Cris Fellows

Another thought on its medicinal properties in the environment.   I read somewhere,  likely in a blog or book of Richo Cech's, that someone used comfrey poultice to help heal a tree that goats had munched bark from.   It definitely serves as a cell proliferant.  I did a presentation at a suture conference on herbs used in trauma and wound care.   Comfrey should never be used on a deep laceration as it makes the wound heal from the top down, potentially sealing in infection.   Also should not be used in fracture care unless you know bone to be in correct position because it will start the knitting process as it lies.

Jenny Wright wrote:

Barbara Simoes wrote:

I have a huge problem with buttercup competing with the strawberries when I use the strawberries as ground cover.  The buttercup does have a hard time getting into the daylilies so I will have to try it as a border.

Same problem.   This fall I will try digging out all the buttercup and relocating a patch of daylily here.   Thanks for the suggestion

UnAbandoned  Gardens in Youngstown,  Ohio is a little 3 city lot urban permaculture herb farm and food forest.   We love visits, just shoot us a line and we will try to be there for you.   Youngstown is not most people's idea of a vacation spot,  but it is notably situated half way between NYC and Chicago if you are doing a road trip. And right in the middle of it is our little garden oasis.

Seems to be a general consensus that we usually prefer working in the garden on our own,  with occasional help from family and friends... the ones who need little direction.  I concur.

The stitches look like knitting.  It could be accomplished using technique similar to that used when making raglan sleeves for a sweater,  only not done in the round as shown.  If you expand the pictures,  you can see the characteristic nested loops of knitting.

So many ambitions.
1. Leave a living legacy.  My garden and my children (including daughters in law and grands).  
2. Develop a relationship with the land and plants.
3. Collaborate with said plants and make healthy people.  Currently we (My daughter in law and i) run a small herbal business.   We enjoy crafting herbal products, and especially thinking through the process to create individualized preparations.
4. Collaborate with our community in making our world a beautiful place.

We too have urban rocks.  I mostly use them as edging for beds.  They work nicely and after plants grow in they aren't even ugly.   😂

Jay Angler wrote:Some sort of sunchoke dish?

Are there actual recipes with sunchokes???

Our experience with comfrey:
I have a lovely bed of Russian bocking, almost straight gravel (on top at least there was a driveway right beside it) and full sun.  It does well and we use it to chop and drop and occasionally for medicine.  I later was gifted a comfrey plant and placed it under the newish apple tree...I did not realize it was the standard variety.... and I chopped some and threw it in the compost pile.  
The Russian has pretty much stayed put from what I can tell.   The standard is trying to take over the world.   I don't really mind that it has spread under the tree but compost row I am going to try to reclaim this year.  
Both varieties have a purplish blue flower.  The leaves are slightly different,  and side by side I could probably identify them,  but not it in the wild.
Unless you are digging or plowing your beds,  i would highly recommend Russian bocking.  In my experience,  I would never recommend standard comfrey (pictured).

Maieshe Ljin wrote:

Cris Fellows wrote:

My husband was tricked into eating- " Indian turnip", not sure if that is what it is actually called,  but it had a delay then turned his mouth into a blast furnace.

Weeds I enjoy: chickweed,  yarrow,  nettle,  lamb's quarters.

Growing a huge patch but have yet to try Japanese vegetable Fuki. (Pictured behind the tripod trellis frames)

I’m interested to hear about Fuki. What inspired you to grow them and how has the process been? Are you waiting for them to mature like rhubarb? There are some scattered but impressive of European butterbur growing by our river in the gravel bars and stream banks (biggest leaves I had ever seen!) and I’m considering trying to prepare them in the same way. It sounds as if they shouldn’t be significantly less edible.

I was trying out several perennial vegetables.   All of the other (I don't even recall what I planted) rooted cuttings/ seedlings that I put in that fall dematerialised.  I planted one Fuki.  It has taken over the little plot under the black locust.   It is beautiful.   Related to coltsfoot, it looks just like the fall coltsfoot leaf, but the flower is alien looking in the spring and nothing like coltsfoot.  The difference in the leaves is Fuki is HUGE!  I haven't tried it because the few recipes I found involve fussy double cooking.  I want to try this year.   Regardless,  between Fuki and Jerusalem artichoke,  my apocalypse garden is full.