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The following is an excerpt from my book:

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^uburban9Modern Solutions for Busy People

AMY STROSS

11 Super Plants for the Permaculture Garden Seeking out plants that serve multiple functions increases biodiversity, thereby increasing the self-sustaining nature of a micro-farm ecosystem. With the utilization of multi-functional plants, you can spend less time mulching, dealing with pests, and fertilizing. I call these plants Super Plants. Here are some of the benefits of super plants.

• Protect: Many super plants are fast growing, so they can quickly cover bare ground to protect it. Their roots hold soil together and keep it from eroding away in the wind or rain.

• Fertilize: Many super plants accumulate vital nutrients from the subsoil and bring the nutrients into their leaves. As their leaves die back, they make a healing medicine (fertilizer) for gardens and damaged topsoil.

• Condition: Decaying roots add organic matter to the soil, provide channels for rain and air to penetrate, and create tunnels for worms and other beneficial soil microbes.

• Attract: Many super plants are quick to sprout, but relatively short-lived. For this reason, they flower frequently in order to set seed for the next generation. The flowering and their dense foliage can attract beneficial insects looking for habitat or nectar.

Many super plants will actually increase the productivity of your garden if you know how to harness their power. The following are some of my favorite super plants. You might be surprised to find out that many of them are considered weeds! Plant them around perennial crops, in guilds or hedgerows, at the edge of the vegetable garden, and in the herb garden, too.

�Chamomile (Chamaemelum nobile)

�Not only is the dainty chamomile flower cute as a button, but it works hard in the garden as well. Chamomile has been called “the plant’s physician” because it supports and appears to heal almost any plant it is

planted next to. Chamomile is a fertilizer plant; its roots dredge up potassium, phosphorus, and calcium, so mulching with the plants will help improve soil. The flowers attract pollinators, and beneficial insects are attracted to the lacy foliage. It is said to especially improve cabbage and onion crops, and it works well under fruit trees, too.

You may know chamomile best as an excellent tea with calming properties. Now’s your chance to grow your own!

�Chives (Allium schoenoprasum)

Chives are a more common herb, and for good reason. They are useful in the kitchen and easy to grow. I love to walk outside in the middle of cooking and quickly snip a few leaves. The flowers are gorgeous and make a delicious edible garnish to salads.

Another fertilizer plant, chives accumulate potassium and calcium. I like to plant chives at the ends of my garden beds. Giving the plants a haircut a few times a year, it’s easy to mulch the garden beds with the clippings for free fertilizer. The strong scent of chives is a deterrent to pests, so I plant it among my strawberry patch to deter pests attracted to the sweet scent of ripening strawberries. Pollinators will enjoy the beautiful flowers throughout late spring and early summer.

Chives are said to repel fruit tree borers and other fruit tree pests and diseases, so I planted a ring of chives around the trunks of each of my

cherry trees. Chives are also said to be a good companion to carrots and tomatoes.

Chickweed (Stellaria media)

Chickweed shows up in disturbed soil such as garden beds and highly tilled areas, and is often considered a weed. Its presence can indicate low fertility. Chickweed accumulates potassium and phosphorus, two primary nutrients for healthy plant growth. Chickweed attracts pollinators searching for nectar in the spring and early summer, and also makes good poultry forage.

Chickweed will benefit the soil if left to grow and die back on its own. For a tidier garden, cut the plants back monthly (but leave the roots intact) and tuck the cut plant matter under the mulch. Or lay it on top of the soil to naturally decompose.

Comfrey (Symphytum x uplandicum)

Comfrey is the poster child for permaculture gardens, being perhaps the most important mulch plant. It’s at the top of the list of natural fertilizers, accumulating potassium, phosphorus, calcium, and a handful of other nutrients in its large leaves. It is commonly planted underneath fruit trees and on the edges of the vegetable garden. Comfrey’s large leaves can be chopped-and-dropped frequently throughout the season to feed the soil or to boost the compost pile.

The beautiful, bell-shaped purple flowers are popular with pollinators,

and the giant leaves attract many types of beneficial insects looking for habitat.

Common comfrey (Symphytum officinale) is quick to self-seed, so I prefer to grow Russian comfrey, which has sterile seed and will play nicely in the garden without spreading.

Comfrey is also popular as poultry forage.

One of the most useful healing herbs, the dried leaves and roots of comfrey are often used in salves and tinctures.

Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale)

Dandelions—like many weeds—benefit our garden in many ways, the most important of which is fertilizer. Dandelions reach deep into the subsoil with those long taproots, dredge up important nutrients, and store them in their leaves. They excel at accumulating potassium, phosphorus, calcium, and a handful of other nutrients in their leaves, which are important for healthy plant growth. When those leaves die back or are cut back and left to decompose, they fertilize the soil.

I let dandelions grow in my vegetable garden, and it is common to encourage dandelions to grow in orchards under fruit trees. Dandelions increase earthworm populations, which is good for healthy soil. About once a month, I snip the leaves off and compost them in place, which also discourages the plant from flowering and going to seed. Dandelions are good, but I don’t need a dandelion garden!

It is a favorite foraging plant for poultry.

Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare)

Fennel is a strong-scented plant with lacy foliage. The flower of fennel is umbel-shaped, like yarrow, and the beneficial insects and pollinators love it. Fennel attracts ladybugs, hoverflies, parasitic wasps, and lacewings, and I’ve enjoyed seeing an increase of swallowtail butterflies in my garden. I keep my fennel at the edge of my vegetable and fruit gardens because it’s said that many crops do not grow well with it, but I mulch with it at the end of the season after I’ve harvested all the seeds because it’s a good accumulator of phosphorus.

TIP: HARVESTING FENNEL SEEDS

Harvest fennel seeds at the end of the summer so the plants don’t set seed everywhere over the winter. Cook with the seeds, chew on them after meals to help with digestion, and give them away to your gardener friends for planting! If you have an out-of-control fennel patch, chickens will enjoy the forage.

Lamb’s Quarters (Chenopodium album)

The presence of lamb’s quarters is common in old farm fields, where chemical fertilizers were used in excess. Over time, these “weeds” will improve the soil quality. That’s because lamb’s quarters’ deep roots accumulate nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, and manganese while loosening compacted soil.

Lamb’s quarters will benefit the soil if left to grow and die back on

their own. However, one plant can set over 75,000 seeds. For a tidier garden, cut the plants back monthly to keep them from setting seed (but leave the roots intact). Tuck the cut plants under the mulch, or lay them on top of the soil to naturally decompose.

This is another super plant that is a favorite for poultry forage.

Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis)

It wasn’t until a few years ago that I learned the magic of this herb. As an accumulator of phosphorus, it is a wonderful herb to have growing in the vegetable garden or under fruit trees. It has a clumping growth habit, so it won’t spread into areas you don’t want it to, but it is fast-growing and prolific, so it can be cut back frequently to be used as a fertilizer.

Its scent will confuse pests in search of your vegetables or fruit crops. Often called the bee herb, the white flowers bloom all season and are popular with—you guessed it—bees. Lemon balm’s foliage is a popular egg-laying site for lacewings, a beneficial insect.

With a lemony mint flavor, lemon balm has top-of-the line flavor as a culinary herb and as a tea. It has a long list of medicinal benefits to boot, and is commonly used in natural remedies.

Plantain (Plantago spp.)

Brought into North America by colonists, plantain often pops up where

soil is compacted. Plantain accumulates calcium, sulfur, magnesium, manganese, iron, and silicon, and is therefore an excellent fertilizer plant to have around. Plantain will benefit the soil if left to grow and die back on its own. For a tidier garden, cut the plants back monthly (but leave the roots intact). Tuck the cut plants under the mulch, or lay them on top of the soil to naturally decompose.

This is another super plant that is a favorite as poultry forage.

White Clover (Trifolium repens)

One of the most useful additions to a productive garden, white clover is a nitrogen-fixing herb. All vegetable and fruit plants require nitrogen to produce healthy crops, but they can’t access the nitrogen in the soil. Rather, they need certain nitrogen-fixing plants that take nitrogen from the air and convert it to a form that’s useable by the roots of crops. That’s where clover comes to the rescue.

There are many other nitrogen-fixing plants, but white clover is the easiest—in my opinion—to use in the garden. In addition to nitrogen, clover accumulates phosphorus. It is commonly used in orchards as a perennial living mulch under fruit trees to protect the soil and continuously provide fertilizer. It can also be grown in permanent garden pathways. It makes a great walkable ground cover, and the nitrogen will filter into the surrounding garden beds.

A favorite of honeybees, white clover will attract pollinators and beneficial insects because it blooms all season long. It’s a common addition to poultry foraging mixes.

Yarrow (Achillea millefolium)

Yarrow is a gorgeous flower that is beloved by all manner of beneficial insects: ladybugs, hoverflies, parasitic wasps, and lacewings. I plant yarrow at the edge of the vegetable garden. Its scent will confuse pests trying to hone in on your vegetable crops!

Yarrow is also a great fertilizer, as its leaves are rich in potassium and phosphorus. When it finishes flowering in the fall, I chop it down and

let it compost in place in the vegetable garden. It is also a nutrient-rich addition to the compost pile. Yarrow will fertilize soil and attract beneficial insects when planted under fruit trees.

Its deep roots will break up compacted soil or soak up extra water in a rain garden. It will also make a good ground cover when mowed.

While this is by no means an exhaustive list of super plants for the permaculture micro-farm, I hope this gives you some ideas of how you can use plants to improve your local ecosystem, increase the health of your garden, and reduce your workload.