Has anybody grown smaller patches of comfrey or alfalfa for strictly topdressing a garden with the shredded mulch?  I'm trying to go strictly organic/living soil, and from what I read top dressing with purposefully grown "dynamic accumulators" is a good way to introduce fresh organic fertilizers as the mulch breaks down in the garden bed.  I never grew comfrey or alfalfa before, so I'd like to hear what others would think before I start a crop myself.  I have about a quarter acre I can dedicate to growing strictly dressed green mulch.

Any thoughts?

How big of a garden?  Ever consider just using Alfalfa Pellets?

I have around 500 square feet of raised bed space, with 8 dwarf fruit trees.  Ideally they'll be top dressed with various amendments (ground malted barley, alfalfa and kelp) twice a year or so,   given the amount of space I have, I was thinking it may be more economical to grow my own top dressing amendments instead of buying it in bulk... but I'm not to sure.

This is more of a hobby than anything else, so if starting a alfalfa pasture is gonna be more work than it's worth, I may just buy bulk bales and shred it myself.  Not too sure if it's worth it or not.

From what I understand, comfrey is pretty easy to harvest, dry, shred and top dress.

Eta I plant a nitrogen fixing cover crop blend on my garden bed when its not being used, the top dressing (alfalfa, kelp neem ect) will be added if that makes sense

I've 5 acres I've thought of turning to alfalfa and buying the small baler that makes the 24" bales, sells for
big bucks here locally..  age and indifference keeps me from doing it. if you're just gonna grow a 1/2 to an acre of it. mow it with a bag
attachment or one of the golf course sweeper then dress your gardens with it..whats the outlay on an annual basis for store bought

Start Comfrey and you will have all the mulch you will ever need.  Chopping it and dropping it multiple times a year gives you a rich top dressing and you can plant cuttings to your hearts content.  Can't go wrong with Comfrey.

Edit wrong thread

Thanks, I'm leaning towards your suggestion instead of alfalfa... alfalfa seems a bit more particular to soil and enviromental conditions, whereas comfrey appears to be relatively forgiving.  Having never grown nor harvested comfrey before, I'm not too sure of the nuances involved though.

How many harvests can you get out of a season?  When do you determine it's ready for chopping?