Permaculture Principles - Catch and Store Energy

Hi, and welcome to this weeks blog.

Today I am exploring another Permaculture Design Principle, Catch and Store Energy.

Catch and Store Energy is all about using and taking advantage of surplus energy, food and other recourses when they are available - to invest in systems that will sustain us in rougher times. 

A couple examples here:

• Sun, wind, and runoff water flows

• Wasted recourses from agricultural, industrial and commercial activities.

• Knowledge and skills of older people

• Fertile soil

• Seed banks full of useful species and varieties

• Water bodies and tanks

• Passive solar buildings.

Unfortunately a lot of this thinking, and doing, has gone lost due to massive improvements in technology making it easier for us to live day by day, never having to think ahead. For example, we don’t necessarily “need” to grow our own food, because we know that it will always be available at the supermarket. Unfortunately, these technologies making things “easier” for us, are also making us sick. A lot of the benefits from having a food garden are things that many people are in desperate need from:

• Daily exercise

• Organic food to nourish the body

• The fantastic feeling of fulfilment and accomplishment harvesting fresh veggies from the garden

The good thing is, there are a lot of ways we can easily use this principle in our lives, creating a healthier and happier environment around us:

• Make sure to do the clothes washing when the sun is out, so that you can dry your clothes/linens in the sun rather than in your drier.

• Set up water harvesting systems to catch rainwater to use for your garden.

• Keep your body fit and strong. Having a functional body is a great “storage of energy” ready to be used whenever you need it.

Thank you for this week, next week I will talk about the third Permaculture Principle, “Obtain a Yield”

Hampus The Organic Gardener