I have a pretty good comfrey patch going. Mine is true comfrey, which means it can spread by seed. I’m not sure which critter is responsible, but there’s comfrey popping up here and there all over the place now. Which is NOT a complaint! I love the stuff. Thinking about digging up some roots and planting them around the borders of my field.
The more common varieties of comfrey are sterile hybrids, and can only be propagated by cuttings. But, any little piece that breaks off has the potential to become a new plant, so think carefully before you till!
Most comfrey recipes involve oils or salves, but if you were to take a fresh leaf and run it through the blender with some water, you’d get a thick green gel. That gel is absolutely amazing on sunburns, but it loses effectiveness when heated, and preserving it with alcohol or other preservatives means diluting it enough you wonder if it’s worth it. Freezing works best. As for how to filter the gel, you can dilute it some with water until runny enough to strain. I personally prefer it thick, so I use a centrifuge to separate out the solids.
The best sunburn treatment I’ve ever tried is a mix of comfrey and aloe gels, either fresh-squeezed or frozen and thawed.
One of those links you posted warned about comfrey causing irritation if used on an open wound. I’ve never seen that happen, but one danger with comfrey is that it spurs the production of new skin so much, that any foreign material might get trapped inside! This is also why it works wonders on a burn. It doesn’t just soothe the pain, it actually causes the damaged skin to be replaced faster.
Thank you! Once again, you’re a fount of just the info I need :-)
Thanks for the comfrey info!