A little comfrey goes a long way

So I am about to embark on attempting to grow comfrey.  Why? you may ask!  Well comfrey is a fantastic plant that takes the nutrients out of the soil and into its leaves so you can use them for fertilizer or mulch, or just to make much better compost. It is deep rooted and in permaculture terms known as a dynamic accumulator as it mines nutrients from deep in the ground and draws them up to the surface.

 Here is a summary of how great it is:

To the organic gardener, Comfrey is invaluable. It’s easy to grow, easy to use and incredibly beneficial to the garden. The roots draw nutrients from deep in the soil and transfer all the goodness into their leaves.
Comfrey contains more Nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (P) and Potash (K) than most commercial feeds available and around twice as much Potash as farmyard manure or indoor compost.

Leaves can be used as a mulch or chopped and mixed with leaf mould to make a base for potting compost or you can make your own organic liquid feed.
Comfrey is especially valuable on crops that benefit from high doses of potassium, especially tomatoes, runner and dwarf beans.
Harvested leaves can be simply laid on the ground around your plants to mulch. Use as a top dressing, especially around soft fruit bushes. As they break down gently cultivate them in.
Comfrey is also incredibly useful as a compost activator. It is so rich that it not only enriches the soil but encourages it to heat up.

Here is a really good information sheet about comfrey.  http://www.seedaholic.com/symphytum-officinale-comfrey.html

It can be an invasive plant, so I am going to grow it in a very run down bit of what is loosely called 'garden' next to my house, where there is very little room for overtaking!

Comfrey is also often grown at the base of fruit trees, but I find this a bit of an enigma as the comfrey takes nutrients from the soil, that should be available for the tree.  Better to grow it elsewhere and then much the tree.

There are two different types of comfrey, and only the original type can be grown from seed.  Russian comfrey is still good, but can be a bit of a problem if you have to dig it out as it is propagated from the roots.  This means any little bit left in the soil will sprout, so be careful which one you buy.