Comforting Comfrey

If you are not familiar with comfrey, check it out. It is a plant everyone can, and should, grow. It is a clumping plant that spreads slowly ( in my dry clay soil anyway) with large leaves and white bell shaped flowers on tall stalks in the summer. It is a great attractor for bees, and the deer don't like it ( the leaves are hairy). It has been used as a high protein feed for livestock for centuries. It has recently been reported that an alkaloid contained in the plant may cause adverse effects in humans if ingested over long periods of time. Just to be safe, don't eat it or make tea with it. It does however make a fabulous poultice for small scrapes and bruises. Just dig up a piece of root, clean it, chop it, put it in a blender with a little water and a couple of leaves to make a thick paste. Apply it to the hurt area and bandage overnight.  Some may be healed in one night, others may take two or three. Don't use it on deep wounds, the healing action will cause the outer skin to heal before underneath and this can cause problems. It really does work! Really great for people who ( usually due to age) have thin skin which damages easily and does not heal well.
As if that isn't enough, it is a great mulch plant, when it dies back in the winter use the dead leaves as mulch or compost for other plants.