Using comfrey as a mulch in your garden/farm is a great idea depending on your needs. If you are looking for a mulch that can start feeding your crops really quickly, this is your answer. The leaves of the plant are low in fiber so it breaks
down quickly after mulching with it. Depending on several factors, it can easily decompose within days providing nutrients to the soil underneath it.
For mulching with comfrey there are 3 options all of
which have big benefits.
Move to location – This simply
involves cutting the leaves off a comfrey plant (or harvesting the
entire plant) and using them as mulch elsewhere. This is what we do
for our raised beds on the farm. We have a comfrey patch that is near the beds, and when
needed, we cut off leaves and bring them up to the bed. A small patch
can be used to mulch a rather large raised bed.
This is one of our <1-year-old comfrey patches used for that purpose -
Once established this patch can produce a ton (yes, 2000 pounds!) of comfrey leaves a year.
Chop and Drop – If you've planted your comfrey plants near (within the drip zone) the trees
you want to fertilize you can simply cut off the comfrey leaves where
they are and leave them. Almost as easy as possible.
Let die in winter – As easy as
possible. Again for comfrey that has been planted near trees
you can simply let the comfrey die back each winter fertilizing the
ground around the plant. You don't get as much mulch as you would if
you cut it back a couple of times during the year, but it requires
absolutely no work. Some call it lazy, I call it being efficient.
Here is comfrey as it begins to die back during winter. The dead leaves are very dark in color which makes the soil darker as it enriches it. -
Here is comfrey as it begins to die back during winter. The dead leaves are very dark in color which makes the soil darker as it enriches it. -
