Permaculture principles for beginners
Story by Loretta Leary, Permaculture Tasmania’s Secretary, extract from Summer 2025 newsletter
Permaculture Principle 2 is ‘Catch and Store Energy’
…which means collecting resources when they are abundant to use later in times of need. This involves capturing and storing energy in various forms, such as using water tanks to collect rainwater or creating compost from organic waste to build soil fertility.
What it means:
Very simply, “make hay whilst the sun shines” applies here. Catch and store water or sunlight. Make compost from all of those garden clippings, leaves and mulch. Preserve excess fruits and vegetables in jams, pickles, preserves, sauces etc
How to apply it:
Water: Capture and store rainwater from roofs in barrels or tanks for dry periods. Organic Matter: Compost hedge trimmings, grass clippings, and fallen leaves to store energy as organic matter, which can be used to build healthy soil.
Sunlight: Design features that capture and store solar energy, such as using dark-colored materials to retain heat or planting deciduous trees to provide summer shade while allowing winter sun.
Biomass: Store pruned branches and stalks as mulch, wood chips, or other forms of biomass to use for pathways or to add to the soil.
Other Forms: Recognize that energy can be stored in many forms, including money, which represents a form of stored value, and in the knowledge and learning gained from a system.
Seasonal Harvests: Preserve excess crops for later use.