The Power of Comfrey

Lately it seems like no sooner is one of my patients healed then another shows up, and I've had plenty of opportunities to practice what I've learned about herbs, healing, health and first aid. Nick's horse Phillip recently got a leg caught in the fence. When I found him he had several deep gashes with blood everywhere. I stopped the bleeding with potato starch and treated the wounds with herbal salve, but by the next day the leg was twice its usual size. I iced the leg throughout the day, but it didn't seem to help at all. I remembered reading that comfrey tea or tincture could heal internal injuries - sprains, breaks, bruises and such, but I was out of comfrey. I ordered some so I would be ready for the next time. Three weeks later, when the comfrey arrived, Phillip's leg was still very swollen. I made a strong tea out of the leaf and root , wrapping the leg in a cloth soaked in it. The next day the swelling had gone down so I repeated the process. After two or three treatments the swelling was almost gone. I missed a day of soaking and the swelling returned. It took a few more days of soaking before the leg looked normal. Phillip went back in with the herd and I started some comfrey root tincture so it would be ready when I needed it. Last week Snickers hurt a leg out in the pasture and could hardly put weight on it. There was some heat and swelling. After three treatments with the comfrey tincture, he was all better and back with the herd. Today I rode him and he pulled Nick around on a toboggan with no problem. Many of you have already seen comfrey at work as a main ingredient in my healing salve. This powerful plant is definitely going on my list of favorite herbs!

Tomatoes

For years I've tried to grow tomatoes, and for years I've harvested only a handful of fruits from wimpy little plants. In 2012 I did not get one tomato. This last year I tried a new experiment. During the winter I covered the ground where I would be planting my tomatoes with about six inches of straw. In early June, I pulled back the straw where each plant was to go and planted it with a shovel of finished compost. The result? Enormous plants, basically no weeds and juicy red tomatoes. By late summer the plants had grown out of their cages and taken over the pathway. Not anticipating such big plants, I planted two plants in each cage as usual, making harvesting quite tricky. I will definitely do the same thing with the straw next year, but I'm going to plant them farther apart next time!

Shady is Booked to Black PRE Andalusian Stallion Confidente SG!