Comfrey: The Wonder Plant

Many of you might have heard about the usefulness of comfrey as plant feed, especially if you aim to garden organically.

You can find comfrey growing wild and many view it as a weed because most varieties can be very invasive - it seeds itself and can re-grow from small root cuttings.

image via fennel & fern

But because it is such an amazing source of nitrogen, potash and phosphorus, in 1954, a chap called Lawrence D Hills developed the most valuable variety - Bocking 14 - and yes, it was developed right here on the HDRA trial ground in Bocking!

Bocking 14 is high in nutrients but is sterile (it doesn't develop seeds), it is exclusively propagated from root cuttings. This is good news as it means that it can be grown on your allotment on a permanent site without the fear of it overtaking your plot.

You can use it in lots of ways:

• It can be used as compost activator
• The first cut of the year can go into the furrow before your potatoes
• The leaves can be used chopped up as a dry mulch around plants
• Cut up the leaves and put in a container with a lid to create a liquid feed

For more in-depth information on it's history and nutrients visit Allotment Vegetable Growing and Fennel & Fern for some good liquid feed recipes.

March-April is the time to plant up a permanent Comfrey bed. You can buy 5 'Bocking 14' root cuttings for £6.99 from Thompson & Morgan (based in Sudbury).

Do any of you older, and original residents of Bocking remember the HDRA trial site? Where was it located? Do you have a photos?