Big garden comfrey May 9, 2025
On Tuesday I wasn’t moving too fast. I got the post up and a load of dishes in the dishwasher before my helper friend arrived at 9:30AM. We collected our equipment and headed to the garden.
Upon looking at the map, the mulch we had to move would be piled against the comfrey. Several of the plants had migrated outside the bed. I thought I’d just have to move 1 or 2 over to the Little Trees II row. But I was wrong. It turns out there were 7 plants to move and plant.
We dug up 3 of them on the mulch side of the bed. This was the first one to go to the Little Trees II row, between the Pembina plum and the 2nd chokeberry.
We got the other 2 planted in the west end of the bed in the Big garden. Then there was another clump on the mulch side and those 2 went over to the Little Trees II row between the peach tree and the last chokeberry.
They were pretty wilted, so I got some rebar posts and tied them up.
On the north side of the bed there was another large clump that was 2 more plants. We planted them in the east end of the bed.
Once that was done my helper friend started moving mulch.
I found my blue twine from last year and started tying up the comfrey so it would not overhang surrounding plants. Then I started moving mulch too.
Mid morning we took a break then resumed work on the tomato area. We finished moving the mulch and I put down the amendment while my helper friend put away all the tools we wouldn’t need.
The hay mulch mostly comes from a Christmas tree farm and there’s a LOT of “cordwood” in it. This is what we collected from the tomato area.
I realized we’d not put any amendment under the hollyhocks. So he lifted the mulch and I sprinkled some under each leaf of hay. Once that was done and I’d finished the tomato area, we started laying out the rows, etc. It was then I realized we’d not amended under the comfrey. But we had already mulched and put the twine up, so maybe next year…
We got the first row of peppers in, and then did the small rows going up the east side to the comfrey. We finished those but it was time for him to go. So we put away the few things we used, I got my photos, and we quit.
I was really exhausted and ended up on the couch under 2 quilts watching a movie. I didn’t get anything else done.
On Wednesday, a cold and cloudy day, I hope to get out and finish laying out this area with rows for basil, tomatoes, and horehound. Maybe I will even start prepping the area for planting.
It’s to start raining Wednesday night through Friday morning, so I don’t know if any more will get done before Saturday. I have haylofts to clean out at the stable near me when it’s not raining.
Good job with the transplanting, would love to see how they are doing in the future
#hive #posh
You really did a lot of work here,thanks to your helper friend too.
I love the look of the first plant you posted,the way the leaves faces down and covers the ground is attractive to me
Can you actually touch every section of your farm in a day?
Is your farm a very big one? It looks big
It’s 8.5 acres and no, I can’t get over the whole thing in one day as I can’t walk that much.
I've never grown Comfrey and didn't realize it got so big. I can see why you moved them elsewhere. It looks like you are making headway on getting the plants in before the rain comes, once again. Sigh...
I laid down some mulch around the porch and that about did my back in for the day. Today, maybe another area will get done. Rain is on the way here too.
There’s comfrey under the MacIntosh tree and it’s the tallest I’ve ever seen it, but still under 3’ as it’s a dwarf variety. The stuff in the Big garden is the standard stuff, I’ve forgotten the variety. That is known to be invasive. Comfrey is a dynamic accumulator, meaning it mines minerals, etc from way down in the subsoil, bringing them up nearer the surface where other plants can utilize them. It’s often planted in orchards for this reason and why I’ve put it near the tree rows.
That is great to know, and you put them into the perfect place to assist the young trees. I'm still gathering different plants to make balms and soap with.
First time I hear of comfrey, checked on internet and has various good properties... You did a lot of work there
Can you give a brief explanation of comfrey?
What does it mean?
There’s comfrey under the MacIntosh tree and it’s the tallest I’ve ever seen it, but still under 3’ as it’s a dwarf variety. The stuff in the Big garden is the standard stuff, I’ve forgotten the variety. That is known to be invasive. Comfrey is a dynamic accumulator, meaning it mines minerals, etc from way down in the subsoil, bringing them up nearer the surface where other plants can utilize them. It’s often planted in orchards for this reason and why I’ve put it near the tree rows.