Field Guide · Harvest · 6 min read

How to Harvest Comfrey for Mulch

Cut it like hay and feed it to the orchard. It regrows four times a summer and its deep roots bring up minerals.

Written on the farm by Nathan Story · Story Thyme Farms, Missouri · Updated

Story Thyme Farms · Bench cardMay–Sept

How to harvest and use comfrey

Symphytum × uplandicum. Cutting and using it

DifficultyEasy
Cuts per year2–4 once established
Cut height2" above crown
Regrows in4–6 weeks
Wear sleeves and gloves. The leaf bristles sting, and comfrey is not safe to eat.
1When to cutCut when it is knee high, before it flowers fully
2How to cut itCut the whole plant off two inches above the ground
3Using the leavesPut the leaves where you want the fertility
4The last cut of the yearStop cutting six weeks before the first frost
Materials needed · Serrated harvest knife · Rose gloves · Muck bucket
Written on the farm · Missouristorythymefarms.com/guides/how-to-harvest-comfrey

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How to grow comfrey from root cuttings How to grow comfrey from root cuttings →

The long version

Watercolor plate of comfrey cut and laid as mulch around a fruit tree
Symphytum × uplandicum · field plate

Comfrey is the only crop here we grow purely to give away, to the fruit trees, the compost pile and the chicken bedding. Its deep taproot pulls minerals out of subsoil the trees cannot reach and stores them in leaves you can cut every six weeks. Harvesting it is basically mowing.

  1. Step 1 · When to cut

    Cut when it is knee high, before it flowers fully

    Watercolour plate of a comfrey plant standing knee high with fuzzy grey-green leaves and the first purple bell flowers just forming

    Make the first cut in late spring, when the plants are 18 to 24 inches tall, then cut again every four to six weeks into September. Cutting as it starts to bloom gives you the most leaf while still leaving time to regrow. Do not cut at all in the first year, because a new plant needs to keep every leaf it makes.

  2. Step 2 · How to cut it

    Cut the whole plant off two inches above the ground

    Watercolour plate of a comfrey plant gathered like a ponytail in one hand and sheared with a sickle two inches above the crown

    Gather the plant in one hand like a ponytail and cut everything a couple of inches above the crown with a serrated knife or a sickle. Wear long sleeves and gloves, because the leaf bristles sting. The plant will look destroyed and will not be bothered by it at all.

  3. Step 3 · Using the leaves

    Put the leaves where you want the fertility

    Watercolour plate of an armful of wilted comfrey leaves laid as a green mulch ring under a young fruit tree

    Let the leaves wilt for a day first, so they cannot root where they land. Then spread them in a ring under fruit trees and berry bushes as a green mulch, about an armful per young tree, or layer them into the compost pile, where they break down fast and heat it up. Comfrey leaves contain more potassium than most manures, which is exactly what fruiting trees need.

  4. Step 4 · The last cut of the year

    Stop cutting six weeks before the first frost

    Watercolour plate of a comfrey plant regrowing a fresh low rosette in early autumn, left uncut to rebuild its roots

    Here that means making the last cut by early September, so the plants can rebuild their root reserves before winter. A comfrey patch managed this way will outlast the fence posts around it. The chickens get a share too, picking at fresh leaves and shredding the wilted ones into their bedding.

Materials needed
Serrated harvest knifeRose glovesMuck bucket

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Questions we actually get

Is comfrey tea worth the smell?
Steeped-leaf 'tea' works as a potassium feed, and it smells like a drowned barnyard. We skip the bucket and lay leaves directly as mulch, same nutrients, no smell, less work.
Can I feed comfrey to chickens and livestock?
Ours pick at fresh leaves in moderation and take no harm, and comfrey has a long fodder history, but it contains pyrrolizidine alkaloids, so we treat it as a garnish crop for the flock, not a ration.
How many plants does an orchard need?
One or two plants per fruit tree, planted just outside the drip line, keeps each tree in mulch all season. Twenty plants effectively fertilize a small orchard for free, forever.
More on comfrey
From the plant library

Comfrey — the full profile

Zones, cold-hardy cultivars, spacing, feeding, and where to buy one already rooted.

Open the comfrey guide →