Catch and Store Energy!

Permaculture Series

Life on our planet is designed to catch and store energy at every opportunity. A goal in Permaculture is to make use of this reality to our own advantage by participating in natural cycles that are already going on all around us all the time.

The main form of energy that we can catch and store is sunlight.  It may sound odd to think that it’s possible to catch and store sunlight, but it’s the most important thing that plants do all day long every day. They use sunlight to convert carbon dioxide and water into sugars that they then either use to put on more growth, or store for later.  When we eat fruits and vegetables, we are eating stored sunlight energy. If we eat meat, we are still eating stored sunlight energy. It’s just that the animal we are eating got its energy from plants first to form the meat that we, in turn, eat. But plants don’t just convert sunlight into food that we then eat. They also convert it into building materials, wood for burning and fibers to be turned into cloth. Even the petroleum that we have come to be so dependent on is sunlight energy that was caught and stored by plants and animals millions of years ago.

Sunlight doesn’t just power all food production on our planet, it also powers the water cycle which can be another source of energy. Its heat lifts water from the earth’s surface up into the atmosphere from which it comes down again as rain that keeps our rivers running and our aquifers, lakes and ponds full. As the first source of food, it also powers all physical labor, whether that comes from petroleum powered machinery, work animals or human beings. Uneven heating by the sun over the entire planet also causes wind, another source of energy.

Now that we’ve established that sunlight is the source of almost all forms of energy here on the surface of our beautiful planet, and that plants are the key to catching and storing most of that energy, let’s talk about how we can and do participate in the catching and storing of energy.

Any time we preserve food, whether it’s something we grew, received from a friend, or picked up from the market or local farm, we are catching and storing energy for later use. If we collect rainwater in a rain garden, pond, rain barrels or a cistern, we are catching and storing the energy of the sun that brought that rain to us in the first place.  When we save seeds and share them with each other, we are catching and storing all of the energy that the parent plant put into producing that seed. When we plant them, we continue the cycle of catching and storing energy.

Other ways to catch and store energy include catching and holding water on your property, through rain barrels, a cistern, and/or a rain garden. You can also start a compost pile to use your kitchen scraps and generate your own nutritious compost for your garden beds, or you can join Compost Now to have your kitchen waste picked up weekly or twice weekly. In return, you earn finished compost delivered to your door based on the amount of kitchen scraps you have contributed. You can even save money for the service by dropping off your scraps instead of having them picked up.

If you spend time thinking about it, there are bound to be numerous other ways to catch and store energy on your property. The secret is to recognize that energy is passing through your yard all of the time. The plants and animals and even you are also storing it constantly. Sometimes, as with a rainstorm, strong winds, very sunny days, or a bumper crop there is an excess of energy to catch and store. Through Observation and making well thought out Connections, there is an infinite variety of ways to catch and store energy. Just use your imagination!

If you come up with any great ideas, please share them with us. We would love to pass them on to the rest of our readers. Sometimes it just takes one or two good ideas to prime the pump and get the imagination flowing for more and more people.

– Mary Beth

Moles and Voles

These little pests can be a challenge for any lawn or garden.  If you have them, here are a few suggestions to help control them as naturally as possible:

First it’s important to know that moles dine on grubs and insects while voles eat the roots of plants.  If you change your aesthetic, you can learn to love the mole tunnels that meander through your yard and garden as they search out Japanese beetle grubs, yellow-jacket nests and other insect pests that you would prefer not to have around.  Voles are a different story entirely.  Some of the information below applies to both moles and voles.  Some of it is vole specific.  Just remember that it’s the voles that are the biggest threat to your garden.

• Do not provide a desirable habitat.
  Voles love heavy mulch. Never mulch with more than 2 inches of thickness.  Less is preferable.

• Use repellents
  You can apply a homemade mixture of three parts castor oil and one part dish soap to your lawn and mole tunnel entrances. You can also use organic repellents that contain cinnamon, garlic, and white pepper, which voles dislike. 

• Create barriers
  Mix something sharp, like sand, gravel, or a product similar to cat litter, into the soil around planting beds to make it more difficult for pests to navigate. 

• Install barriers
  Bury a mesh wire fence around the perimeter of your garden or place wire mesh baskets around individual plants. 

• Use traps
   Traps can be effective for voles.  Shop around.  There are several different varieties available. 

• Plant odor-intensive species
  Plant basil, elderberry, catnip, garlic, sweet clover, and onions as borders.

• Encourage natural enemies
  Encourage natural enemies by improving the biodiversity of your area. Foxes, weasels, and birds of prey all enjoy a mole or vole meal.

  • Jared

BOOK REVIEW:
The Light Eaters by Zoe Schlanger

We need plants to survive. But what do they need from us —if anything at all? This is an eye-opening and informative look at the ecosystem we live in.  However, this book challenges us to rethink the role of plants, and our own place in the natural world.

The Light Eaters is a plunging immersion into the drama of green life and the complexity of this wild and awe-inspiring world that challenges our very understanding of agency, consciousness, and intelligence. In looking closely, we can see that plants, rather than imitate human intelligence, have perhaps formed a parallel system. What is intelligent life if not a vine that grows leaves to blend into the shrub on which it climbs, a flower that shapes its bloom to fit exactly the beak of its pollinator, a pea seedling that can hear water flowing and make its way toward it? 

Award-winning and renowned environment science reporter Zoë Schlanger takes us across the globe, digging into her own memories while digging into the soil with the scientists who have spent their waking days studying these amazing entities up close.

• Shannon

November’s To-Do List

November is the time to plant garlic from cloves and onion from seeds directly into the garden here in the Piedmont. Both crops will grow through winter.  Garlic will be ready to harvest in late spring.  Onions may take longer if you are growing them from seed.

Any late summer planted cucumbers, squash, and tomatoes, as well as any peppers and eggplant that are still hanging on will continue to produce until frost.

Hardy crops like cabbage, collards, and kale will usually continue to produce through December. The growing season for less hardy crops like broccoli and lettuce can be extended by covering them with cold frames or growing them in an unheated tunnel house.

• Plant seeds or transplants of cool-season vegetables, such as broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, carrots, onions, spinach, and turnips.

• Plant herbs this month. Try dill, oregano, sage, and fennel.

• Set strawberry plants this month in a garden bed or container. Water well.

• Try planting daffodils. Find varieties that fit your region.

• Plant cool-weather annuals such as foxglove, petunia, and Shasta daisy.

• If you have any tropical or subtropical container plants, move them indoors when the temperature drops to the 40s.

• Divide and replant crowded perennials.

• If you are planning on planting wildflower seeds, prepare the soil now. Till the soil thoroughly to a depth of 4 to 5 inches. Prepare a seed mixture of many different kinds.

• Continue planting any trees and shrubs. They will have time to establish themselves before the spring.

• Apply a layer of mulch around your newly planted shrubs and trees.

• Continue mowing and watering your lawn until it stops growing. Avoid fertilizing the lawn, as this could encourage tender growth that might be damaged during the winter.

• If your lawn is losing color, try overseeding with annual ryegrass when temperatures are in the low 70s.

• Clean up your flower beds after the first killing frost; remove any dead plants.

Plant focus

Solidago caesia - Native goldenrod -

A Keystone plant!

A keystone plant [The namesake taken from the Roman architectural final set stone placed in an arch] is a plant that is vital to the health and stability of an ecosystem by providing food and shelter for other species. Keystone plants are the most productive plants in any ecosystem, and they often support the most species of that area. They are the backbone of a local ecosystem, and can help restore native biodiversity.

Native goldenrod fills this critical role in our North Carolina ecosystem.  The bright yellow flowers not only attract a host of pollinators like bees and bugs,  but also many types of birds.  The extensive list of insects includes an amazing variety of moth, butterfly, beetle, beneficial wasp, leaf hopper, midge, and fly species.  You might also see finches, sparrows, towhees and pine siskins all happily snacking on goldenrod seed-heads or the bugs that live among the stalks.  The list of benefits that goldenrod provides continues all year. The dried plants in winter make a nice shelter and offer an escape cover from predators for both birds and small creatures.  Their stalks can dry hollow and provide a natural nesting habitat for many types of small insects.  The plant also has a long history of medicinal use in Native American culture and early use by settlers to the region.

Goldenrod is an easy to grow plant.  In fact some varieties are quite vigorous and might not be a good plant for a structured garden. However those wild patches nearby or hard to fill areas in your yard could use a splash of yellow!  The Solidago caesia (Axillary Goldenrod, Bluestem Goldenrod, Blue Stemmed Goldenrod, Woodland Goldenrod, Wreath Goldenrod) is a slightly more polite clumping variety and plays well with other native species.  Goldenrod has a long blooming season and will be a nurturing addition to any ecosystem’s biodiversity and to your garden.  

If you would like to add some to your garden, Birch Meadow currently has Solidago flexicalus (Zigzag Goldenrod) available in plug form for sale this fall at $3.44 per plug.  Zigzag goldenrod can handle shady as well as full sun conditions.  Contact Mary Beth at marybeth@birchmeadowgc.com to request yours today!

• Shannon

"October is the month of painted leaves.
Their rich glow now flashes round the world.
As fruits and leaves and the day itself
acquire a bright tint just before they fall,
so the year near its setting.
October is its sunset sky;
November the later twilight."

- Henry David Thoreau

Happy Gardening!