olson (03/23/83)
#N:fortune:23900002:000:2270 fortune!olson Mar 22 20:54:00 1983 A Comfrey plant for every home, might be as useful as "a chicken in every pot." Spring is finally coming to storm drenched northern California, and I've just spent a weekend in the mountains teaching a class in "ethnobotany," only to return home to see my own garden of healing wonders in need of dividing and giving away as gifts. In the past few weeks, with all of the storm damage in our part of the country, there have been numerous uses for this plant. Most people think of herbs as things to cook up and drink, which may not appeal to everyone, but I've not met too many people who have actually used herbs in compresses. (In fact, there is a serious lack of information on how to use many of our common garden plants that we know have medicinal qualities.) Using the common comfrey plant (known for generations as "bone heal" in many parts of the country), here is our "family recipe" for blisters on the feet and skinned knees, other abrasions, wounds that don't want to heal, etc., especially those that tend to fester and look awful: For an average size skinned knee I would fill a 3 qt pan with some freshly shredded comfrey leaves (washed well and grown without systemic sprays). I would then fill the pan with enough water to cover the leaves, and put it on the stove to simmer, covered, until the leaves looked somewhat like dead spinach. Then I would apply very warm (almost hot) compresses on the wound using clean soft cloths (like flannel) for as long as I had patience...a half hour or so...keeping the liquid warm the entire time. If the wound was especially "angry" looking, I would probably place some of the cooked comfrey leaves on top of the wound and then bind gently for the night (or several hours). For hiking blisters on the feet, the same recipe can be used, but I usually double the amount of leaves used and use a large pot and more water. Cook leaves as before and pour into basin and then soak your feet in the liquid (as hot as you can stand it) for at least 15 to 30 minutes. I find that the redness will be gone the next morning, as will the majority of the tenderness and subcutaneous fluid that built up. Lyn Dearborn Olson