First posted May 10, 2024; Last updated July 7, 2024

Making Comfrey Fertilizer Tea

Hi all! Today I am going to share with you an awesome way to make your own fertilizer. Besides the fertilizer that is in the bags of potting soil I get, I try to avoid buying fertilizer. I try to keep my gardening costs low, so any time I don’t have to buy something, I jump on it! My comfrey plant was gifted to me by a dear friend as a going away present when she suddenly had to move. I unfortunately haven’t kept in touch with her over the years, but seeing my beautiful comfrey plant come back every year reminds me of her and makes me smile.

Comfrey is a perennial plant, if you have one it will come back year after year. I do absolutely nothing to overwinter my comfrey here in Michigan and it still comes back every year. Comfrey has a very deep taproot, and that is what allows the plant to bring up so much nutrients to its leaves. Comfrey tea isn’t the only fertilizer I use in my garden, I try to use a variety of organic materials like rabbit droppings, compost tea, and food scraps to feed my plants.

Besides making tea, I also use comfrey as is. When I transfer started plants to their final home, I throw 3-4 good size leaves in the hole I dig before I put the plant in there. It helps give them a little extra nutrients!

Materials

• A mature comfrey plant with plenty of leaves
• Gardening gloves; somewhat optional, but comfrey leaves have small prickles on them that irritate my sensitive skin. I also wear long sleeves when harvesting comfrey
• Gardening shears; also optional, I just find it makes the job quicker
• A large bucket with lid. I use an old, cleaned out frosting bucket I took from my job. A 5 gallon bucket would also work. I would aim for something food safe, but that is just a personal preference. Just make sure you have a lid
• Kitchen gloves or a similar waterproof, thick glove for when you go to collect your tea. This stuff smells. If you get it on your skin, it will smell for a while no matter how much you wash it.

Step one
Start cutting off leaves from your comfrey plant. I tend to cut down several of the large stalks close to the base of the plant, while trying to avoid any newer growth. I then cut the stems off of the leaves and throw the leaves in my bucket. I save the stalks to throw in my composting bin. They don’t have as many nutrients as the leaves, but I don’t like to waste! If you have a lot you could probably run them over with a mower and use the leftovers as mulch.

Step two
Pack as many leaves as you can in your bucket. I keep going until I can’t fit any more leaves, or I only have ~25% of the original plant left. I probably could have harvested more from this plant, but I was satisfied with how many leaves I had, so I decided to stop. Depending on the size of your plant and how established it is, you can get several harvests a season. I usually get about 3-4 now.

Step three
If I have rabbit droppings, I will throw them in here for an extra boost. I didn’t this time because I had just recently cleaned my rabbit’s pen and threw it in the compost pile. Take either fresh water from the hose, or collected rain water and fill the bucket to the top. Put the lid on securely and put it away somewhere you won’t mind smelling it. I usually put mine back by the chicken coop where the girls can’t get at it. You want to let it sit and rot for about a month. You can open it about once a week or so and give it a stir if you think of it, but if you forget, that is fine too.

Step four
After about 4-6 weeks your comfrey tea is ready to harvest and use. You can use your tea sooner if you are impatient/your plants really need to be fertilized, but the longer you let this cook the more nutrients will be in that tea. The leaves will be a disgusting, black mass. If you are like me and forgot to stir it, you might have a little mold on the top. This is all okay. You will want your heavy kitchen gloves (that uhhhh maybe you shouldn’t use them for dishes after this) to scoop that crud out. You can toss it right in your compost pile. Some people use it as a side dressing for their plants, but I want to smell this stuff as little as possible, so into the compost it goes.

You will need to dilute your comfrey tea before using it. I fill an old quart jar and pour it into my two gallon watering can. You are aiming for around 1:10 mixture, mine is slightly more concentrated than that, but it is diluted enough that it won’t hurt my plants. I give everything a healthy drink. If you didn’t let your tea cook the full 4-6 weeks you want to make something a little more concentrated.

And that is about all there is to it! Once you have an established comfrey plant, you basically have free fertilizer every couple months. It is easy to make and requires less than an hour of active work.
Comfrey can also be used topically and as animal feed. There are some concerns about it affecting the liver, so make your own choices regarding its use as feed. I give the occasional extra to my chickens and rabbit as a treat, but it is not part of their everyday diet. I do make poultices out of it for burns and do notice it helps with the pain and healing speed. If you keep letting it grow, they also put off beautiful, little purple flowers the bees love! It is an awesome multi use plant and I totally recommend all gardeners have one.

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