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Betsy
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| Posted: Sept 14 2011 at 10:06am | IP Logged
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Help Annie,
I just strained out the comfrey leaves and roots from my olive oil and it smells TERRIBLE!!!!!!  What did I do wrong? It's it okay? Or, did it go rancid?
Thanks for the help.... 
ETA: After I typed this up, and was still hopeful to save my oil, I have thrown it all out. It just smelled too bad.
Where did I go wrong? I washed the leaves and roots and chopped them up. I placed the leaves, roots and olive oil in a clean 1/2 gal canning jar and sealed it with a plastic lid (not necessarily air tight). I placed the jar on a sunny corner of my porch for two weeks, shaking every so often. Today was the first time I opened it.
Thanks for any advice or help!
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Servant2theKing
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| Posted: Sept 15 2011 at 3:37pm | IP Logged
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Betsy, I'm sorry your comfrey oil had such a bad odor. I'm no help as far as processing it, since we're not blessed with comfrey plants (yet). However, I can share that both comfrey oil and comfrey salve, which I purchased recently, don't have any bad odors, just pleasant plant-type scents. I got both forms of comfrey in hopes they would help an itchy/painful rash that hasn't been healing (I'm pretty sure it's shingles, but many people have told me that shingles shouldn't re-occur as often as this rash has). Happily, the comfrey seems to be helping more than anything else I've tried thus far!
Is it possible that being in the sunlight might have contributed to the smell? Just a thought. If it's possible to still try another batch, it might be worthwhile. I believe St. Hildegard von Bingen is a saint who worked with medicinal herbs. Her feastday happens to be Sept. 17th. Perhaps you could pray for her intercession and give it another try.
I plan to keep some form of comfrey in our medicine cupboard from now on. Anne, I am so grateful to you for sharing your experience with comfrey here!
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aussieannie
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| Posted: Sept 15 2011 at 4:27pm | IP Logged
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Hi Betsy, Oh no, what a shame, I'm pretty sure one of my batches was very strong smelling as well, but it's a while back and I can't remember anything more than that..not sure what I did. I found this thread on a herbal forum, where the same question is asked. Seems like it's a common thing. Someone with a user name 'LadyB' answers the question well. Not sure what may have gone wrong...I'll do a bit of a read and see if I can find anything.
Hi Servant, so lovely to hear you a getting great results with the comfrey salve! Interesting too, I read somewhere that comfrey helps with people who have lost limbs and suffer severe phantom pains (which I understand can be utterly debilitating in some cases)...so a nerve connection there..
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aussieannie
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| Posted: Sept 15 2011 at 4:38pm | IP Logged
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Betsy I found on the same forum an interesting thread on how to make comfrey oil - this might be helpful I think.
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MicheleQ
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Oh! I just watched a video last week about making comfrey oil. I have been using comfrey to heal a stress fracture on my foot.
In the video she talks about leaving it out overnight spread on a sheet so that some of the water content can evaporate. She says that will help it not go rancid. She mentions that you need to stir it every day for about a week to keep the plant material under the oil or you will get mold and also to keep it out of direct sunlight. Oh and at one point they mention that it can sometimes have a "salami" type smell to it and that that is normal, just keep airing it out (they use a paper towel as the cover).
Hopefully your next batch will work out. I haven't made any oil yet, just used the leaves as a poultice.
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Betsy
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| Posted: Sept 15 2011 at 7:22pm | IP Logged
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Thank you all for the advice. I am sad that my first batch didn't turn out, but happy that I wasn't loosing my mind  .... I was trying not to be too graphic in my post but vomit and poop were two words that my family used to describe the smell!
We have a cram packed weekend, but I am going re-read all of the tips and try again next week. I liked one of the end line of one of the threads listed....Everything works out in the end. If it didn't work out it's not the end!
Servant, I will definly envoke St. Hildigard to help me with the next batch. One a side note, this is a lovely CD for her feast day. I listen to it all the time!
Thanks again for everyones help.  I will keep you posted on my adventures with comfrey!
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4Real Forums : Our Lady of Good Remedy and Care
Topic: Amazing comfrey story
