for a bed of 30 comfrey cuttings. They grew like mad. We harvested leaves all summer, and found the new crop so useful that, at the end of the season, we ordered 150 additional roots and expanded our little patch to a plantation of 200.

In case you're not familiar with comfrey, it's a member of the borage family . . . a strong-growing perennial with somewhat hairy leaves 12 to 18 inches long, rising on short stems from a central crown. The flower is a pretty blue bell, fading to pink. We don't wait to see the blossoms, however, because the foliage is at its best if cut before blooming time. The plant reaches a height of over two feet and spreads to more than a yard across, but—since comfrey doesn't throw out creeping roots and hardly ever sets seed—it's remarkably non-invasive for such a sturdy being.

And what's the stuff good for? Let me put it this way: If you're a gardener, you probably raise many plants for special purposes . . . mint—say—for tea, perhaps clover for animal feed, spinach for salad, nettle to liven up the compost, aloe or herbs for healing. Well, comfrey can do it all! We've found at least six uses for it on our homestead, and here they are.

COMFREY IS A VEGETABLE

. . . and possibly a better one than many we plant from seed each year. It's rich in calcium, potassium, phosphorus and vitamins A and C. And—since the protein content of those big leaves runs a very high 21 to 33%—you can count on this plant as an alternative to soybeans if you're trying to feed yourself on the low end of the food chain.

You can stew comfrey briefly in a little water, as you would spinach . . . or—better yet—combine it with other greens, wild and tame, and saute the mixture lightly in oil with onions and peppers. Home-grown sweet potatoes go very well with this dish.

I also like to snip the young leaves into fine pieces and toss them in a salad. Friends of ours make a drinkable lunch by whumping up comfrey leaves, unsweetened pineapple juice, lemon and honey in their blender.

COMFREY IS A TEA

. . . one that will feed your body rather than sloshing out the water-soluble vitamins as regular tea (I hate to say it!) does. We like it best mixed half and half with mint leaves and steeped about five minutes in an enamel kettle. It's a comforting drink, just the thing after an afternoon of stretching fencing in a raw wind, a night of playing midwife to goats or pigs or a day of making snow caves and snow people with the children. Sweeten it with honey and let the youngsters have some too!