Some of my tasks are a bit "mindless". Digging, stacking
firewood, building brush dams, planting, all leave lots of time to ponder life and it's meaning :) Sometimes, those things are simpler, like the idea of "stacking functions". You hear that term quite often in
permaculture. I agree with the idea of stacking functions, I just think other people may have a different way of viewing the process. That is not to say other people's use of the term is wrong, it's just different than the way I use it at this point.
The normal process usually goes like this. Planting a fruit tree is stacking functions because the fruit tree will produce food. It gives shade. It creates micro-climates, the leaf litter grows more soil and enhances soil life, it helps capture
water and moderates soil temperature. At the end of it's life it can be used for lumber or fire
wood. I agree with all of those things. On the other hand, I can tell myself that I'm stacking functions, but really, I'm planting an
apple tree because I want a new kind of
apple growing here. I felt a little dishonest somehow, trying to take credit for stacking functions, when the other things were actually just side effects of my real purpose for doing a thing.
My view on stacking function has changed after years of watching what happens with various thing I create. I'm not so interested in the initial "thing" stacking functions, although you may be hard-pressed to find anything that doesn't perform multiple functions. I'm looking at stacking functions over the long term from that first "thing".
Here is an example, and one of the projects that took me down this path of reasoning. I like brush piles. They are the natural side effect of
cutting firewood and clearing areas for other purposes. Rather than leave the branches lying wherever they fall when limbing a tree, you just pile them up. This creates a wonderful habitat for small animals, rodents,
rabbits, possum, and the like, as well as a place for small birds to hide and
shelter in. I love that. I also like brush dams. I'm making lots of them in the spring runoff areas of my
land. I'm hoping to slow and sink
enough water to create springs "downstream" of them at some point. The difference between a brush pile and a brush dam is simply location. So, my new way of function stacking follows more along the lines of creating a brush pile in a runoff area. It will be a brush pile for months, or years, and serve all the excellent functions that brush piles serve. As the spring runoff and wind carry leaves, twigs, and other forest litter into the brush pile, it will become more of a brush dam. This happens slowly over time, giving the things that live there plenty of notice that they will need to find a new home long before it's a traumatic change as most man-made things are. The water and debris will rot the lower layers of wood, making the dam somewhat more impermeable, the level on the "upstream" side will raise, creating a fertile growing area from nature's
compost. Some of that new soil will infiltrate the brush dam during it's creation, creating a natural
hugel culture type of structure. Plants will grow in this new and fertile area that never dries out, and it will absorb and slow the water even more. This may create a small
pond at some point, but even if it doesn't, spring runoff and rain events will create a temporary watering spot for wildlife.
To me, this is what stacking functions looks like now. I love the idea that I'm stacking functions over years, decades even, from one small event that I worked on for a few hours. That idea makes me happy, makes me feel that I, just one small person, have done one small thing, that may have a lasting impact on this land and the creatures that live on it.
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