Hi Sandy,,,Comfrey is one of those 'beneficial to the bones' plants,,,it's good for knitting broken bones,,,by making a poultice out of the leaves,,,some use the root in some inscect repellent recipies,,,and some even drink a tea from a water infusion, but you do have to be careful with that,,,,however if used externally,,,it's fine...
your rosemary sounds like it needs a 'grooming',,,,and I'd probably suggest to wait till you see some new growth,,,,so you know it's putting energy into it's leaves,,,,then you can actually cut the plant back quite severely......they say.....every branch can go back to 1/3 of it's length. if it's already growing new,,,,just go ahead....and have fun...
so it depends how big the plant is actually,,,, or you could look at the main stock,,,,and start by pruning off some of the side branches,,,sort of like giving it a thinning hair cut....after you've got alot of the side branches off then you can stand back and look at it and imagine how big you want it to look,,,and cut it back,,,,,probably don't go any lower than where any growth is starting that's for sure....or you'll be buying a new plant....
then you'll have all these rosemary branches,,,, and to make the best infusion,,,,,,take the leaves off the stalks,,,,hold it by the end (top) of the branch and run your fingers down the opposite way the leaves grow..and they'll come off pretty good......or have fun picking every needle off...you can also just cut the whole piece to size for whatever bottle you're using and bundle the whole stocks together and stuff them into the bottle,,,,,when it looks like the bottle is full,,,just keep pushing stocks in untill you can squeeze another one into the bottle,,,
pack it into a steralized dry jar (depends on how much of it you have), but when the jars are full (I like the large size pickle jars) then slowly fill it with a good olive oil,,,,extra virgin is really good, especially if you want to use it on your body,,,,or in your bath......regular olive oil is a bit too thick and heavy....
then take a piece of cloth that will breathe (I use a gauze small guage (sp),,,,so dust doesn't get in it)..... and put it over the top you can secure it with an elastic band.....then sit it in the sun,,,,and every day or so turn the jar.....for a good 6 - 8 weeks.... (that's the easy part)
if you want to make it double strong,,,,,then you could do another cut on the rosemary bush,,,,,if you didn't take it down too much the first time,
but you'd need the same amt of rosemary....
after a month of daily turning,,,,you strain it and let it drip strain if you can for a good day....so you get all the oil off....
then put your new leaves/needles/or stalks... back into the same bottle,,,and refill it with the oil you strained off and let it sit another month...
you can do the same thing with your sage, thyme and basil too...
(although I actually like to dry basil very slowly in the micro wave,,,10 second increments,,,,everytime stirring it around abit...
it comes out smelling soooooo good and basil spicey....just love it...otherwise I air dry everything,,,,in a shady place,,,out of the wind...or you can put it into a paper bag and let it sit a week or two till it's dry...)
back to the infused oil.......then when you go to bottle it.....you can use it when you want....I usually do some tarragon and oregano/marjoram too,,,, then you've got lovely oil infused herbs which is excellent for cooking.... and rosemary makes an excellent massage oil,,,,great for sore tired muscles,,,,,if you find it's actually a bit strong for direct body use,,,,then just dilute a small amount of it with a bit more oil...
so back to 'cutting back your plant' Sandy,,,,,if going back to 1/3 of the plant takes you into the woody area,,,don't go that far back...make sure you've still got a good 6 inches at least of the growng plant left on it....and where ever you cut a piece off,,,,,it will usually sprout two new shoots on either side of the cut...that's how you get anything to bush out....
wish I could see it
but I tell you what,,,,,a while ago there was a series of books out called.
(whatever) for Dummies,,,,,,and I just pulled my "Herb Gardening for Dummies off my shelf for a quick reference....it's funny too...
and right across the top it says,,,
The fun and easy way to grow parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme...
so it sounds like a book for you....and it is quite 'excellent'...
so just 'thin' it first,,,,don't cut off any main stalks,,,,trim side branches then look at it and remember where you cut the main branches down to it will sprout two more branches......
this year I only picked a large ziplock baggie full of lavender tops,,,and those you pick before they open up....and got two small bottles of oil...but that's enough of lavender for me.....and I only picked enough for one small bottle of St. John's Wort - the wild type....the large flowered St. Johns Wort isn't medicinal...
so I just realized ok,,,what do we call small or large.....
well,,,canning jars.....the quart size would be large,,,,and the pint sizes would be small..... and you can use any jars you have....
any other questions,,,,fire away....
oh,,,one last point to remember....use only good,,,green,,,,healthy looking needles,,,or leaves....pick off chewed ones,,,or any going brown.
hope that helps,,,,you budding gardener you
Hi Lilly,,,,,
I too think pots work best for stuff like basil,,,,in my garden I get slugs,,,I'd much prefer the snails,,,,,do they have a hard shell???
if you guys are in nice cool spring weather then it's time to start,,,,
get out your pruning shears and start cutting off any old dead wood and enjoy the new coming in......
and aren't you guys lucky.....here I am facing a cold autumn and likely an even colder winter.....if Allan wasn't here,,,I'd head to AU for 6 months.....
I've heard just recently that it's very difficult to move to AU permanently now.....but a warm visit would suit me fine...
I met someone the other day I haven't seen in a long time,,,and she's going to AU for her grand daughters wedding....and she'd like to stay...but she can't....(which is actually a good thing for the grand daughter)

(Did I say that

).....OK enough of that,,,,but I've seen this woman really hurt her family....I'll have to send her love.....from a great distance.....
well, we have the sun out today,,,,,amazing....perhaps we'll have a 'pleasant fall'.....
loves to everyone...
pp
xoxoxo