We use our very old, but still productive, Blenheim Orange apple tree to support bird feeders that my husband can watch from his upstairs WFH office. In summer my air plants (who live on an old quilt hoop) hang from it to get some sunshine & gentle rain. When our kids were growing up, it was the best climbing frame! Our neighbours' bees love the blossom, and the kiwi vine over the garage often scrambles into the top branches. There are sometimes hanging baskets of tumbling tomatoes & Indian mint hanging from the lower branches too. Our elderly cat loves to laze in the shade under it on hot days. The local jackdaw gang love to peck at damaged fruits when we're not looking. Not just an old apple tree, more of a community support system!
Well that is just so beautiful! Sounds like this tree needs official protection status to be honest. Thank you for sharing and putting a smile on my face :)
suggesting we list multiple functions for something in the comments to enter the competition is a great way of stacking functions! 1. It advertises your course; 2. It showcases the useful things we would learn on it; 3. It gets people thinking about permaculture; 4 It gets people thinking about their garden and how things they already do are examples of stacking functions; 5. The resulting comments serve as a great set of examples of stacking functions! I'm sure there are more than this too :)
Sunflowers * For the neighbors to enjoy * Sunflower seeds for snacks * To trellis my cucumbers and beans * To break up into compost * Use leaves to make liquid fertilizer * To attract stink bugs and keep them away from tomatoes 😅 * use the inside of the stem (after it's dried) as a natural Styrofoam/packing substitute * Tie the tops of the heads together and make a tunnel for kids to run through and play under * Cut flowers * To cast shade * To provide food so we can watch the amusing antics of squirrels
I hadn't thought of raspberries as stacking functions but they have always been multifunctional in my garden. Primarily I grow them as a screen for my apiary and forage for the bees. They are autumn fruiting so I cut half of them down and leave half, the old canes fruit in summer the following year with the new fruiting in autumn giving an extended season of the gorgeous fruit. I use the old canes as growth support for peas, beans, etc. Also the old canes are used for the base of new compost heaps to provide a rough, aerated base. I dry the leaves and used for tea. I wouldn't want to be without raspberries in the garden. Many thanks for the video.
I was listening to this while harvesting chamomile. The primary function is to use the flowers for tea, both medicinally and because it's tasty. But on the first of September I stop harvesting and let the flowers dry to be used for seeds. Once I've collected seeds for next year I dry the leaves to make natural incense. The chamomile flowers attract pollinating insects to the garden. Finally, the lovely scent just makes the garden a more pleasant place to be.
Borage! It's always covered with pollinators, the leaves and flowers are edible, makes great compost and mulch, has medicinal value, looks great in the garden, and I also use it as shade for other plants. Oh, and I use it for animal food as well!
my neighbor has Bamboo growing next to my fence and it's creeping onto my property. I wish it wasn't there but getting rid of it would mean that my neighbor has to dig them out . so i decided to come to terms with it and find uses for it! -bamboo sticks for my tomatoes and beans -eat the shoots in the spring -fencing -leaves for mulching.
I have 43 almond trees Multiple uses for them • One I cover with mesh after bloom to allow the almonds to mature • The rest bloom nicely in February [I live in Israel] and make a beautiful view out of my kitchen window. • Attracting bees and other pollinators. • Spreads lovely sweet aroma of juicy nectar from the blossom for almost a full month • I harvest the non covered ones for green Almonds snd then let them feed the Rose-Ringed Parakeet around here • And when not bear they shade part of my garden beds from the horrific Mediterranean summer sun
I’m sure you already have heard of this but I offer it anyhow jic (just in case). A pear orchardest said to plant comfrey and horseradish under fruit trees. Draws minerals and nutrients up and (oddly) repels bad insects.
Hmmm, I wonder if horseradish would deter moles? I know they don’t like strong smells, perhaps a snout full of horseradish would make them leave my fruit trees alone.🤔🤣. TeresaSue. P. S. Interesting video Huw.
I certainly love this idea. I have heavy clay in an area, so I broadcast daikon radishes, primarily to slow till the soil. I harvested a few that were expected to be smaller than usual this first season (and they were). My favorite part of the radish is the young seed pods (for salads and stir Fry's). It's now into mature seed pods that will reseed the area to continue to break up that clay then I'll allow the plant remains to compost right on the spot. It's working for me so far
These were great thinking exercises, Huw. One crop that does well here, in Southern Middle Tennessee is Okra. It is tall as a shrub, now, so it gives some shade to the ground and plants below. I prune the leaves as I harvest, to cover the soil, as mulch. It is definitely a seed crop, as it is the same seed my husband got from his grandfather 40+ years ago. We eat the pods when small as a snack, especially the grandchildren, and as mature pods in stews (and fried). Last year I let tomatoes trellis it’s stalks. I feed the overripe pods to my chickens, who appreciate the treat. Finally, the compost gets the stalks when Winter clean-up comes around.
Growing zinnias from seed in my garden is not only a delight for indoor displays and small arrangements but also attracts pollinators and provides shade for the crops underneath. However, my favorite aspect of growing zinnias is the boost they give to my self-esteem. Once I learned how to grow and cut them regularly to encourage continued blooming, I realized I had some real gardening skills, and I’ve been passionate about gardening ever since.
What a great video, thanks! The stacking functions that come to mind for me, date back to my childhood. We had a hazelnut living fence as a border to our neighbour. In addition to the great nuts we harvested every year, our neighbour harvested one third from the overhanging branches and he often thanked us for them. We also harvested the early green nuts, that are so different in flavour from the mature ones. From the branches, we kids made bows and swords, my dad used the sticks to make trellises to support climbers. The bushes also provided great shade for our chaotic, forrest-like compost, which not only benefitted the veggie garden, but also yielded heaps of worms for fishing. We made dens bewtween the bushes in summer, the pheasants and pigeons roosted there at night. And the best: We were the only family in the neighbourhood who had hazelnuts in the garden; made us feel special and it filled us with great pride when we were children.
LOL Huw, you are even suggesting stacking the functions of your brain. If you do an activity immediately before you go to sleep, your brain works on the problem while you are sleeping, and in the morning there may be a new solution! Good work!
Blackberries have been amazing this year. They have tons of functions: Eating the raw berries, cooking the berries (into jams, jellies, shortbread and more), forage fpr the bees and other insects, a pretty wall of flowers, they create a natural barrier and structure, the stems can be used as mini slug walls, they make great protected homes for the frogs and toads, teas can be made from the leaves, the leaves make tasty snacks for the sheep, berries feed the birds, any excess growth goes for compost. And probably plenty more!
We have Ivy plants growing over a huge 12 foot fence, built by my neighbor and planted by my neighbor. Initially I was annoyed by it's spreading growth habit -- it literally could take over the world but I've made my peace with it. Here is my "cup half full " approach to it. It provides a privacy barrier between neighboring properties; the bees love the flowers; the leaves are used as a medicinal herb; it provides mulch for the garden; it shades the periphery garden soil acting as a weed suppressant and I make lovely fall wreaths from it's leaves ,seed heads and flowers.
Hello How, thanks for all your hard work I really enjoy watching your videos and appreciate all that you do! So for my plant, I chose sunflowers. The primary function: 1. it's my favorite flower, it makes me happy (for aesthetics). Continued Fucntions: 2. Important for pollinators 3. Food for bird's with their seeds 4. Also food for me, if there's any left from the birds ☺️ 5. They are tall so I'm using them as a fence border in my backyard 6. Shade support for shade craps like lettuce varieties that I'm planting 7. Some will be used as a trellis for my peas, which in turn feeds the sunflowers by being nitrogen fixers. 8. I also save the stocks to make flutes and rain sticks I'm going to try this year. 9. I keep all my favorite flowers that I planted and dry them and then use them for various things like arts and crafts or put them in shadow boxes. I know there's more but those are the main ones that I came up with! Hopefully I win the tickets 😀 thanks again
I finally have a garden and I planted several different plants, but the Jalapeño has been my favorite to grow. Fresh, Pickled, jarred, candied, dehydrated, and smoked. I grow them close to my other plants like carrots for shade and sometimes as a support for the beans. While overwintering them I like to throw all the leftovers in my compost to continue the cycle. Cheers and thank you for the videos.
Hazel Trees 🌰 - of course hazel nuts for you, the squirrels and dormice 🐿️ - They can be coppiced to produce an endless supply of material for fences, plant supports and baskets 🧺 - They provide shelter for nesting birds - And food for insects such as moths - They can be used for hedging to create a wind break - Or they can create light dappled shade due to their open canopy
Stacking functions of beetroot: Beet root to harvest (raw, boiled, roasted, pickled, fermented, relish!) Baby leaves Soil cover Let flower and keep seeds Compost/feed chickens old leaves Thanks Hew for your very inspiring videos
Late summer/fall planted kale: baby kale in salads, sweating large leaves with other greens as a side dish, freezing large ribbon cut leaves for smoothies, early spring trap crop for aphids, cabbage loopers & cabbage worms, chop & drop into pathways IF leaves are pest free, leaving roots to decompose in soil to feed the next crop
I have an apple tree that is almost 30 feet tall and is tapped into the water table so requires no additional water in my northern California home. I take the leaves in the winter and either compost them or add them as a layer beneath the tree and then lay compost over that to recover the nutrients into the soil. We eat the good fruit, as do the various squirrels, birds, and rabbits. I use extra or damaged fruit in compost, or to bury in the heavy clay soil, or in my worm bins. When I trim the tree, I bury the limbs and larger cuttings in my raised beds before adding soil to kick start the soil ecosystem health, sometimes I burn them a bit first as I find that helps to really make the soil fertile and rich and it seems to stimulate growth. The larger libs also store moisture they soak up in winter months to help keep a hydration battery during the long dry months of summer and fall here. The bees love the flowers, and the tree provides shade against my eastern wall of my home, helping to prevent the morning sun from heating up the house in the summer months, and also provides privacy to the eastern windows. Below it, I am going to start trying to grow morels, which enjoy the base of mature apple trees as good places to grow.
Great video! With our limited space we strive to have as many multi purpose uses for EVERYTHING in what we have. From every fruit and veg, every animal or fowel, to tools, sheds, vehicles, natural resourses, etc. to gain the most value possible from what we have. Love that you put it out there for all of us to gain even more great ideas from the comments! Thanks Kiddo! 🌻🐛🌿💚🙏💕
I have a fence in the garden that separates the veg plot from the lawn and border. It also keeps the dogs out of the veg plot and acts as a support to the raspberries that are grown on the other side. I can put hanging pots on it to create additional growing space vertically.
beetroot - Soup, pickle, leafs as spinach, smoothie, sweetner, juice, pickle juice to help with pre training drink, stalks dried for beetroot powder, leaf for salad
My pitchfork, an anniversary present many years ago with each tine carefully wrapped😅, has been a favorite tool... Compost turner Perrenial lifter Perrenial divider Soil aerator Leaning stick Reminder of my amazing husband
Pumpkin: for eating; for decoration; use for seed the following year; a stool to sit on; foot rest (and for a chair if you have 2); to stand on to reach blackberries on the top of the bush; hollow it put to make a bowl; use it to store your car keys; put it on the compost
Great video. I like the idea of stacking finding multiple uses and options for a crop for a closed system My stack example would be Calendula english marigolds - Culinary Uses - Medicinal Uses - Garden Companion Plant - Natural Dye - Compost Enhancer - Cosmetic Uses - Pet Care - Decorative and Cultural Uses So many different ways of looking at a plants uses. It certainly opens up your imagination
8:3613:31 classic innovation/ creativity/ design thinking tool! Keen for a moasure- 1. ground truthing gps data 2. Conservation work/ interoperability ? Can you import/ export from ARC GIS etc? What data is it using ? 3. my dad was teaching surveying to uni students for civil engineering - I'd love to show him this! As much as I would love to win that ticket, I'm in oz so I'll have to pass
Hello! Moasure doesn’t use GPS, its connects via bluetooth allowing you to use it wherever you want to be in the world. As a result, it doesn’t export GIS data, but exports measurement data from your initial starting point/reference line and builds its coordinates from there. Hope that helps!
I love reusing 2 pint milk bottles. They are a pot for seedlings, herbs and propagated indoor plants like aloe vera or jade to give to people. They are great for propagating herbs like basil. Makes a great mini shovel for potting. I can put holes in the top for a watering can and can also use as a mini greenhouse for young transplants. We have them as small bird feeders and hang them from the trees with different things like water, seed and finely crushed egg shells for grit and calcium. You can also pop them on top of canes to avoid poking you eyes out! Might have forgotten some other things i use them for but they never go in the recycle crate.
I have a star Jasmine in the middle of a long border, which has posts with wires along it. The star Jasmine provides a pretty, evergreen centre backdrop for three seasons, flowering in the Summer. The flowers are loved by pollinators. The roots stabilise my sandy loam soil and the main stem hides the middle post nicely. The white flowers brighten the middle of the border in Summer evenings when the garden is in use later on. Wildlife likes hiding behind it, e.g. little beasties. It protects the fir hedge behind it from being Sun scorched in the Summer. I love the smell of the flowers! 😊
I think field beans are a great example of stacking functions. They improve the soil, act as a cover crop over winter, can have beans harvested from them in spring and you get loads of green material to add to the compost heap to make compost for growing more vegetables.
10' tall ornamental windmill. It's main purpose is a sentimental reminder of my Father. Since his passing I've been given the honor of having it. It has become a runner been trellis, a display mount for a plaque my sister gave me. It shows me the direction of the wind.
Sunchokes/Jerusalem Artichokes * For screen off the neighbours * Flowers for insects to enjoy * To trellis my pea shoots, cucumbers and beans * To break up into compost * Use leaves to make liquid fertilizer * use the stem (after it's dried) and combed for spinning cloth and kindle fire and or use as support sticks for other plants and cover the pergola as a tied Sunchocke matt for protection against some rain * leaves as feed for the wormery * Cut flowers * To cast shade * Of course harvest and cook and eat the Sunchokes
Anyone interested in the permaculture principles of planting on contour might check out Geoff Lawton's videos on using an A-frame to lay out a food forest. He's as brilliant as Huw. 💚
Stacking functions of sunflowers. Aesthetic, shade, structure for other plants (eg bean climbing beans), food for animals, food for humans, soil cover, attracting pollinators, engaging children in gardening. X
I love our pigeon pea plants. They make wonderful wind breaks, shade for other plants, cut forage for our goats, the bees like the flowers, can eat the dried peas (Dal), great chop and drop mulch/nitrogen fixer, also makes great kindling/fire wood. Best stuff if you can grow it in your climate ❤
Nasturtiums - Add beauty, attract pollinators, edible flowers and leaves, trail over raised bed edges, can be trained up trellis, fill spaces, hide ugly corners, cut back and compost, save seeds, act as a slug and caterpillar trap (speaking from this years experience!), butterfly nursery 🤣 Great questions and a fun competition!
I planted nastirtiums last year and now they've taken over my garden. They are so versatile! They're beautiful flowers. The bees love them. I love eating the flowers, and when it's too hot in Mt garden for salad, I use their leaves in salads, and even in gazpacho instead of pepper! They're ground cover, and also attract pests, keeping them away from my brassicas. They grow where nothing else wants to grow and cover my stone walls that would otherwise e covered with brambles. I made "capers" with their seeds, and their seeds are also birdfood I imagine. They fill bed corners, and plant themselves so I don't have to!🏵
My first time growing Kalettes, it's the best looking plant in my allotment, it has lest pests, the cabbages next to them have been devastated, but the Kalettes hardly touched, I've used the leaves in Soup, they've stopped a lot of weeds growing as there so big and healthy, I'm waiting for the Kalettes to form as an extra crop and they will hopefully produce a crop over winter when not as much is growing.
Stacking, you’ve named it! Basil…growing great, so a gardening confidence booster Share with my daughter, but leave for her to harvest, it makes her so happy! Share with my local restaurant, to encourage them to use more fresh herbs/vegetables in their menu items The smell is amazing Beautiful plant Propagates easily Tastes wonderful in salads, pestos, pastas Dries and stores easily Thanks for your great videos and quirky sense of humor! I live on a small homestead in Kansas USA but traveled to England and Scotland last year with my granddaughter! We had the best time ever!❤
Amaranth: * As beautiful drops of colour in the garden. * For cutflowers * To dry * To eat the leaves as lettuce * To eat the seeds * To grow for seeds for replanting * For growing in pots for giving away as gifts Thank you for this very inspiring video 🥰🙏🪻
Nasturtiums, look nice, eat the flowers, eat the shoots, pickle the seed pods and as a medicine - you can make a tea from the leaves to help a mucusy cough!
What an amazing video. Im new to growing basil but so far Tastes amazing, pesto for days! Improves flavour of my tomatoes Good for pollinators Smells amazing in the tunnel
Here everything works together in many ways....the plants and the trees for food and shelter and mulch and midicinal care....the chickes and ducks for eating the slugs and giving furtilizer and eggs....the birds in the trees eating bugs....like us people everything has many different functions. I love beeing in my garden and seeing everything working together! People shood take an example to nature and start working together too....
Pickle plant! Firstly you can eat the pickles raw and you van eat the flowerd. But you can also easily ferment them at home in a ton of ways! Pollinaters love them and they provide shading and shelter. After season you can use them for composting.🎉#propickle#pickleRick
I was planning on making a forest garden style orchard, but listening to an experienced Welsh orchard grower, he said to be careful not to underplant the fruit trees too much as it creates and maintains damp conditions that can result in molds and disease in the fruit trees. Rather keep the space below the canopy open for the air to circulate. Makes sense to me in this wet part of the world, so I'll adjust my planting accordingly. I wonder what your thoughts are on this?
I am spacing out my trees further to allow more light and airflow to allow for extra plantings, and will be growing varieties that thrive in wet Welsh weather, plus I don't think air circulation is going to be impacted much at all from things like soft fruit and comfrey, especially being on the side of a hill anyway, but the key is to just make sure the stem of the tree is clear.
We planted a cherry tree in the center of our small suburban garden. It provides beauty when it blooms in the spring, feeding thousands of bees and other pollen gathering insects as well as food with the fruit for various birds and animals. It also gives us shade on those hot summer days for we over-heated gardeners and a staging area for our outdoor table where we've enjoyed many a family meal and quiet introspective moment, as well as a cool spot to grow those food crops who prefer a little less heat. It also serves as a climbing platform for the grandchildren (who've all used it to climb a tree for the first time) and the wildlife (including an eight foot black snake). At night, it lends an element of romance with the lanterns hung from its branches. We use the leaves in the fall and the branches we've pruned for mulch and compost. The birds enjoy a shady birdbath as well as nesting sights in the bird boxes we've provided and in return, help rid our garden of unwanted pests and provide hours of viewing pleasure. The roots help to break up the tough clay soil that is endemic to our area and the leaves provide a slow watering after a rain and help prevent runoff. Not to mention the profound joy we've experienced over the years as we've watched it grow from the wee bare root stock into the majestic being it has become.
I inherited a 70 year old cherry tree zone 7 middle sized suburban backyard. First spring after 1 foot hardwood Chipdrop she had the most blossoms ever and copious fruit then hosted native honeybee hive!
I’m using Tagasaste to feed the bees, provide a wind break, then I’ll coppice it for firewood and mulch. All the while it’ll be fixing nitrogen in the soil.
My huge hazelnut bush is a shelter for birds and other wildlife, creates a sort of a tunnel before the maun part of my garden opens up, adds structure to the garden. It provides nuts for humans and squirrels, shade for the composters and wood for the stove. The long shoots can be used for runner beans, to make bows and arrows for children and to prop up nettings to protect the vegetables against the gourmet deer. Slim branches can be shredded to make paths or to add to compost. I'd love to win a ticket for your course!!
My favourite stacking plant is cucumbers. I use cucumbers to shade the tomatoes that are in the direction where the sun is the strongest for dapple shade, I grow basil and other herbs underneath it. I use the leaves for compost and the bumble bees love my russian gurkens so more pollinators come for my zuchinnis and other plants.
I grow lots of chillies. Functions being… - eating tasty chilli varieties you cant buy - creating ferments/sauces (my main hobby and keeps me occupied for months) -good for polinators - pollinators also = flying cat entertainment/occasional cat snacks -decorate my sad conservatory -creates compost once dead -enables me to feel like im gardening even though im crap (because they grow really well in my conservatory and dont mind not being watered for ages) -create a source of fun christmas and birthday presents (cos its easy to grow loads of them) -create kitchen decorations once dried and sewn together -keep reminding you of the importance of regularly washing your hands, long after covid has passed
Piracicaba broccoli: Sprouts are edible Leaves are edible Immature flower heads are edible Flowers are edible Seed pods are edible Stems used to flavor stews or stocks Grows continuously through the season Pollinators love it; bees hummingbirds Home for predator bugs Home for praying mantis’s Once mature creates great shade to grow crops under; carrots beets etc One of my most abundant producing crops Beautiful flowers for visual enjoyment Lots of bulk for compost Highly recommended
Great film Huw. Stacking is awesome! We planted 4 Hedge Walnuts (Fernette & Fernor), 2 up against our front boundary. Potential stacking functions of; shade, beautiful green leafy trees, leaves for composting, leaf drop to build soil & diverse creatures, leaves for hedgehog nesting, food for bees & other pollinators, habitat for wildlife, structural-bone like winter beauty, windbreak, leaves & husks for dyeing projects, teaching tool, variety fascination, great conversation starter, medicinal uses, walnut wood, walnut oil, walnuts to gift & barter, homegrown walnuts for many recipes. We have grown the front boughs over the front boundary to ‘allow’ scrumping to connect the passing local children & adults to food/walnuts / discovery. There are so many stacking functions it is nuts! Thanks Jo (Plantiejo)
For a chance to enter to win a ticket, we have a perennial chili plant just outside our door against a brick house. For us, it functions as many things, of course we use the ripe red chilies for homemade chili oil, or in our salads, etc. but we also use the perky white flowers frozen in ice to have a nice spicy lemonade in summer, it is our go to for kitchen water from steaming veggies or cooking beans to ensure those nutrients don't go to waste (especially when it is dark and we don't want to go all the way to the garden), it serves as a lovely spot to have tea through winter with something still lovely and green to admire, we also use it to gather seeds, and grow seedlings and share with friends and have even sold a few, We also use one of its lower thicker branches as a handy hook for the hose nozzle, and I am sure I could come up with many other ideas but people may start to think I have an unhealthy obsession with my favourite chili plant. lol
Stacking a Mammoth Sunflower: feeds birds, squirrels, and the bees, seed saving and roasting, leaves for compost, leaves for shade to grow cool weather crops underneath, leaves as mulch/weedbarrier, stalk for climbing crops, multiple dried stalks can become next years poles for building afraid trellis, add stalks to the bottom of new raised beds for filler and nutrients as they breakdown, and my all time favorite way to use the stalk is to give it to my dog, Roxane. She will happily run around the yard with the giant stalk and run into everything, drop it and pick it back up. No need to even throw this stick. It’s hours of hilarious fun!
Comfrey’s stacked functions: • Nutrient Accumulator: Deep roots pull up nutrients like potassium and calcium, enriching the soil. • Compost Booster: Use leaves as a fast-breaking compost activator. • Natural Fertilizer: Leaves work great as mulch or liquid feed. • Medicinal Uses: Known for healing properties, used for wounds and inflammation. • Pest Deterrent: Rough leaves keep pests at bay. • Animal Feed: Nutritious feed for chickens, rabbits, and livestock. • Erosion Control: Roots stabilize soil on slopes. • Improves Soil: Aerates and improves soil structure. • Attracts Pollinators: Flowers bring in bees and beneficial insects. • Living Barrier: Acts as a natural hedge or border. • Aesthetic Value: Adds greenery and flowers to the garden.
My goal is to add chickens and an enclosed chicken run to my suburban ‘farm’. Chicken functions: Eggs, meat if necessary, compost turners, scrap eaters, insect control, entertainment, mental wellbeing (caring for something other than self), fertiliser for the garden, clean up of fallen fruit. Caged Run functions: Protection from predators, they can let themselves out and put themselves to bed. Bird protection for a mulberry tree, a structure to grow fruiting vines on outside, which in turn will provide shade for the chickens. Coop functions: Put a worm farm under their roost and you feed the worms, less clean up of chicken poop, worm castings for garden, treats for the chickens. Roof can collect water for the chickens to drink I’m sure there are more.
I thinking about marigolds. A jellow or orange color spot in the garden, very distinct smell when you pick them, they saw themselves back so you have just to let that happen, they are medicinal for the skin, they are edible flowers and make your salades colorfull, they are adored by insects, you can cut some flowers to bring that intense color in the house, you can put them in a wild flower bouquet in a vase on your terrase table, you can harvest the seeds and give them away, you can dry them and keep some of that color in the wintertime, they are easy to saw so ideal for a starting garderer or kids, it is a repelens for sluggs ( wich gardener does not like that one ) , you can mix them in your vegetalbe garden, they have a taproot and help to make the soil lose, they repel wireworms and mematodes ( I amase myself, I remembered vagely they had a repel function, but I have also learned now they have a taproot), you can make art with dryed flowers or paint them
Sounds great Huw, but the secret is to harvest your crop, unless you can get into your garden everyday, the plants grow too fast for people who only have one day or a few hours a week. Have been vegetable gardening for over 40 years, my garden has only become trully productive etc, when I can go into it several times a day, which is now as I work from home.
@@HuwRichards Wait until you are suffering from two different injuries and waiting for surgery. Can kneel for a few minutes only, can not lift things and carry them for long distances, can't dig compost out of the heap and fill a wheelbarrow in one go or buckets on the sack barrow, doing it slowly, the bad days have ice packs on for 40 minutes twice a day, have been vegetable gardening for over 45 years, since a child, did an Apprenticeship in Horticulture and Gardening 40 years ago, even became the Head Gardener for a City Council with 12 staff in my area. But have been the sole gardener in a 3 acre old Farm Garden for the past 32 years, raising children while still working, am still working but a lot of it now involves sitting down, only need assistance in the garden 13 days a year, mainly for the 2 person jobs and for digging the blackberries and other pest plants out. Became no dig 32 years ago, and have been permaculture most of my gardening life, without knowing it.
Note: I'm not entering the competition, I started writing this comment before I got to the end and you told everyone to do this 😂 I am a broken record on mustard, my most favourite plant ever. The leaves, seeds, and flowers are edible. It can be used as fodder. It has a big tap root to help break up clay soil. It's drought and frost tolerant. It's a biofumigant. It's a fantastic trap crop for aphids and cabbage whites. Because it's a trap crop, it attracts beneficial and parasitoid insects. If plants are cut back but not removed, the woody stems provide overwintering habitat for beneficial insects. A ring of mustard seedlings or chop/drop leaves protects seeds/transplants from slugs and snails. It makes great chop and drop mulch or compost greens. It feeds the bees in winter when there's not many other flowers around. If you let it grow big enough, it will be sturdy enough for other plants to climb on. I'm probably still forgetting something. Hands down my favourite plant. Another example of stacking functions in my garden is my rotating compost bin system. I put a compost bin down somewhere that I think the soil needs to be improved, and over the next few months I casually add materials to it. In summer I might plant things around the base of the compost bin, and then rather than watering those plants directly, I water the compost (usually with grey water - another stacking function). This speeds up the composting process inside the bin and creates a reservoir of moisture, nutrients, and life underneath, which the plants can tap into, which reduces the amount that I need to water. When I'm satisfied that the compost is done enough, I lift off the bin, spread the compost around, and find a new spot for the bin to start over. Because I'm using the compost right where I made it, it means that I'm not having to shovel compost into a wheelbarrow and move it from place to place, so it's an energy saving thing strategy also. Accidental stacking function: last year in my tomato bed, a bunch of volunteer cosmos came up, and I let them grow. It turned out to be a fantastic stroke of laziness because when they grew to be six feet tall, their feathery foliage gave the tomatoes just enough dappled shade to stop them being scalded, but the cerise flowers hid the tomatoes from the birds. I didn't have to erect netting or shade, and I didn't lose a single tomato until right at the end of the season when things started to naturally thin out. I got kilos and kilos of fruit where the previous year (no cosmos, no net) I lost so many to birds. And of course, the flowers look gorgeous, attract pollinators, can be used for cut flowers.. and the plants are fast growing and can be used as chop and drop mulch or added to compost. And they self seed so easily that once you have them, you never have to buy them again. Stacking functions in the garden makes me so happy. It is SO satisfying.
My tree cabbage this year has been a haven for caterpillars as well as a delicious eat I often have it at breakfast before protein or carbs to help regulate my blood sugars so it's also a medicine, some leaves go to the chickens as a treat. At the moment it is shading my lettuce from direct sunlight and the lower leaves will be chopped and dropped soon and should make effective slug hideouts. Happy collecting and disposing of to follow...the chucks will be happy. Love the new sub stack format, I've chosen to support Sam with a paid subscription as I'm expecting you to get a lot of support for your stack. Can't do both sorry 😔
You have done another great video realy inspiring and funny 😊 I plan to plant lots of elder trees and other wild fruit trees. I love the elder for the flowers in spring for the bees and the smell to enjoy. To give shadow and shelter places to land on for birds for other plants and animals, you can use the wood for kreativ works and building Instruments I think, also for making compost as well. use the flowers and beeries to cook, make tea and use as medicine...
Thinking oustide of the box: I think this is your superpower as a content creator (and probably in the rest of your life), Huw. Through this you teach, create, elevate, inspire, and keep us coming back for more. Keep stacking!
Okay, i'll choose one of your favourites: peas. Yummy food of course, creating a privacy screen on a fence separating gardens, a tipi to play in, creating shade for other plants, add to the beauty of the garden, biodiversity of planting, food for insects and pollinators, composting material, seed collection, making friends through seed sharing, shooting at annoying people through a pea shooter, creating a percussion instrument, using as weight to stop pastry rising in the oven, drying for food out of season, putting inside fabric pyramids to act as fabric weights when sewing, piercing and stringing to create jewellery, creating a dye. Goodness, that was more than I anticipated.
@TheAlaskaMom 0 seconds ago My Ranetka Crabapple tree is being used as the rootstock of ten other varieties of apples. It is winter hardy here in Alaska. It produces its own beautifully colored fruit that can be used for apple butter, jelly, or to feed the bird in the winter. It is great for producing pollen for our honey bees and other pollinators. The grandkids enjoy picking and eating the apples. So do the rest of us. Apples from this tree ripen at various times. The shade is nice. The leaves go into our compost pile. The birds like to perch in its branches. I enjoy the blossoms! The fragrance and the beauty. The apples are also quite beautiful to behold. The tree gives me bragging rights with 10 successful grafts. 😉 The moose munch its branches when they manage to jump the fence around the garden. The spiders catch their meals in their webs that they build in its branches. It gives me the opportunity to try out many varieties of apples in a small space that otherwise wouldn’t survive in Alaska.
![Swales: Earthworks for Conservation and Storage [PDC Preview]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/W-f2genlUZI/mqdefault.jpg)
We use our very old, but still productive, Blenheim Orange apple tree to support bird feeders that my husband can watch from his upstairs WFH office. In summer my air plants (who live on an old quilt hoop) hang from it to get some sunshine & gentle rain. When our kids were growing up, it was the best climbing frame! Our neighbours' bees love the blossom, and the kiwi vine over the garage often scrambles into the top branches. There are sometimes hanging baskets of tumbling tomatoes & Indian mint hanging from the lower branches too. Our elderly cat loves to laze in the shade under it on hot days. The local jackdaw gang love to peck at damaged fruits when we're not looking. Not just an old apple tree, more of a community support system!
Well that is just so beautiful! Sounds like this tree needs official protection status to be honest. Thank you for sharing and putting a smile on my face :)
Does your kiwi produce fruits, if so which variety is it please ?
suggesting we list multiple functions for something in the comments to enter the competition is a great way of stacking functions! 1. It advertises your course; 2. It showcases the useful things we would learn on it; 3. It gets people thinking about permaculture; 4 It gets people thinking about their garden and how things they already do are examples of stacking functions; 5. The resulting comments serve as a great set of examples of stacking functions! I'm sure there are more than this too :)
Sunflowers
* For the neighbors to enjoy
* Sunflower seeds for snacks
* To trellis my cucumbers and beans
* To break up into compost
* Use leaves to make liquid fertilizer
* To attract stink bugs and keep them away from tomatoes 😅
* use the inside of the stem (after it's dried) as a natural Styrofoam/packing substitute
* Tie the tops of the heads together and make a tunnel for kids to run through and play under
* Cut flowers
* To cast shade
* To provide food so we can watch the amusing antics of squirrels
Did you know you can also eat the leaves and flowers as well as the seeds? Good in salad.
@@Undercoverbooks the stem is edible as well
And the Leafs as mulch the stems in hugelcultur. Sunflowers
I hadn't thought of raspberries as stacking functions but they have always been multifunctional in my garden. Primarily I grow them as a screen for my apiary and forage for the bees. They are autumn fruiting so I cut half of them down and leave half, the old canes fruit in summer the following year with the new fruiting in autumn giving an extended season of the gorgeous fruit. I use the old canes as growth support for peas, beans, etc. Also the old canes are used for the base of new compost heaps to provide a rough, aerated base. I dry the leaves and used for tea. I wouldn't want to be without raspberries in the garden. Many thanks for the video.
Very interesting. I've been practising this for years. I like plenty of banģ for my buck
I was listening to this while harvesting chamomile. The primary function is to use the flowers for tea, both medicinally and because it's tasty. But on the first of September I stop harvesting and let the flowers dry to be used for seeds. Once I've collected seeds for next year I dry the leaves to make natural incense. The chamomile flowers attract pollinating insects to the garden. Finally, the lovely scent just makes the garden a more pleasant place to be.
Borage! It's always covered with pollinators, the leaves and flowers are edible, makes great compost and mulch, has medicinal value, looks great in the garden, and I also use it as shade for other plants. Oh, and I use it for animal food as well!
And don't forget to pop some of the flowers into ice-cubes for summer drinks!
They can be used to make gunpowder as well
my neighbor has Bamboo growing next to my fence and it's creeping onto my property. I wish it wasn't there but getting rid of it would mean that my neighbor has to dig them out .
so i decided to come to terms with it and find uses for it!
-bamboo sticks for my tomatoes and beans
-eat the shoots in the spring
-fencing
-leaves for mulching.
Plant a comfrey border to slow it down lol
👍 for adapting. Chickens happily eat bamboo leaves (mine have trimmed the leaves up as far as they can reach 😂 )
I have 43 almond trees
Multiple uses for them
• One I cover with mesh after bloom to allow the almonds to mature
• The rest bloom nicely in February [I live in Israel] and make a beautiful view out of my kitchen window.
• Attracting bees and other pollinators.
• Spreads lovely sweet aroma of juicy nectar from the blossom for almost a full month
• I harvest the non covered ones for green Almonds snd then let them feed the Rose-Ringed Parakeet around here
• And when not bear they shade part of my garden beds from the horrific Mediterranean summer sun
I’m sure you already have heard of this but I offer it anyhow jic (just in case). A pear orchardest said to plant comfrey and horseradish under fruit trees. Draws minerals and nutrients up and (oddly) repels bad insects.
Horseradish is an interesting suggestion, thank you so much!
Hmmm, I wonder if horseradish would deter moles? I know they don’t like strong smells, perhaps a snout full of horseradish would make them leave my fruit trees alone.🤔🤣. TeresaSue. P. S. Interesting video Huw.
Thank you for that!
I certainly love this idea. I have heavy clay in an area, so I broadcast daikon radishes, primarily to slow till the soil. I harvested a few that were expected to be smaller than usual this first season (and they were). My favorite part of the radish is the young seed pods (for salads and stir Fry's). It's now into mature seed pods that will reseed the area to continue to break up that clay then I'll allow the plant remains to compost right on the spot. It's working for me so far
Ahh love the idea of letting it self seed and continue to break up the clay,!
These were great thinking exercises, Huw.
One crop that does well here, in Southern Middle Tennessee is Okra. It is tall as a shrub, now, so it gives some shade to the ground and plants below.
I prune the leaves as I harvest, to cover the soil, as mulch.
It is definitely a seed crop, as it is the same seed my husband got from his grandfather 40+ years ago.
We eat the pods when small as a snack, especially the grandchildren, and
as mature pods in stews (and fried).
Last year I let tomatoes trellis it’s stalks.
I feed the overripe pods to my chickens, who appreciate the treat.
Finally, the compost gets the stalks when Winter clean-up comes around.
Growing zinnias from seed in my garden is not only a delight for indoor displays and small arrangements but also attracts pollinators and provides shade for the crops underneath. However, my favorite aspect of growing zinnias is the boost they give to my self-esteem. Once I learned how to grow and cut them regularly to encourage continued blooming, I realized I had some real gardening skills, and I’ve been passionate about gardening ever since.
On your stacking functions model, you can add animal food to that as well. You can feed your animals with it
Haven't we stacked enough already?
His upside down planter tower is going to fall over if we add anymore! 😂
What a great video, thanks! The stacking functions that come to mind for me, date back to my childhood. We had a hazelnut living fence as a border to our neighbour. In addition to the great nuts we harvested every year, our neighbour harvested one third from the overhanging branches and he often thanked us for them. We also harvested the early green nuts, that are so different in flavour from the mature ones. From the branches, we kids made bows and swords, my dad used the sticks to make trellises to support climbers. The bushes also provided great shade for our chaotic, forrest-like compost, which not only benefitted the veggie garden, but also yielded heaps of worms for fishing. We made dens bewtween the bushes in summer, the pheasants and pigeons roosted there at night. And the best: We were the only family in the neighbourhood who had hazelnuts in the garden; made us feel special and it filled us with great pride when we were children.
I love your childhood
LOL Huw, you are even suggesting stacking the functions of your brain. If you do an activity immediately before you go to sleep, your brain works on the problem while you are sleeping, and in the morning there may be a new solution! Good work!
Blackberries have been amazing this year. They have tons of functions:
Eating the raw berries, cooking the berries (into jams, jellies, shortbread and more), forage fpr the bees and other insects, a pretty wall of flowers, they create a natural barrier and structure, the stems can be used as mini slug walls, they make great protected homes for the frogs and toads, teas can be made from the leaves, the leaves make tasty snacks for the sheep, berries feed the birds, any excess growth goes for compost. And probably plenty more!
I guess its all about context, right? I get incredibly excited at the thought of stacking functions!
I'd say everything in life is about context haha;)
We have Ivy plants growing over a huge 12 foot fence, built by my neighbor and planted by my neighbor. Initially I was annoyed by it's spreading growth habit -- it literally could take over the world but I've made my peace with it. Here is my "cup half full " approach to it. It provides a privacy barrier between neighboring properties; the bees love the flowers; the leaves are used as a medicinal herb; it provides mulch for the garden; it shades the periphery garden soil acting as a weed suppressant and I make lovely fall wreaths from it's leaves ,seed heads and flowers.
Hello How, thanks for all your hard work I really enjoy watching your videos and appreciate all that you do! So for my plant, I chose sunflowers. The primary function: 1. it's my favorite flower, it makes me happy (for aesthetics).
Continued Fucntions:
2. Important for pollinators
3. Food for bird's with their seeds
4. Also food for me, if there's any left from the birds ☺️
5. They are tall so I'm using them as a fence border in my backyard
6. Shade support for shade craps like lettuce varieties that I'm planting
7. Some will be used as a trellis for my peas, which in turn feeds the sunflowers by being nitrogen fixers.
8. I also save the stocks to make flutes and rain sticks I'm going to try this year.
9. I keep all my favorite flowers that I planted and dry them and then use them for various things like arts and crafts or put them in shadow boxes.
I know there's more but those are the main ones that I came up with! Hopefully I win the tickets 😀 thanks again
I finally have a garden and I planted several different plants, but the Jalapeño has been my favorite to grow.
Fresh, Pickled, jarred, candied, dehydrated, and smoked. I grow them close to my other plants like carrots for shade and sometimes as a support for the beans. While overwintering them I like to throw all the leftovers in my compost to continue the cycle.
Cheers and thank you for the videos.
Hazel Trees 🌰
- of course hazel nuts for you, the squirrels and dormice 🐿️
- They can be coppiced to produce an endless supply of material for fences, plant supports and baskets 🧺
- They provide shelter for nesting birds
- And food for insects such as moths
- They can be used for hedging to create a wind break
- Or they can create light dappled shade due to their open canopy
Stacking functions of beetroot:
Beet root to harvest (raw, boiled, roasted, pickled, fermented, relish!)
Baby leaves
Soil cover
Let flower and keep seeds
Compost/feed chickens old leaves
Thanks Hew for your very inspiring videos
Late summer/fall planted kale: baby kale in salads, sweating large leaves with other greens as a side dish, freezing large ribbon cut leaves for smoothies, early spring trap crop for aphids, cabbage loopers & cabbage worms, chop & drop into pathways IF leaves are pest free, leaving roots to decompose in soil to feed the next crop
I have an edible cosmos. Stumbled on it accidentally, but was excited for its multi purpose use.
Can you share the variety? I'm always looking for edible ornamentals!
@@Sky-Child Sure. It's called Ulam Raja Wild Edible Cosmos Caudatus. I hope you are able to enjoy some too!
I have an apple tree that is almost 30 feet tall and is tapped into the water table so requires no additional water in my northern California home. I take the leaves in the winter and either compost them or add them as a layer beneath the tree and then lay compost over that to recover the nutrients into the soil. We eat the good fruit, as do the various squirrels, birds, and rabbits. I use extra or damaged fruit in compost, or to bury in the heavy clay soil, or in my worm bins. When I trim the tree, I bury the limbs and larger cuttings in my raised beds before adding soil to kick start the soil ecosystem health, sometimes I burn them a bit first as I find that helps to really make the soil fertile and rich and it seems to stimulate growth. The larger libs also store moisture they soak up in winter months to help keep a hydration battery during the long dry months of summer and fall here. The bees love the flowers, and the tree provides shade against my eastern wall of my home, helping to prevent the morning sun from heating up the house in the summer months, and also provides privacy to the eastern windows. Below it, I am going to start trying to grow morels, which enjoy the base of mature apple trees as good places to grow.
Grass clippings worked really well between garden rows to keep out weeds. I had more cucumbers this year without wood chip.
Great video! With our limited space we strive to have as many multi purpose uses for EVERYTHING in what we have. From every fruit and veg, every animal or fowel, to tools, sheds, vehicles, natural resourses, etc. to gain the most value possible from what we have. Love that you put it out there for all of us to gain even more great ideas from the comments! Thanks Kiddo! 🌻🐛🌿💚🙏💕
I have a fence in the garden that separates the veg plot from the lawn and border. It also keeps the dogs out of the veg plot and acts as a support to the raspberries that are grown on the other side. I can put hanging pots on it to create additional growing space vertically.
Love the 'thinking outside the box ' aspect! Applies across the board..for living. Thank you for promoting this
beetroot - Soup, pickle, leafs as spinach, smoothie, sweetner, juice, pickle juice to help with pre training drink, stalks dried for beetroot powder, leaf for salad
My pitchfork, an anniversary present many years ago with each tine carefully wrapped😅, has been a favorite tool...
Compost turner
Perrenial lifter
Perrenial divider
Soil aerator
Leaning stick
Reminder of my amazing husband
Grape vines! Fruits for me and the birds, wine, jam, leaves for cooking, shade, pruning cuttings to make natural borders.
Pumpkin: for eating; for decoration; use for seed the following year; a stool to sit on; foot rest (and for a chair if you have 2); to stand on to reach blackberries on the top of the bush; hollow it put to make a bowl; use it to store your car keys; put it on the compost
Great video. I like the idea of stacking finding multiple uses and options for a crop for a closed system
My stack example would be
Calendula english marigolds
- Culinary Uses
- Medicinal Uses
- Garden Companion Plant
- Natural Dye
- Compost Enhancer
- Cosmetic Uses
- Pet Care
- Decorative and Cultural Uses
So many different ways of looking at a plants uses. It certainly opens up your imagination
8:36 13:31 classic innovation/ creativity/ design thinking tool!
Keen for a moasure-
1. ground truthing gps data
2. Conservation work/ interoperability ? Can you import/ export from ARC GIS etc? What data is it using ?
3. my dad was teaching surveying to uni students for civil engineering - I'd love to show him this!
As much as I would love to win that ticket, I'm in oz so I'll have to pass
Hello! Moasure doesn’t use GPS, its connects via bluetooth allowing you to use it wherever you want to be in the world. As a result, it doesn’t export GIS data, but exports measurement data from your initial starting point/reference line and builds its coordinates from there. Hope that helps!
"Stacking functions" is the key to interlocking your design elements and multiplies productivity and efficiency.
I love reusing 2 pint milk bottles. They are a pot for seedlings, herbs and propagated indoor plants like aloe vera or jade to give to people. They are great for propagating herbs like basil. Makes a great mini shovel for potting. I can put holes in the top for a watering can and can also use as a mini greenhouse for young transplants. We have them as small bird feeders and hang them from the trees with different things like water, seed and finely crushed egg shells for grit and calcium. You can also pop them on top of canes to avoid poking you eyes out! Might have forgotten some other things i use them for but they never go in the recycle crate.
I have a star Jasmine in the middle of a long border, which has posts with wires along it. The star Jasmine provides a pretty, evergreen centre backdrop for three seasons, flowering in the Summer. The flowers are loved by pollinators. The roots stabilise my sandy loam soil and the main stem hides the middle post nicely. The white flowers brighten the middle of the border in Summer evenings when the garden is in use later on. Wildlife likes hiding behind it, e.g. little beasties. It protects the fir hedge behind it from being Sun scorched in the Summer. I love the smell of the flowers! 😊
I think field beans are a great example of stacking functions. They improve the soil, act as a cover crop over winter, can have beans harvested from them in spring and you get loads of green material to add to the compost heap to make compost for growing more vegetables.
10' tall ornamental windmill. It's main purpose is a sentimental reminder of my Father. Since his passing I've been given the honor of having it. It has become a runner been trellis, a display mount for a plaque my sister gave me. It shows me the direction of the wind.
Comfrey - stacking uses - feeds bees, purple flowers look good, leaf from and texture interest in plot, to create plant feed, to create healing skin balm. 😀
Sunchokes/Jerusalem Artichokes
* For screen off the neighbours
* Flowers for insects to enjoy
* To trellis my pea shoots, cucumbers and beans
* To break up into compost
* Use leaves to make liquid fertilizer
* use the stem (after it's dried) and combed for spinning cloth and kindle fire and or use as support sticks for other plants and cover the pergola as a tied Sunchocke matt for protection against some rain
* leaves as feed for the wormery
* Cut flowers
* To cast shade
* Of course harvest and cook and eat the Sunchokes
NASTURTIUMS: MY FAVOURITE FLOWER!
Edible stems, seeds, flowers and leaves - Vit C source,
Attracts pollinators,
Attracts aphids - companion plant,
Mulch,
Repels unwelcome insects that eat brassicas eg cabbage white,
Looks attractive - vibrant colours, leaf shape,
Low maintenance (Self seeds, drought tolerant),
Trailing and climbing functions,
Medicinal use - antiseptic/antibacterial,
Compost,
Shelter,
Ground cover
I also get excited about stacking functions! 😁
Glad it isn't just me!
Anyone interested in the permaculture principles of planting on contour might check out Geoff Lawton's videos on using an A-frame to lay out a food forest. He's as brilliant as Huw. 💚
Stacking functions of sunflowers. Aesthetic, shade, structure for other plants (eg bean climbing beans), food for animals, food for humans, soil cover, attracting pollinators, engaging children in gardening. X
I love our pigeon pea plants. They make wonderful wind breaks, shade for other plants, cut forage for our goats, the bees like the flowers, can eat the dried peas (Dal), great chop and drop mulch/nitrogen fixer, also makes great kindling/fire wood. Best stuff if you can grow it in your climate ❤
Nasturtiums - Add beauty, attract pollinators, edible flowers and leaves, trail over raised bed edges, can be trained up trellis, fill spaces, hide ugly corners, cut back and compost, save seeds, act as a slug and caterpillar trap (speaking from this years experience!), butterfly nursery 🤣
Great questions and a fun competition!
CONGRATULATIONS Michael! Please reply with your email or your instagram username so I can get in touch with you:)
Peach Tree:
Shade for our soon to be son
Food source for our local wildlife
Soil conservation
Leaves for tea and tinctures
I planted nastirtiums last year and now they've taken over my garden. They are so versatile! They're beautiful flowers. The bees love them. I love eating the flowers, and when it's too hot in Mt garden for salad, I use their leaves in salads, and even in gazpacho instead of pepper! They're ground cover, and also attract pests, keeping them away from my brassicas. They grow where nothing else wants to grow and cover my stone walls that would otherwise e covered with brambles. I made "capers" with their seeds, and their seeds are also birdfood I imagine. They fill bed corners, and plant themselves so I don't have to!🏵
This is such a simple thing but probably one so many of us haven’t thought about!! Thanks for bringing it to our attentions Huw!
My first time growing Kalettes, it's the best looking plant in my allotment, it has lest pests, the cabbages next to them have been devastated, but the Kalettes hardly touched, I've used the leaves in Soup, they've stopped a lot of weeds growing as there so big and healthy, I'm waiting for the Kalettes to form as an extra crop and they will hopefully produce a crop over winter when not as much is growing.
Stacking, you’ve named it!
Basil…growing great, so a gardening confidence booster
Share with my daughter, but leave for her to harvest, it makes her so happy!
Share with my local restaurant, to encourage them to use more fresh herbs/vegetables in their menu items
The smell is amazing
Beautiful plant
Propagates easily
Tastes wonderful in salads, pestos, pastas
Dries and stores easily
Thanks for your great videos and quirky sense of humor! I live on a small homestead in Kansas USA but traveled to England and Scotland last year with my granddaughter! We had the best time ever!❤
Basil is also gorgeous in cut flower bouquets - it really surprises people when I add it in.
Love that you are broadening out into permaculture design and sharing your insights with us.
Thank you so much
I use some old IKEA bathroom step stools for everything, rain water collection bucket of plant waste (Compost) and also a step stool
Amaranth:
* As beautiful drops of colour in the garden.
* For cutflowers
* To dry
* To eat the leaves as lettuce
* To eat the seeds
* To grow for seeds for replanting
* For growing in pots for giving away as gifts
Thank you for this very inspiring video 🥰🙏🪻
Tomatoes 🍅
Salsa, raw, roasted, blanched, chutney, pickle, sauces, seeds, medicine, house plants, sun dried, compost, shade, Soup, pollinators, mulch 🍅🤞
Fried.
@@marybillups4822 ooo 😁🥲 and grilled or bbq'd or baked 🤗 and stuffed 💚🍅
Fermented
Nasturtiums, look nice, eat the flowers, eat the shoots, pickle the seed pods and as a medicine - you can make a tea from the leaves to help a mucusy cough!
What an amazing video. Im new to growing basil but so far
Tastes amazing, pesto for days!
Improves flavour of my tomatoes
Good for pollinators
Smells amazing in the tunnel
Here everything works together in many ways....the plants and the trees for food and shelter and mulch and midicinal care....the chickes and ducks for eating the slugs and giving furtilizer and eggs....the birds in the trees eating bugs....like us people everything has many different functions. I love beeing in my garden and seeing everything working together! People shood take an example to nature and start working together too....
Basil!
Smells lovely, edible, medicinal, flowering, attracts insects, and makes my tomatoes even more tastier.
Pickle plant! Firstly you can eat the pickles raw and you van eat the flowerd. But you can also easily ferment them at home in a ton of ways! Pollinaters love them and they provide shading and shelter. After season you can use them for composting.🎉#propickle#pickleRick
I was planning on making a forest garden style orchard, but listening to an experienced Welsh orchard grower, he said to be careful not to underplant the fruit trees too much as it creates and maintains damp conditions that can result in molds and disease in the fruit trees. Rather keep the space below the canopy open for the air to circulate. Makes sense to me in this wet part of the world, so I'll adjust my planting accordingly. I wonder what your thoughts are on this?
I am spacing out my trees further to allow more light and airflow to allow for extra plantings, and will be growing varieties that thrive in wet Welsh weather, plus I don't think air circulation is going to be impacted much at all from things like soft fruit and comfrey, especially being on the side of a hill anyway, but the key is to just make sure the stem of the tree is clear.
@@HuwRichards Good points. Do you know any supplier of Bocking 14 comfrey offsets in Wales?
We planted a cherry tree in the center of our small suburban garden. It provides beauty when it blooms in the spring, feeding thousands of bees and other pollen gathering insects as well as food with the fruit for various birds and animals. It also gives us shade on those hot summer days for we over-heated gardeners and a staging area for our outdoor table where we've enjoyed many a family meal and quiet introspective moment, as well as a cool spot to grow those food crops who prefer a little less heat. It also serves as a climbing platform for the grandchildren (who've all used it to climb a tree for the first time) and the wildlife (including an eight foot black snake). At night, it lends an element of romance with the lanterns hung from its branches. We use the leaves in the fall and the branches we've pruned for mulch and compost. The birds enjoy a shady birdbath as well as nesting sights in the bird boxes we've provided and in return, help rid our garden of unwanted pests and provide hours of viewing pleasure. The roots help to break up the tough clay soil that is endemic to our area and the leaves provide a slow watering after a rain and help prevent runoff. Not to mention the profound joy we've experienced over the years as we've watched it grow from the wee bare root stock into the majestic being it has become.
I inherited a 70 year old cherry tree zone 7 middle sized suburban backyard. First spring after 1 foot hardwood Chipdrop she had the most blossoms ever and copious fruit then hosted native honeybee hive!
I’m using Tagasaste to feed the bees, provide a wind break, then I’ll coppice it for firewood and mulch. All the while it’ll be fixing nitrogen in the soil.
My huge hazelnut bush is a shelter for birds and other wildlife, creates a sort of a tunnel before the maun part of my garden opens up, adds structure to the garden. It provides nuts for humans and squirrels, shade for the composters and wood for the stove. The long shoots can be used for runner beans, to make bows and arrows for children and to prop up nettings to protect the vegetables against the gourmet deer. Slim branches can be shredded to make paths or to add to compost.
I'd love to win a ticket for your course!!
My favourite stacking plant is cucumbers. I use cucumbers to shade the tomatoes that are in the direction where the sun is the strongest for dapple shade, I grow basil and other herbs underneath it. I use the leaves for compost and the bumble bees love my russian gurkens so more pollinators come for my zuchinnis and other plants.
Also you can eat cucumber leaves, but best eaten young.
This is a great video to save & share. Saving to refer back on. Using & stacking elements of permaculture is what its all about😊
A brick? A weight. Fill a space under the bottom of the fence. To stand on if you need a little bit more height to see (eg: over a wall)
I grow lots of chillies. Functions being…
- eating tasty chilli varieties you cant buy
- creating ferments/sauces (my main hobby and keeps me occupied for months)
-good for polinators
- pollinators also = flying cat entertainment/occasional cat snacks
-decorate my sad conservatory
-creates compost once dead
-enables me to feel like im gardening even though im crap (because they grow really well in my conservatory and dont mind not being watered for ages)
-create a source of fun christmas and birthday presents (cos its easy to grow loads of them)
-create kitchen decorations once dried and sewn together
-keep reminding you of the importance of regularly washing your hands, long after covid has passed
This is utter brilliance. Love this clear thinking.
Ahh thank you!
Oh wonderful the moasure will be brilliant for helping me work out accurate contour lines for our swale systems :)
Piracicaba broccoli:
Sprouts are edible
Leaves are edible
Immature flower heads are edible
Flowers are edible
Seed pods are edible
Stems used to flavor stews or stocks
Grows continuously through the season
Pollinators love it; bees hummingbirds
Home for predator bugs
Home for praying mantis’s
Once mature creates great shade to grow crops under; carrots beets etc
One of my most abundant producing crops
Beautiful flowers for visual enjoyment
Lots of bulk for compost
Highly recommended
Great film Huw.
Stacking is awesome!
We planted 4 Hedge Walnuts (Fernette & Fernor), 2 up against our front boundary.
Potential stacking functions of; shade, beautiful green leafy trees, leaves for composting, leaf drop to build soil & diverse creatures, leaves for hedgehog nesting, food for bees & other pollinators, habitat for wildlife, structural-bone like winter beauty, windbreak, leaves & husks for dyeing projects, teaching tool, variety fascination, great conversation starter, medicinal uses, walnut wood, walnut oil, walnuts to gift & barter, homegrown walnuts for many recipes.
We have grown the front boughs over the front boundary to ‘allow’ scrumping to connect the passing local children & adults to food/walnuts / discovery.
There are so many stacking functions it is nuts!
Thanks Jo (Plantiejo)
For a chance to enter to win a ticket, we have a perennial chili plant just outside our door against a brick house. For us, it functions as many things, of course we use the ripe red chilies for homemade chili oil, or in our salads, etc. but we also use the perky white flowers frozen in ice to have a nice spicy lemonade in summer, it is our go to for kitchen water from steaming veggies or cooking beans to ensure those nutrients don't go to waste (especially when it is dark and we don't want to go all the way to the garden), it serves as a lovely spot to have tea through winter with something still lovely and green to admire, we also use it to gather seeds, and grow seedlings and share with friends and have even sold a few, We also use one of its lower thicker branches as a handy hook for the hose nozzle, and I am sure I could come up with many other ideas but people may start to think I have an unhealthy obsession with my favourite chili plant. lol
Love that you stacked pots to explain about stacking functions. :D
Me too, just popped into my head as an option 😂
@@HuwRichards It had to be done!
Stacking a Mammoth Sunflower: feeds birds, squirrels, and the bees, seed saving and roasting, leaves for compost, leaves for shade to grow cool weather crops underneath, leaves as mulch/weedbarrier, stalk for climbing crops, multiple dried stalks can become next years poles for building afraid trellis, add stalks to the bottom of new raised beds for filler and nutrients as they breakdown, and my all time favorite way to use the stalk is to give it to my dog, Roxane. She will happily run around the yard with the giant stalk and run into everything, drop it and pick it back up. No need to even throw this stick. It’s hours of hilarious fun!
Comfrey’s stacked functions:
• Nutrient Accumulator: Deep roots pull up nutrients like potassium and calcium, enriching the soil.
• Compost Booster: Use leaves as a fast-breaking compost activator.
• Natural Fertilizer: Leaves work great as mulch or liquid feed.
• Medicinal Uses: Known for healing properties, used for wounds and inflammation.
• Pest Deterrent: Rough leaves keep pests at bay.
• Animal Feed: Nutritious feed for chickens, rabbits, and livestock.
• Erosion Control: Roots stabilize soil on slopes.
• Improves Soil: Aerates and improves soil structure.
• Attracts Pollinators: Flowers bring in bees and beneficial insects.
• Living Barrier: Acts as a natural hedge or border.
• Aesthetic Value: Adds greenery and flowers to the garden.
Love your channel. Potato = Food, compost, mulch, breaks up hard soil, recycle store bought potatoes, carve into stamp, defog glasses or goggles.
My goal is to add chickens and an enclosed chicken run to my suburban ‘farm’.
Chicken functions: Eggs, meat if necessary, compost turners, scrap eaters, insect control, entertainment, mental wellbeing (caring for something other than self), fertiliser for the garden, clean up of fallen fruit.
Caged Run functions: Protection from predators, they can let themselves out and put themselves to bed. Bird protection for a mulberry tree, a structure to grow fruiting vines on outside, which in turn will provide shade for the chickens.
Coop functions: Put a worm farm under their roost and you feed the worms, less clean up of chicken poop, worm castings for garden, treats for the chickens. Roof can collect water for the chickens to drink
I’m sure there are more.
I think you should be the winner!
Unfortunately I live on the other side of the world so it will have to be someone else’s privilege.
I thinking about marigolds. A jellow or orange color spot in the garden, very distinct smell when you pick them, they saw themselves back so you have just to let that happen, they are medicinal for the skin, they are edible flowers and make your salades colorfull, they are adored by insects, you can cut some flowers to bring that intense color in the house, you can put them in a wild flower bouquet in a vase on your terrase table, you can harvest the seeds and give them away, you can dry them and keep some of that color in the wintertime, they are easy to saw so ideal for a starting garderer or kids, it is a repelens for sluggs ( wich gardener does not like that one ) , you can mix them in your vegetalbe garden, they have a taproot and help to make the soil lose, they repel wireworms and mematodes ( I amase myself, I remembered vagely they had a repel function, but I have also learned now they have a taproot), you can make art with dryed flowers or paint them
Sounds great Huw, but the secret is to harvest your crop, unless you can get into your garden everyday, the plants grow too fast for people who only have one day or a few hours a week. Have been vegetable gardening for over 40 years, my garden has only become trully productive etc, when I can go into it several times a day, which is now as I work from home.
Several times a day? Goodness me! Please don't take offense but I think it all comes down to planning and management
@@HuwRichards Wait until you are suffering from two different injuries and waiting for surgery. Can kneel for a few minutes only, can not lift things and carry them for long distances, can't dig compost out of the heap and fill a wheelbarrow in one go or buckets on the sack barrow, doing it slowly, the bad days have ice packs on for 40 minutes twice a day, have been vegetable gardening for over 45 years, since a child, did an Apprenticeship in Horticulture and Gardening 40 years ago, even became the Head Gardener for a City Council with 12 staff in my area. But have been the sole gardener in a 3 acre old Farm Garden for the past 32 years, raising children while still working, am still working but a lot of it now involves sitting down, only need assistance in the garden 13 days a year, mainly for the 2 person jobs and for digging the blackberries and other pest plants out. Became no dig 32 years ago, and have been permaculture most of my gardening life, without knowing it.
Beautiful visual examples. Your awesome
I also grow scarlet runner beans for the color in my garden.
Note: I'm not entering the competition, I started writing this comment before I got to the end and you told everyone to do this 😂
I am a broken record on mustard, my most favourite plant ever. The leaves, seeds, and flowers are edible. It can be used as fodder. It has a big tap root to help break up clay soil. It's drought and frost tolerant. It's a biofumigant. It's a fantastic trap crop for aphids and cabbage whites. Because it's a trap crop, it attracts beneficial and parasitoid insects. If plants are cut back but not removed, the woody stems provide overwintering habitat for beneficial insects. A ring of mustard seedlings or chop/drop leaves protects seeds/transplants from slugs and snails. It makes great chop and drop mulch or compost greens. It feeds the bees in winter when there's not many other flowers around. If you let it grow big enough, it will be sturdy enough for other plants to climb on. I'm probably still forgetting something. Hands down my favourite plant.
Another example of stacking functions in my garden is my rotating compost bin system. I put a compost bin down somewhere that I think the soil needs to be improved, and over the next few months I casually add materials to it. In summer I might plant things around the base of the compost bin, and then rather than watering those plants directly, I water the compost (usually with grey water - another stacking function). This speeds up the composting process inside the bin and creates a reservoir of moisture, nutrients, and life underneath, which the plants can tap into, which reduces the amount that I need to water. When I'm satisfied that the compost is done enough, I lift off the bin, spread the compost around, and find a new spot for the bin to start over. Because I'm using the compost right where I made it, it means that I'm not having to shovel compost into a wheelbarrow and move it from place to place, so it's an energy saving thing strategy also.
Accidental stacking function: last year in my tomato bed, a bunch of volunteer cosmos came up, and I let them grow. It turned out to be a fantastic stroke of laziness because when they grew to be six feet tall, their feathery foliage gave the tomatoes just enough dappled shade to stop them being scalded, but the cerise flowers hid the tomatoes from the birds. I didn't have to erect netting or shade, and I didn't lose a single tomato until right at the end of the season when things started to naturally thin out. I got kilos and kilos of fruit where the previous year (no cosmos, no net) I lost so many to birds. And of course, the flowers look gorgeous, attract pollinators, can be used for cut flowers.. and the plants are fast growing and can be used as chop and drop mulch or added to compost. And they self seed so easily that once you have them, you never have to buy them again.
Stacking functions in the garden makes me so happy. It is SO satisfying.
My tree cabbage this year has been a haven for caterpillars as well as a delicious eat
I often have it at breakfast before protein or carbs to help regulate my blood sugars so it's also a medicine, some leaves go to the chickens as a treat.
At the moment it is shading my lettuce from direct sunlight and the lower leaves will be chopped and dropped soon and should make effective slug hideouts. Happy collecting and disposing of to follow...the chucks will be happy.
Love the new sub stack format, I've chosen to support Sam with a paid subscription as I'm expecting you to get a lot of support for your stack. Can't do both sorry 😔
And I just discovered another benefit of marigolds hydrolates ❤
You have done another great video realy inspiring and funny 😊
I plan to plant lots of elder trees and other wild fruit trees. I love the elder for the flowers in spring for the bees and the smell to enjoy. To give shadow and shelter places to land on for birds for other plants and animals, you can use the wood for kreativ works and building Instruments I think, also for making compost as well. use the flowers and beeries to cook, make tea and use as medicine...
Ahh thank you very much!! That all sounds fantastic! Thank you for sharing and good luck!
Thinking oustide of the box: I think this is your superpower as a content creator (and probably in the rest of your life), Huw. Through this you teach, create, elevate, inspire, and keep us coming back for more. Keep stacking!
Wow that is very kind of you thank you! What a lovely comment indeed.
Okay, i'll choose one of your favourites: peas. Yummy food of course, creating a privacy screen on a fence separating gardens, a tipi to play in, creating shade for other plants, add to the beauty of the garden, biodiversity of planting, food for insects and pollinators, composting material, seed collection, making friends through seed sharing, shooting at annoying people through a pea shooter, creating a percussion instrument, using as weight to stop pastry rising in the oven, drying for food out of season, putting inside fabric pyramids to act as fabric weights when sewing, piercing and stringing to create jewellery, creating a dye. Goodness, that was more than I anticipated.
Very informative video as well as practical applications.
The 2 minute hack is great. Thank you, much love ❤
You are most welcome!
I Love your Garden, it's absolutely Beautiful 💚👍🪴✨️
Thank you so much!
Great Video!. Thanks. Which program or software are you using to design after measuring?
Huw, you look better and better (handsomer and handsomer) as time goes; you beautiful Celtic man!!!! USA
Love the A level in the background.
@TheAlaskaMom
0 seconds ago
My Ranetka Crabapple tree is being used as the rootstock of ten other varieties of apples. It is winter hardy here in Alaska. It produces its own beautifully colored fruit that can be used for apple butter, jelly, or to feed the bird in the winter. It is great for producing pollen for our honey bees and other pollinators. The grandkids enjoy picking and eating the apples. So do the rest of us. Apples from this tree ripen at various times. The shade is nice. The leaves go into our compost pile. The birds like to perch in its branches. I enjoy the blossoms! The fragrance and the beauty. The apples are also quite beautiful to behold. The tree gives me bragging rights with 10 successful grafts. 😉 The moose munch its branches when they manage to jump the fence around the garden. The spiders catch their meals in their webs that they build in its branches. It gives me the opportunity to try out many varieties of apples in a small space that otherwise wouldn’t survive in Alaska.
Nasturtium
Edible in salads
Polinator
Beauty interest
Food styling
Ferments
Green manure
Ground cover
Trap plant
Taco shell
Frog shelter
Conversation starter
I didn’t know that Liam Hemsworth was this much into gardening
Chris got me into it😉
Tom Selleck must have a son 😂
Is there any free trustworthy tutials for that technology he using it looks like it could be useful, cheers in advance