If push comes to shove...?

ceridwen

..and still talking about rhubarb...and I want to "play with" my new dehydrator:) -

Has anyone tried drying rhubarb? If so - how was it? Worth doing?

[Deleted User]

I planted comfrey on my plot a few weeks ago (bocking 14) and today I received a book called `comfrey` by Lawrence D Hills. I had the thought that comfrey would enrich my veg growing but I didn`t have too much knowledge of how it is possible for this plant to feed a hungry world. It was this gentleman`s visionary dream, following on from the Henry Doubleday`s dream after the Irish potato famine. I have obviously only just started the book but it makes me feel excited. This might be the `saviour` if push really does come to shove and I think that more of us should have some of these plants tucked away in a corner, just in case, if for no other reason

rhiwfield

cootambear wrote: »

Its out of season for rhubarb, forced barb is grown in heated sheds (expensive).

Wise gardeners like you freeze in glut times.

And others turn it into wine, saving £2.16 a bottle in excise duty and VAT :beer:

ceridwen

kittie wrote: »

I planted comfrey on my plot a few weeks ago (bocking 14) and today I received a book called `comfrey` by Lawrence D Hills. I had the thought that comfrey would enrich my veg growing but I didn`t have too much knowledge of how it is possible for this plant to feed a hungry world. It was this gentleman`s visionary dream, following on from the Henry Doubleday`s dream after the Irish potato famine. I have obviously only just started the book but it makes me feel excited. This might be the `saviour` if push really does come to shove and I think that more of us should have some of these plants tucked away in a corner, just in case, if for no other reason

Errrmmm...I do have a comfrey plant myself (assuming it hasnt died over the winter of course....) - which I have planted for the purposes of providing food for other plants (and because it has a very good medicinal reputation - eg one of its other names is knitbone).

From various reading-around of foraging books/websites though...it would appear that comfrey contains summat (cant recall details now...) that its not a good idea for humans to consume regularly though. As far as I can gather - it can be eaten in moderation (ie probably something like once every few weeks maybe??). So I will try a cautious recipe or two with it once in a blue moon - but am not planning on having it at all regularly.

I have an idea that its maybe one of those plants that it used to be thought was okay for regular eating - but more modern knowledge is much more cautious on this...

Maybe others have more info. on this?

[Deleted User]

I am not planning on eating it Ceridwen, I have lots of reading to do but as a food for plants and for hens for starters. It appears to be more beneficial than manure and without the e coli and GM risk

ceridwen

Ah...thats okay then Kittie...so it isnt comfrey fritters on the menu tonight then chez Kittie?:rotfl:

valk_scot

cootambear wrote: »

Its out of season for rhubarb, forced barb is grown in heated sheds (expensive).

I think I knew that...only been growing rhubarb for 14 years now.....;)

I was more quoting it as an example of how silly prices get when shops try to supply crops well out of season. My forced rhubarb will be up in another month and all I have to do to get that is put an old dustbin upside down over a rhubarb crown. No heating required.

Davesnave

kittie wrote: »

I planted comfrey on my plot a few weeks ago (bocking 14)

Yes, it's important to stress that bocking 14 is sterile, so won't set seed all over the shop, like the normal kinds.

Still smells as hideous as all the rest when fermented in a barrel though!

I'm sure I've read not to ingest too much of it as well.

valk_scot

Davesnave wrote: »

Yes, it's important to stress that bocking 14 is sterile, so won't set seed all over the shop, like the normal kinds.

Still smells as hideous as all the rest when fermented in a barrel though!

I'm sure I've read not to ingest too much of it as well.

I grow Bocking 14...I've had it for 10 years and I've had one single plant grow outside the bed, far enough away to make me think it was self seeded. Almost sterile, I think. If anyone is looking for a bit, find a neighbour that grows it. It's easy to chop off a side shoot to transplant. My original five plants have provided most of our 46 allotments with comfrey transplants over the years. I started using it when access to sources of manure was limited one year and it is very good stuff.

It does stink to high heaven when fermented but it is terribly useful. I use an old water butt with a bottom tap to ferment mine and decant the liquid into old milk containers, ready for dilution. I use a 1:15 dilution for feeding the soil as a growth booster and a 1: 20 dilution as a foliar feed. I also use it to water pot plants. I empty the sludge into the compost heap. I use fresh comfrey in different ways...a layer in the bean trenches with other water retentive materials and a layer at the bottom of the drill when planting potatoes. This last is supposed to help prevent potato scab btw.

Comfrey used to be known as knitbone etc and I belive it can be ingested in very small and carefully controlled amounts as a herbal remedy. Get knowledgeble advice on this before you try it, same as any other kind of herbal medicine! It can be used in salves and creams too, but I don't know exactly how. Be warned it has lots of tiny hairs on it and also potentially irritant sap if your skin is sensitive, so best if you wear long sleeves and gloves when harvesting in bulk.

It's also a fantastic plant for attracting beneficial insects like bees and hoverflies. On a warm afternoon the patch is normally buzzing with activity! So when you harvest it, best to do it in the evening.

ETA: Oh yes, this thread is supposed to be about how gardening habits will change when we have to feed ourselves more, yes? Well I think growing a lot of comfrey would come into that. It's a fantastic accelerant in the compost bins and I use it as a starter in the bin where I dump more awkward things to compost, like bashed up cabbage stems and tough waste. It's good for providing the trace elements that plants need for healthy growth. You can use the comfrey bed as a dumping ground for materials that you wouldn't want to put in your bins or directly on soil...I was given a bag of wood shavings mixed with fresh chicken poo for example, so I soaked it in a barrel of water and used that on the comfrey bed. The comfrey went mad for that! It's also a good accelerant when used in the diluted liquid state for rotting down leaves into leaf mould. So comfrey helps you utilise scarce resorces more efficiently.

My main sources of free materials for use as mulches, compost etc are general plant waste from my garden and allotment, seaweed (I live on the coast), horse and sheep manure from a friend's smallholding and leaves, which the council kindly leave in our car park after clearing the park next door. (Much appreciated, this last.) Plus the odd bag of grass cuttings or mixed cleanings from the neighbours chickens and rabbits. If push came to shove I would be able to manage just fine with only these materials but by using comfrey I could extract a great deal more usable plant food from these materials, and more quickly too. So it would be a real must have if money was tight, I think. Oh, I do currently buy in ten bags of mushroom compost and a couple of bags of concentrated organic chicken manure a year too, at a cost of about £25 total. But I could manage without it if necessary. I'd just have to grow more comfrey!


Incidentally nettles make a very good liquid fertilizer too. I either run a second smaller water butt for this or throw them into the comfrey barrel.

r.a.i.n.b.o.w

shellysue wrote: »

What about people with no garden, will we see more migration from cities to rural areas? Pressure put on rural areas to provide more housing? Modern planning dictates smaller gardens with little opportunity for the home owner to grow more than a token amount.
I wouldnt want to be living in a high rise block over the next few years.

I agree that living in a high rise makes gardening and GYO a bit more difficult, but if you're ingenious and creative, there are ways to have a stab at it...

I live on 22nd floor of a South London high rise, and have just started a garden share with a pensioner (scheme is called "Garden Partners" through Age Concern). This is 20 square metres of earth, about another 20 sq m of concrete/patio. This is my first year, so have no idea about plant quantities etc to feed me and the pensioner and have stuff left over to freeze/pickle/sell/swap etc, so will be playing by ear in 2011.

Landshare is also another option, as is guerilla gardening, garden sharing, allotments (I'm on my local waiting list for an allotment).

Also, high rises tend to be fairly spacious. Most were built in the late 60s-mid 70s, so weren't subject to the "compact" professional living spaces that are being built these days. So there are usually large window sills, big windows (lots of sun/natural light), rooms with spaces for container gardening and - often - a balconey. So while this isn't IDEAL, you certainly can grow tomatoes, herbs, salad, chillies, baby sweetcorn, cress, beansprouts...and even potatoes, carrots, peas and beans. The only thing you have to be careful of is the WATER. Use too much and you could find yourself facing redecorating bills from your neighbours!