Unplanned Function Stacking

One great aspect of Permaculture is the ability to function stack. To use an area, item, or process in more than one way. Most of the time people do this on purpose. I had an unintentional one just recently. A while back I needed some steps to my shed, and just set a couple of cinder blocks in place. A single purpose... or so I thought. However, this past weekend I had an outdoor event for my side business and I needed something to keep the awning from blowing away. I did not have time to go find or buy something, so I grabbed my steps and turned them into awning weights. Worked great!

Have you ever had any function stacking that you did not plan for?

Hmmmm,

I don’t know if this counts and I have mentioned it before, but I once had to rake my yard and I disposed the clippings by piling them near an orchard (1st function).  That pile then decayed and the exudates seeped into the ground, ran slightly downhill and encompassed the base of a peach tree (second function).


That tree then grew like a rocket!  Now I know that any vegetable debris belongs on the ground (my learning = 3rd function).



Eric

It takes some deeper thought to ponder that and pull out examples. Something I noticed is how closely function stacking aligns with what Manfred Max-Neef called synergistic satisfiers in regards to human needs. Stacked functions can in some cases satisfy human needs, like your steps helping people get into and out of the house more easily. The classic example of a synergistic satisfier is a mother breastfeeding a child. It is simultaneously fulfilling the very human needs of nutrition, health promotion, bonding, emotional well being, and many others. I suppose the most obvious example for me of function stacking is when I go hiking in the mountains. Experienced backpackers try to bring items that serve multiple needs, like a simple bandana that can be used for sun protection, as a sweat rag or towel, a potholder, a water pre-filter, an emergency bandage, for neck warmth, as a hat, a washcloth, a smoke/dust mask or even a coffee filter substitute.

Jim

Talk about coincidence. I just learned to day that the kiddie pool pond I dug in to the back edge of Willow Acre and populated with tadpoles is now a nutrient powerhouse for my garden beds.

Because duckweed.

Yep, the fastest growing flowering plant on planet earth is now doing nicely in my pond. And starting to overwhelm it. I had no idea when I put the canning jar full of duckweed into the pond that it would multiply as quickly as it does.

Completely unintentional. Absolutely function stacking. Because I'm going to be amending my soil with it from now on.

Jim

I think this is something older generations were much better at.

My mom, raised on a small farm, is MUCH better at this than I am. Her mother was even more practical!  For example - let's use this ditch (dug to keep water out of the basement) to raise up the lawn tractor to look under it. Let's use this slope to offload the lawn tractor from the trailer instead of a ramp. This piece of plywood (used as a ramp for the shed), makes a great temporary table top while we sort out the shed.  She is much less limited by 'but I don't HAVE a ______' than I am.

Maybe it's as things become more commercial, we have been convinced that items have one purpose, and we need to buy or make more items for more purposes. It kind of reminds me of those kids who insist that "Doctor Barbie" can only ever be a doctor, but the genetic Barbie next to it, can be a doctor, a princess, a farmer, an evil witch, or a magical fairy.

Some function stacking I've found include:
Using a clothing drying rack to dry garlic/onions.
Using my pour over coffee filter for filtering maple syrup
Using a wheeled workbench in my garage for dragging seedlings in an out while hardening them off.
Using an old screwdriver and an old chisel, as dibblers for popping seeds and small transplants in the ground.

I am trying to ask myself, when I think 'oh, I need to buy a ______" what other item I have, that's 'good enough" even if not perfect.

Function stacking is an excellent way to both save money, and avoid accumulating even more junk.

The best ones are always accidental. I put a water butt next to my raised beds just for convenience and only later realised it was also shading a patch of soil that stays moist enough to not need watering. Now I do it on purpose.

Trays of plants suppress weeds.
I have plants in totes, trays and pot.
Sometimes they are tree seedlings , sometimes plant starts, sometimes it's wheres they live.
They need someplace to  sit, and where I sit them, nothing grows.
Ok, bindweed still grows, but most everything else is smothered.
Effectively, they are weed barriers.
I put them on top cardboard or old leafbags, weed barriers in their own right

I just planted a row of jchokes this way, bottomless buckets, full of mulch,on top of cardboard, on the southside of a greenhouse.