Permaculture Principals: Function Stacking

One of the main premises of Permaculture are the three Ethics.

Care of the earth
Care of people
Return of surplus to the first two Ethics

  I will talk more about the Ethics in another post but today I’d like to share a principal that supports the Ethics. It is the idea of Function Stacking.

    Function stacking is the idea that inputs and elements in a system should perform multiple tasks whenever possible.

  A very simple example is a grape arbor. If you need shade over your patio, why not use grapes. Shade AND food and/or drink.

Planting flowers to have for the table that also attract pollinators to the garden is function stacking.

    One of the most effective elements I have witnessed for function stacking is the lowly chicken…

 

 

The first function chickens contribute that I think of may surprise you. Here at the homestead, Chickens prepare the ground for planting of trees and plants in a given area. If housed in a mobile coop called a chicken tractor, and fenced in with portable fencing, chickens will scratch the ground looking for their favorite food…grubs, bugs, and worms. They will also consume vegetation and root out weeds, all the while they fertilize the ground with their manure. Then when that section of ground is worked over…they get moved to fresh pasture.

 

Obviously….Chickens function by producing delicious fresh and healthy eggs and meat.

 

 If you have a Rooster in the mix…like Prince here……chickens will multiply and replenish your flock automatically.

 

Chickens will also work up compost. More details in a future post but we have combined scraps from a local restaurant, (turning scraps to eggs and compost)! Straw and other brown material, and greens like brush and clippings along with manure are added, and the mix is assembled where the chickens can work it up into a fluffy and highly nutrient dense compost.You could consider that Chickens provide feathers, and while not like goose down, chicken feathers do insulate, and  yes there’s more! A flock of chickens can produce winter time heat for a green house by having the coop next to the greenhouse and provide venting from the coop to keep plants from freezing. Functions stacked high with Chickens!

 

There are plants that are examples of function stacking as well. Take for example, the amazing plant favorite of permaculturalists – Comfrey.

Comfrey is a medicinal herb, known as “bone knit”. It is a blood coagulant, and it heals and reduces inflammation like few things can. Comfrey is used as a tea for upset stomach, ulcers, heavy menstrual periods, diarrhea, bloody urine, persistent cough, painful breathing (pleuritis), bronchitis, cancer, and chest pain (angina). It is also used as a gargle for gum disease and sore throat.

Comfrey is applied to the skin for ulcers, wounds, joint inflammation, bruises, rheumatoid arthritis, swollen veins (phlebitis), gout, and fractures.  WebMD link here

Comfrey as an occasional part of ones salad is great. Concentrated amounts of comfrey extract given rats caused liver damage in one study, but occasional use as a part of a salad should be fine though comfrey is banned for internal use by the USDA.

 

 A main function of Comfrey is that it is a dynamic accumulator, which means, it pulls minerals and nutrients from the soils and accumulates it in its leaves and roots. When the plants are large enough, and several times a season, one simply cuts leaves off the plants which have been specifically planted around food bearing trees and shrubs, and let the leaves drop to the ground making a free, naturally produced fertilizer that beats petroleum based fertilizer any day. A comfrey tea can be used as a liquid fertilizer as well, made by soaking chopped Comfrey into water.

Comfrey has a large root system that breaks up and benefits poor soils.

A great thing is that comfrey is very prolific and self propagates and spreads readily. So readily that care should be taken not to plant where spreading would be a problem.

Next time I hope to expand on the three Ethics.