Comment

Anne Morris at the Salisbury Allotment Association flower and horticultural show. DB2693P06

STEWING nicely in a purple tub trug at the bottom of the garden is my special home brew' for plants.

I make my own liquid plant food from comfrey.

It's very easy. I just place a dozen or so comfrey leaves in the container, cover with water and an upturned tub trug, and then leave well alone for two weeks.

Be warned though - rotting comfrey smells. Left too long and you get a putrid smelling slimy liquid. Catch it in time and you have a dark greenish-black liquid, which when diluted with water is an excellent liquid feed for plants.

Comfrey is easy to grow, and, because the leaves can be cut several times a season, enables plenty of home brew' for the summer months.

The leaves can also be used as a compost activator, as mulch or mixed with leaf-mould as a base for potting compost. The leaves are rich in potash and also contain nitrogen and phosphate, three vital nutrients for plants, and rot down quickly releasing the nutrients as they decay.

My original comfrey plant appeared in my garden mysteriously, and I have since divided this several times and taken clumps to the allotment to be added to the compost there.

As a plant, comfrey (Symphytum species) is a very hardy perennial.

Mine is the common wild variety, and it has another trick up its sleeve, it has the most beautiful pink and purple flowers in early summer, and the bees love it.

11:51am Thursday 12th June 2008

Print

Email this

Comment