Red Clover Harvesting And Comfrey Usage
Answered by: Inge Poot
Question from: Shelley Lippert
Posted on: January 08, 2009

How is your Red Clover harvested? Is it labour intensive to pick the flowers which accounts for its cost? $13.00 for 25g is costly compared to the other herbs I ordered, since I make teas and infusions often. My clover grows in the orchards and fields near me, and I harvest blossoms throughout the summer and fall. I dry mine in baskets away from direct sunlight, and I have also tried using a food drier. Which method is best?

The flowers on red clover form all over the plant and hand picking is the only option if a pure product is required. If machines are used, the cuttings have to be sorted by hand.

I ordered common comfrey. To make infusions I use about one ounce per quart jar, and re-use it once: I will need to make inquiries about internal use due to pyrrolizidine alkaloids found in the leaves and stems, as your brochure states, and echimidine as an article from Health Canada states. Both of these may cause liver damage with prolonged use, and I since I am using other herbs to support liver function, this might be a problem.

We do NOT recommend comfrey for internal use, only external, since the offending alkaloids are not absorbed through the skin.

Back to Growing Herbs | Q & A Index

Copyright © 1997-2024 Otto Richter and Sons Limited. All rights reserved.