Comfrey for compost?

Hi
Is comfrey good to compost?
I have loads of this growing and I'm sure one of you said it speeds things up.
But can't remember all the details

Thanks
Stingo

 

Yes, comfrey is excellent for compost. Because of its' high nitrogen levels it is a good activator, it speeds up the breakdown of other materials. You can also use it on its' own to make a good liquid feed. You need 2 containers eg two buckets, one with holes in the bottom and a lid. Put the comfrey into the holey one, and then put this container into the other one. Smelly liquid will then gradually drip into the lower container, and it is an excellent plant food.

 

Thanks Liz
Saw a chap on Gardeners world doing something similar with a coke bottle.

 

Liz, can you please clarify the process.
Do you simply let the comfrey rot and drip?

Would direct immersion in water work as well or faster?

Thanks for info - I've just made a comfrey bed and I'm looking forward to production of liquid feed.

 

have a look at the gardeners world site, as they did it on Friday - as a recycle tip
http://www.bbc.co.uk/broadband/mediawrapper/consoles/garden/bb_rm_console.shtml?pack1-gw2006_comfrey_16x9

 

Looked like about one litre of feed after three weeks - won't go far. I would hope that it has to be diluted.
Any one know?

 

nope - sorry!

 

i watched the clip, seems like he put very few leaves in, i must suppose he topped em up, seems like a lot of effort, i just popped the leaves in to a small water butt, not scientific and still very smelly, i emptied the barrel with a watering can, then tipped over the last few gallons plus leaves in to the veg bed and started again

 

I need my horse not comfrey to make compost like this again, but have to say have used comfrey in this lot.

 

You can do something very similar with nettles.
Three quarters fill a large bucket with water, cut down some good strong growing young nettles and push them down into the water, cram in as many as you can.
Squash them down once a day, in about a week you will have the smelliest liquid feed you could want, great for marrows cues etc.
Not tried comfrey, but I think you end up with something similar, best to dilute I believe.

 

I dilute mine about 1part comfrey to 5 pts water.
As there are lots of plants round here I can keep my container topped up, adding a few leaves every few days in the growing season and sqashing them down, so there is a continuous supply. I suppose it wouln't go far if you had a big garden. I add some nettles as well if there's a surplus!