[ranat22]

hello all,sorry if said before,but where is the best place to find comfrey....woods..fields....i've looked at pics of the plant...they seem pretty easy to spot...any tips?.thanx.i'm in durham

[mumofstig]

on ebay 

[ranat22]

on ebay  

tried there,and amazon....nowt    ,do they not grow wild?..................done some nettle tea today,but after reading up,it seems comfrey tea may be better for my tomatos

[arugula]

Advice from the AVG website.

"Obtaining Comfrey , Planting and the growing for the first year.

You can obtain plants from The Organic Gardening Catalogue for most of the year but, if you can, plant in March, April, May or September for best results. I start the plants off in pots - just to get them off to a good start - and then plant out. You can plant directly but I like to ensure success, especially as they can cost over a pound each!

Block plant around 2 to 3 feet apart and stand back. You will be surprised how quickly they grow. When the flowers appear take a cut. I use a pair of shears and cut about 6 inches from the ground. Comfrey has little hairs on the leaves, which can irritate. Not quite a cactus but near, so wear gloves.

Come winter the plants go dormant and a good layer of manure can be applied."

http://www.allotment-garden.org/grow-your-own/comfrey

[ranat22]

Advice from the AVG website.

"Obtaining Comfrey , Planting and the growing for the first year.

You can obtain plants from The Organic Gardening Catalogue for most of the year but, if you can, plant in March, April, May or September for best results. I start the plants off in pots - just to get them off to a good start - and then plant out. You can plant directly but I like to ensure success, especially as they can cost over a pound each!

Block plant around 2 to 3 feet apart and stand back. You will be surprised how quickly they grow. When the flowers appear take a cut. I use a pair of shears and cut about 6 inches from the ground. Comfrey has little hairs on the leaves, which can irritate. Not quite a cactus but near, so wear gloves.

Come winter the plants go dormant and a good layer of manure can be applied."

http://www.allotment-garden.org/grow-your-own/comfrey

cheers............here's me thinkin they grew wild like nettles 

[bigben]

If you have an allotment on a site you could ask for a few roots from others who already have it. I have just been given one plant, split it into bits and potted into 12 pots they have all come up! I have since been offered roots from others who heard I wanted some. I had problems growing it from seed and wanted the Bocking variety anyway as this does not spread by seed.

[mumofstig]

on ebay  

tried there,and amazon....nowt    ,

It's really not a good idea to poke your tongue out at people trying to help and there is comfrey for sale on ebay http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p3984.m570.l1313&_nkw=comfrey&_sacat=See-All-Categories

Maybe you don't want to buy it - fair enough - but I checked before I posted, that they did have plants/root cuttings on there!

[shokkyy]

I bought some from ebay just last week, pretty good deal too, and all the roots (7 rather than the 5 I paid for) are already showing shoots in their 3" pots.

[GrannieAnnie]

It does grow wild too, but you have to know where to look for it.

When our friends Aggy and Munty lived in Scotland, they were surrounded by the stuff, it was so bad that they couldn't dig enough of it up to grow other things in that particular area, and we are talking about roughly quarter of an acre I would say! 

But like the others have said, ask around, your allotment site or others in the area, I'm sure there are loads!!!

[potatogrower]

if you have any local public nature reserves or public green belt areas you can check there. google images can provide you pics on what it looks like and shape/colour of flowers. i have it in my local green belt and it's growing in more than one place but small patches so i go and pick some comfrey and nettles. if you're unsure that you're allowed to pick them then email your local council to confirm and pick the bottom leaves and leave the upper leaves so the rest can still grow on. i'm hoping to make a 2nd run and make some more bottles.

[SnooziSuzi]

Where abouts in Durham are you?
I've got some you can have from my allotment.

It's not a non seeding variety but it's strong and healthy and will come back year after year whether you want it to or not!

[engineer]

i wouldn't worry too much about which variety you get, if you have the one which does seed ( it's hard to tell) just harvest it before it sets it's seeds and bung it on the compost heap 

[savbo]

old landfill sites are worth checking...

[Kirpi]

Not a good idea to encourage people to go onto wildlife reserves to go diggin up plants even if it is such a rampant one like Comfrey.

Why not contact your local nature reserve maintenance people (BTCV maybe) and ask if they are about to cut some back and then you can go volunteer and bring some roots back legitimately.

[SnooziSuzi]

Still on offer for free from my allotment if you want it...?