With the Comfrey plants
almost reaching tree like proportions, it is well past time for me to
be harvesting it. Usually before now I have been harvesting the first
cut for making comfrey infusion for the greenhouse but I have been a
little lax this year so now I have a huge first harvest instead.
Most of the leaves
harvested will be used to make comfrey infusion, which basically
involved steeping the leaves in a huge bucket of water to make a
horrid smelly liquid which the tomatoes love. But comfrey ointment
for this years stock will be made with some of the leaves first.
Comfrey has long been
used traditionally as a healing plant, and scientific studies show
that the plant contains a small molecule called 'allantion' which
repairs cells and decreases inflammation making it excellent for skin
wounds.
Making comfrey ointment
is really easy and one of the quickest I find to make.
How to Make Comfrey Ointment
Ingredients:
Fresh picked comfrey
leaves
Either.... Olive oil
(or another preferred oil such as almond/sunflower etc) and Beeswax
OR …... Coconut oil
Labelled jars or pots
to store
* Roughly chop comfrey
leaves and place in a saucepan
* Cover with oil (if you
are using coconut oil you may need to melt it first)
* Heat very very gently
just so that you are getting the oil not quite hot, you do not want
to Fry your comfrey (although I have been know to accidentally do
this myself).
* Turn off the heat and
allow to comfrey to infuse in the warm oil for around an hour in a
warm place.
* Strain your oil through
a sieve into a measuring jug squeezing the leaves with the back of a
spoon to keep as much of the oil as you can, then allow to stand for
another hour in a warm place.
* If you are using
coconut you are now finished and can carefully pour your ointment
into jars or pots leaving any sediment behind in the jug and store in a cool place.
* If you are using
beeswax you need to measure how much oil you have before carefully
pouring back into your wiped out comfrey pan leaving the sediment
behind in the jug.
* Add beeswax to your pan
using roughly 10grams (½ oz) of beeswax for every 100ml (3 ½ fl oz)
of oil, heat gently to melt and mix, then pour into pots or jars.
And that's it, easy
done in a morning.
