Comfrey

WHAT TO COLLECT? Collect the root by digging it out with a garden fork either in spring – before the vegetative stage begins – or in September or October. Quickly wash it, cut into halves and let it dry in the sun or inside at a temperature that should not exceed 113° F (45° C) You can also store it in sand like horseradish or carrots. Sometimes the leaves are also used for healing wounds and broken bones. They are large, oblong and hairy. Fresh comfrey tops are to be collected slightly before and during the blossoming period. Comfrey flowers blossoming from June to September are small and bell-shaped, and are of different colors, typically cream or purplish, and may be striped.

WARNING Comfrey is a good servant, but a bad master. As mentioned above, it contains pyrrolizidine alkaloids that can be harmful to the liver. Long-term use of comfrey or high doses can do damage - especially to people who already have a compromised liver – so it is not advised to use comfrey for long internally. The herb should not be taken for more than 10 days in a row. So, if you are only going to use it in the short term, it will certainly benefit you. But, if you have a more serious problem which requires longer treatment, you should consult your practitioner or a herbal specialist.

COMFREY PHARMACY

Periodontal or gum disease You can rinse your mouth with a comfrey decoction. Chewing the root quenches thirst.

Poultice Cook 2 tablespoons of dried crushed root in 17 fl oz (½ l) of water for 15 minutes. Then let it infuse for another 15 minutes, sieve and and use to prepare the poultice.

Similarly, you can mix grated comfrey with curd and honey to make a compress to ease abdominal pain or symptoms of bronchial infection. If, again, grated comfrey is mixed with a grated raw potato you get a great natural remedy for sore throats.

Ointment Add 2 handfuls of cleaned sliced roots (may also be leaves) to 1 lbs (½ kg) of lard and fry for 10 minutes. The next day warm the ointment gently, strain through a Tammy cloth and pour into tubs.

Burn ointment Fill a glass jar with 5 tablespoons of crushed comfrey and 10 tablespoons of St. John’s wort and cover with 17 fl oz (1/2 l) of olive oil or other quality oil. Then screw the cap on the jar and store for two weeks before using.

Tincture Fill a glass jar with a tight cover with cleaned and sliced comfrey root and pour 40% plum brandy or vodka over it. Screw the cap on the jar firmly and let it stand for 10 to 14 days in the sun or close to the heating. Shake occasionally. In 14 days pour the black fluid into vials. If possible, let the tincture stand for at least two years, since then it is even more effective and viscous.

Bath additive Macerate 1 lbs (500 g) of fresh or dried comfrey leaves in 17 fl oz (5 l) of cold water. The next day bring the liquid to a boil and pour it into the bathtub.

Comfrey wine Steep 2 to 5 fresh washed and finely chopped roots in a liter of natural white wine for 5 to 6 weeks. Comfrey wine is a great remedy and prevention of respiratory diseases.

Stomach tea Infuse 1 teaspoon of comfrey tea in 8.4 fl oz (1/4 l) of hot water and let it stand for 3 minutes. The most common benefit associated with drinking this tea is helping the digestive system to function better. It is said to help control both diarrhea and constipation, and soothe general indigestion. There is also a claim that it may help you deal with stomach and intestinal ulcers. Drink slowly and have three to four cups a day.

Common Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale)

For spring cleansing and a healthy liver

he common dandelion is a flowering herbaceous perennial plant of the family Asteraceae. Dandelions are well-known, robust weeds; the common name derives from the French ‘dent de lion’, meaning ‘lion’s tooth’, which refers to the deeply toothed, dark green leaves, which are arranged in rosettes. The stems usually grow up to 10 cm tall (4 in), but sometimes up to over half a meter (20 in). The taproot is fusiform and milky with smaller roots branching off the taproot. A rosette of basal leaves grows from the bottom of the plant. The basal leaves are broader towards their outer tips than at the base (oblanceolate) in outline, although they are more or less lobbed along their length. Smooth hollow stems on which bright yellow flower heads are borne grow from the center of the leaf rosette. The bright yellow flower head (open in the daytime but closed at night) is borne T

singly on the hollow stem, which rises 1.5-4 in (4-30 cm) above the leaves and exudes a milky sap (latex) when broken. The sap leaves behind dark spots when touched that may stay for several days on your hands and can barely be removed from your clothes. The rosette may produce several flowering stems at a time. The flower head is 1 to 2 in (2-5 cm) in diameter and is limited entirely to ray florets, no disc florets. Dandelions bloom from early spring until June and then again in autumn.

The flower matures into a globe of fine filaments that are usually distributed by wind, carrying away the seed-containing achenes. These downy seed heads are familiar to children as dandelion clocks, which are used to ‘tell the time’ by the number of blows taken to remove the seeds.