Using Comfrey Instead of Herbicide in a Vineyard

Last year I made a video about planting comfrey in my organic vineyard as a living mulch between the grape vines. Comfrey is a well known permaculture plant, but I don't know of any guilds where it's included with grapes. I thought it could be used to keep the grass back and save me a lot of time scything around the grape vines. Well, the plants have had some time to get established. So what were the results? Will it work to keep down grass and eliminate the need to scythe around the grape vines.
#Comfrey #Permaculture #LivingMulch
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[@Felix.Wingfield]

Good to see you again!

[@mattpierce5202]

Another great video

[@rxlo1062]

Awesome idea 👍

[@tracyvernon2426]

Great ideas you have there Dan,those Irises are going to look great when they all flower. Good idea planting comfrey around the polytunnel to stop the grass encrouching inside. When I had an allotment before I moved we had a real problem with the grass from the path,I was forever finding and pulling the roots out,then someone gave up one of the allotments and left a lot of flat metal sheets about 2 x 4 foot,so I took them and hammered them all along the path which stopped about 95% getting into the beds.

[@HardcoreSustainable]

I've done that along the sides of my garden beds in my backyard. I buried some sections of old roofing tin as barriers and they do a pretty good job of keeping most of the grass out.

[@diannerisdon388]

So happy to see you post more videos, sharing your experience and experiments. Just imagining how beautiful your vineyard will be filled with blooming irises makes me hopeful for 2021. Thanks, Dan

[@HardcoreSustainable]

Aw, thanks as always for your support and encouragement!

[@DataSmithy]

I also planted some comfrey this year. Looking forward to seeing what it can do for me over the next year.

[@Phu_Tai_Mook]

Thanks to the good knowledge, I like this way of life.

[@howtowithhank4791]

Wow, I feel like your videos are becoming more cinematic! Another great one!

[@HardcoreSustainable]

Thanks! I'm trying to do more with less talking and better shots with some depth of field. I'm glad to get the positive feedback.

[@idunnmyhr8854]

Hei, from Norway! Thanks for your collection of inspiring content..I just visited one of Norway first Vineyards, they have their own challenges, producing very little product but found their own avenue in upscaling their service as pairing with food, and a rustic Romantic getaway..renting beds in horizon recycled large wood wine vatts..the experience is not cheap...like nothing is in Norway..just wanted to share with perseverance and creativity furthers- U are doing great -keep up the good work ✌️💚🤞💎👍

[@HardcoreSustainable]

Thanks for the encouragement! Those are some good ideas. Agritourism can be very profitable, especially if you have some great terrain people can enjoy, even if the winemaking is a challenge. I can't imagine growing grapes in Norway with the short season, but I guess it's getting warmer all the time. But possibly not if the ocean currents shift because of climate change.

[@conradhomestead4518]

Nice update👍 I like how you added value in between the vines. Thanks for sharing!

[@kathybluxome5514]

Just found your channel! New subscriber here!

[@HardcoreSustainable]

Welcome!

[@cannashiva9719]

I wonder if putting a nice nitrogen fixing cover crop in the middle would help build your soil year after year- cutting it down seasonally and letting it break down during the cooler months...great video! keep it up!!!

[@HardcoreSustainable]

If you look closely you can see the white clover blooming in the beds between the vineyard rows. I usually try to plant a mix of white and red clover if I'm not planting something else like flowers or veggies in the intercropped beds. It keeps down the grasses, but it does need tilling, since the nitrogen fixers have to be tilled in while still alive to release the nitrogen. I'd ideally like to plant the cover crop in the middles and have the comfrey leaves extend all the way to the edge of those beds so the grasses don't have any place to survive and the whole system requires minimal maintenance.

[@cannashiva9719]

@@HardcoreSustainable right on I was assuming if the soil was living- the bacteria and fungi will pick up the nitrogen in exudate form and release it for the plant when ready...you got a solid system going. enjoy the content!! thanks for replying!!!

[@bodilskumsrud520]

Great idea!I’ll copy that next summer....and using rhubarb along fences.It should work well!!Thanks!!

[@HardcoreSustainable]

Yes that's another good mulching plant. Unfortunately our high water table is not good for rhubarb. I planted some when I first came to DR and it died pretty quickly. Could probably use a raised bed.

[@bodilskumsrud520]

@@HardcoreSustainable ,that's interesting,with rhubarb not fancy high water table.I didn't know that.I think you just gave me the explanation of why my rhubarb doesn't thrive in my field...!🙌 I'll surtanly try raised beds!Thank you!🙌😁

[@DJ-uk5mm]

Great idea. ….chop and drop !

[@Tappedline]

i will buy some

[@HardcoreSustainable]

Great!

[@johnbarnett6128]

Herbicide/insecticide/fungicide destroy the soil biome: the vine’s external digestive system.

[@evega8368]

Hey guys!! Where do you get a comfrey plant?? I don’t have this plant on my property.

[@HardcoreSustainable]

I've seen them on ebay. Maybe when I get enough of them I'll start selling them myself. They are so easily propagated.

[@luke021380]

U get them from a friend. Anyone that knows what permaculture means. They know about comfrey.

[@klakiltraven]

Where are you located?

[@HardcoreSustainable]

Northeastern Missouri

[@travisdavis1042]

Are they eligible for purchase?

[@HardcoreSustainable]

I haven't yet started selling the irises. I will be selling some beginning next summer. I'm just now increasing the numbers. I'll be sure to let you all know when I have them for sale. Thanks for your interest!

[@gbennett69]

hey champ....how do 315 million pple live like you...and where would the land come from....also what is that a 1000 dollar bottle of wine

[@Felix.Wingfield]

There are approximately 4 acres of America for every American, fyi. Half of them need to be reserved for mother nature of course, and not everyone wants to live this way, but if we had a more egalitarian land distribution everyone who wants to live this way probably could. We just have to deal with the property hoarders.

[@HardcoreSustainable]

Hey champ. Ever heard of reducing population? Do you really think Americans live on the land only in the US? Americans actually need 15 earths to live the way they do, meaning if everyone on earth lived like Americans, we'd need 15 earths to supply all their resources. That's why this channel is called hardcore SUSTAINABLE. Because the way Americans live is not sustainable. We are living on borrowed time and stolen resources and screwing the future for short term gain right now. The US population is 330 million, but we use the resources of the equivalent of over 18 billion people from a poor country. I could go on. I have to wonder what about this video triggered you so much. Clearly you are triggered.

[@gbennett69]

@Adymn Sani i am a bohemian not a hippie

[@HardcoreSustainable]

@Adymn Sani It's interesting. I was just listening to a podcast that was talking about this exact thing, and someone asked an agronomy expert how many acres a conventional farm would need growing corn and soybeans to make a $50K income, or what a fairly low paid average worker might make in the regular economy. It would take at least 600 acres in cultivation to make a reliable income. Yet this is what most of our prime farmland consists of.

[@Felix.Wingfield]

A family of five can easily live off of 2 acres (I've seen it done on a quarter that space) and supposedly 'unarable' land can be recovered by permaculture techniques. Look up food forests. And greening the desert here on KZbin.