fresh comfrey as compost??

I was reading an ancient gardening book recently which suggested burying fresh comfrey leaves six inces under the ground below runner beans. I've heard of using a layer of fresh comfrey below potatos but this was new to me.

The old blokes in the allotment reckon this is a bad idea as they say the fresh leaves use up the nitrogen in the soil to decompose thereby depriving the runner beans of nutrients.

What is your opionion on this?

 

Comfrey is a wonderful compost maker. The old blokes are right though. When I had an allotment, I grew comfrey and put cut leaves in a water butt. Terrible stink but you drew off the most powerful liquid fertiliser. Tomatos loved it straight from the watering can.

 

I always ungerstood that the whole point of using comfrey as compost activator, mulch, liquid fertiliser or under plants was that it contained so much nitrogen in its' leaves that it helped other plants grow as it released the nitrogen by its' own decomposition, or helped dead matter decompose.
My organic gardening book says this, and I haven't found any internet information indicating otherwise.
I suppose if you are in doubt then do as Hornbeam says, make liquid fertiliser with it, or compost it.
I have so much round here that I do all 4.

[ 08. May 2006, 10:45 PM: Message edited by: Liz ]

 

I grew Comfrey SYMPHYTUM OFFICINALE as a green fertiliser, having large enough areas to utilise, this was not a problem, prefers a dry shady area but will survive most places. and does work very well when dug in to veg garden in autumn.

 

I've decided to test the wilted comfrey buried under my runner beans. See what happens!

 

Put fresh comfry leaves in a bucket of water. Once it goes black you have the perfect (and free) liquid feed that you can simply pour where you want it.

 

Atta-boy, Matty Boy! Another green gardener?

 

On a program on TV a while back, the chaps at an allotment rigged up a length of drain pipe on the side of the shed, with a tap at the bottom. They then put the comfry and water in the pipe, left to mature and then just drew the liquid off via the tap!! No sloshing of heavy, smelly buckets!!

 

That sounds like a good idea. Comfrey decomposing in water does smell pretty bad. I used to put it in the water butt on my allotment, but I wouldn't put it in one near the house.

 

Yes, not a good idea to put it near the house, very smelly but does the trick.

 

Thank you Rossco! I have been searching for ages to find the name of the plant to use as a green fertilizer! Now I can get on with it..

Erm - where do I get comfrey seeds from?!

 

Nicky's nursery
http://www.nickys-nursery.co.uk/seeds/pages/wild-c.htm
Chiltern seeds do russian Comfrey, not sure what the difference is.
There are lots of green manures [I expect you know]:
http://www.kitchengardens.dial.pipex.com/greenmanure.htm