COMFREY OIL

It’s not hard to find comfrey growing somewhere, as it thrives like a weed. I have some in my garden that I have to keep in check, but it makes a great addition to my compost tea and I recently made a terrific oil out of it; it’s well known for its skin-healing abilities. When I’m gardening I get a lot of scratches and sometimes insect bites, and this oil has proved to be a winner for making sure they don’t get infected. In the old days comfrey was used in many healing concoctions because it contains allantoin, which is thought to increase the speed at which wounds heal. This is such an easy oil to make.

Ingredients • Comfrey leaves • 1 large glass jar (Agee if you have it) • Olive oil

On a dry day, collect the comfrey leaves and chop up into pieces. Fill the jar with them, pushing them down so that they are quite tightly packed into the jar. Pour over the olive oil until you have reached the top, then using a fork push the comfrey down again to release any air and make more room for the oil.

Put on the lid and sit the jar on a sunny windowsill. In the summer with hot sun this will be ready in 3 weeks, but allow 6 weeks in the winter.

Strain the leaves from the oil, and put the oil in a dark glass bottle. Use on any skin complaints or simply rub all over your skin as a lovely conditioner.