##### Permaculture Principle: Catch and Store Energy ##### This pasture is an young example of the my vision for the what whole homestead will become once mature. A giant battery charged by natural energy flows. Catching energy from the sun in the form of solar panels at the yurt, but also in the form of photosynthesis in the plants. Strips of pasture are segmented by swales which act as a pattern for planting rows of fruit trees intermixed with other perennial plants. The rows of plants add much greater surface area for catching and storing sunlight. Additionally, the swales, which are level ditches dug on contour of the slope, are catching and storing energy too. When grazing the sheep in-between the rows of trees, they deposit fertility which is washed down and captured by the swales depositing the energy directly at the roots of the perennials. This pasture used to be a corn/bean field that only photosynthesized from ~June-October. Now it's able to catch and store much more sunlight by integrating animals and perennial agriculture together. #permaculture #permies #homesteading #meshtadel #learnpermaculture #catchandstoreenergy