"Janet Baraclough" wrote in message
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peter wrote:
Hi all,

I'm curious to hear what herbs others have used for feeding thier
gardens.
I've found out heaps about Comfrey and it sounds real easy to grow,
harvest
and use. It also reads as being a very valuable food source for
plants,
especially flowering plants.
I have heard of nettles being used but have not found much with
google yet.
I've heard that Yarrow is very helpful too, as an activator and maybe
feeding too, still to finish that google.
I would especially like to hear from anyone who has heard of Valerian
as a
useful herb in the garden. I have heard it is a very good companion
plant.

So, just wondering what others have experienced or heard.

Cheers and thanks

Peter
===========
Carefull with the Comfrey as it can be invasive,

Depends on variety, see below

but isn't real hard to
control. I have it in the garden as it blooms from late May through
September (if you keep whacking it back) and the bumblebees love it.
I let the cuttings dry out a bit and then run them through a grinder
and use it for mulch around tomato plants. I think in the UK they
till it under and plant on top of it???

Never tried making tea from it, forget what other uses it has.

I use comfrey and nettles as chopped green mulches, (good slug/snail
deterrent) compost heap activator (add large amounts), and for making
a"teas" for plant feeding (soak an armful in a barrel of water (with
lid; it really stinks) dilute and water on. I've been doing this for 20
+ years.

There are many kinds of comfrey and some of the ground-creeping ones
would undoubtedly take advantage of the opportunity to take over new
empires. The one I use was developed for compost/tea purposes by the
Henry Doubleday Research Association (well-known Organic group in the
UK; they have a website which no doubt has more info). It's called
Bocking 14. Grows about a metre tall, produces a large number of huge
leaves a foot long, but is never invasive because it doesn't sucker or
set viable seed (in this climate). Propagates easily from root cuttings.
I grow a bed of it just for the above purposes and harvest it around 3 X
a year. Nettles in industrial quantities are mine for the cutting on the
farm next door.

Yarrow is used in Biodynamic gardening , which might help with your
websearch. I've occasionally added it to the compost heap but not in
sufficient quantity to know if it has any effect.

Janet (Scptland)

Hi Janet,

Great to hear that you've been using Comfrey for 20 years! I hope I can say
that one day.

I'm still not sure about nettles. I read:
..................FERTILIZER: Place nettles in a large container and cover
with water; place cover on container and allow to 'steep' for a couple of
weeks or less (it gets quite rank); use this 'tea', diluted, as a spray to
enrich the soil before planting or after as desired.
OR: Soak a bundle of nettle in rainwater for 3 weeks; strain the liquid and
use as a spray. Spread the decomposed sludge as a healthy mulch.

CONTAINS: Iron, calcium, sulphur, sodium, potassium, phosphorus, silica,
essential trace elements. High in Vit. A, and C with 6.9 grams of protein
per 3.5 oz. of greens.

http://earthnotes.tripod.com/nettle.htm

But they sound like a weed / thistle. I will read more about them.

............The nettle is a common weed and will grow in almost any
nitrogen-rich soil. The rich minerals, nitrogen and chlorophyll stored in
the plant make it valuable in the compost heap, or as a mulch around other
plants. An excellent plant fertiliser can be made by soaking armfuls of
nettles for several weeks in a 40-gallon drum of water. When this solution
is sprinkled onto plants, it is said to protect them against fungus diseases
and aphids. http://www.uq.net.au/hyperlinked/Herbs/nettle.htm (I have also
read that Comfrey foilage spray takes care of powdery mildew.)

I would like to come up with a range of herbal feeders. I can grow them. I
can therefore afford them.

Take care,

Peter