Understanding Energy Flows in Nature

Students of Geoff’s Online Permaculture Design Course have question-and-answer sessions where Geoff fields a number of questions every week and answers them via videos. This question was pulled from the 2021 collection. Check out Geoff’s free Masterclass for an in-depth dive into all things permaculture www.discoverpermaculture.com
Question
Currently, I find I have difficulty perceiving flows of energy when I look at nature. Since permaculture aims to conserve and collect energy this seems an important skill to cultivate. I plan to continue observing in the hopes of eventually teaching myself to see like this, but in the meantime is there a book, video, exercise or suggestion you can provide to help me get there?
Key Takeaways
It takes a little while, but when pattern suddenly clicks, it is a sort of magic realization moment, like riding a bike. There are constant flows and forms in aerodynamics and aquadynamics. For example, airplane wings only work with certain shapes. We can’t just fly with any old wing. In essence, we are working to be aware of these patterns. We just have to observe the constants in flow and form, no matter how big or how small. It takes some practice to see that.
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About Geoff:
Geoff is a world-renowned permaculture consultant, designer, and teacher that has established demonstration sites that function as education centers in all the world's major climates. Geoff has dedicated his life to spreading permaculture design across the globe and inspiring people to take care of the earth, each other, and to return the surplus.
About Permaculture:
Permaculture integrates land, resources, people and the environment through mutually beneficial synergies - imitating the no waste, closed loop systems seen in diverse natural systems. Permaculture applies holistic solutions that are applicable in rural and urban contexts and at any scale. It is a multidisciplinary toolbox including agriculture, water harvesting and hydrology, energy, natural building, forestry, waste management, animal systems, aquaculture, appropriate technology, economics and community development.
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[@patiopermaculture3529]

Imagine if we lived our lives with the flow of nature instead of the pressure of greed.

[@portaadonai]

We are born in sin, it's part of our nature. You cannot simply try harder and get rid of it. We need to be saved, and transformed, and even given new created bodies. These ones are permanently destroyed. Greed is one small part of sin, others include sexual immorality, lust, dishonestly, selfishness, rivalries, drunkeness, fits of rage, fighting with one another, and so on. This is why Jesus Christ came, died and rose again for oursake. Gospel means "good news" that is the Good News about Jesus the Son of God

[@patiopermaculture3529]

@@portaadonai I'm glad you like a book. I really do. But please don't go around forcing your fiction onto others. By the way, you do know this behavior is frowned upon in that book, right?

[@jond532]

@@patiopermaculture3529 "spiritual people waste a hell of a lot of time." - BM

[@ryanlove8242]

Finally got my designers manual in the mail yesterday for my birthday. Best birthday gift ever!!! Now i can do my best to absorb it's timeless knowledge while i save up for the PDC. The wheels are in motion and it's gonna be such an honor and privilege and transformation when the time comes. I'm just in my larval stage right now but I'm gonna transform into a butterfly and make the world beautiful and green with permaculture! 😄✌&❤

[@sundancer442]

I studied thermodynamics to teach myself about the transference of heat and cold energy. It's a great place to start.

[@PaleGhost69]

I would still like a video on applying permaculture principles to container gardens

[@jond532]

the first thing to do would be to get rid of the container...

[@Christodophilus]

I live on 5 acres but the weather is so extreme, and my water resources sparing, I've had to garden in containers. Stacking is most beneficial in this regard. Have a central, tall plant, such as basil, with a ground-cover, such as thyme, oregano or nasturtium growing over the edges of the pot. Because one of the greatest killers of plants in containers, is radiant heat. It cooks the roots. I've found that stacking appropriate plants in containers avoids this. Tall plants shade the lower plants, and in turn, they shade the pot. Also, you will need some kind of shade too. It's just way too hot for plant roots, in confined containers, to be exposed to sun most of the day. Food plants need the sun, but not direct light all day. Morning sun is best. Avoid afternoon sun. So place your containers around your house/utility structures that provides that kind of sun exposure. A video from Geoff would be good though. I'm sure he'd have some great tips.

[@rileymcdonald8110]

One way you can use permaculture principles in a container is living soil. I suggest using activated biochar adding worms and other living elements to the soil in the container.

[@przybyla420]

I shade the sunny side of many of my containers with a piece of bark off a big chunk of firewood. Tie twine around it. Or try to find a spot where the foliage can get light but the pot’s sides and ideally soil is shaded. Avoiding afternoon sun (great suggestion, one of the simplest most effective strategies). Burying the pots partially in soil if you have soil where they are. Amending this soil by topdressing with compost and mulch on top of that, ideally. Holes in the sides of pots - air pots - make for healthier root systems and better yields in smaller containers. But you will have to water more. You can make wooden boxes for your pots to sit inside, to shade the sides and reduce evaporation from wind. Good use for pallets. You can make your own clay pots with the neighbors branch clippings and clay from a riverbank with some sifted river sand added. :) you can grow in burlap sacks. Build trellises and grow annual vines for shade or wind shelter for other crops. Grow cover crops in the winter. If you are on a driveway or patio you can, if feasible, dump 2-3’ of topsoil and ditch the pots, grow on a raised pad.

[@AlicedeTerre]

One very simple one would be finding out ways to water as efficiently as possible such as using ollas, self watering globes or watering with rainwater. I’m thinking about harvesting fog to make a rooftop garden.

[@TreeGirlDesigns]

Found your channel by mistake but you totally make my day. I studied interior design but ended up working in Horticulture, Arboriculture and Entomology. I use design principles when doing landscape overhauls. Taking in consideration all plant materials and how the humans will flow through it. Thank you for your Guidance and Taking time to teach us. Forever your fan. 💕 from Florida, Tree Girl

[@juddotto3660]

Hi guys, lots of love from South Africa, grateful for the content 🙏🏼 thank you

[@Gustav4]

Solar energy flow is not a cycle, but a flow from the sun to the biosphere. It is one of the four basic ecosystem processes or windows through which we can begin to perceive the ecosystem as a whole. The others are the water cycle, mineral cycles, and community dynamics or ecological succession. Biodiversity, the mass plus the diversity of life, depends on how all of these processes function. Energy flow is the capture of solar energy through photosynthesis, which is the process used by green plants to convert radiant energy from the sun into organic compounds such as glucose. With the known exception of organisms that live along thermal vents in the deep ocean floor, all organisms--including humankind--nurture themselves, directly or indirectly, on the products of photosynthesis. At each stage or loop in the food chain or energy pyramid, organisms turn the energy into growth, heat, and activity. For example, human thought, feelings, growth, reproduction, and activity are all fueled by radiant solar energy captured initially by green plants. Often we think of forms of energy as interchangeable or replaceable. This is true of energy in thermal, mechanical, or electrical forms. But there is no replacement for photosynthetic or biological energy. A small fraction of the solar energy striking the earth is captured by photosynthesis and stored as chemical energy in organic compounds. A fraction of this energy is in turn used by humankind to nurture itself and to provide biomass fuels and shelter. We can increase energy flow in a given area by lengthening one or more legs of the triangle that forms the base of solar conversion of the energy tetrahedron: length of the growing season, volume of plants, or leaf area. All of these factors are related to other ecosystem processes such as the water cycle, mineral cycles, and community dynamics. We can increase energy flow into food crops, fiber, and forage by lengthening the growing season (with irrigation, for example). We can increase the volume and leaf area of plants (by adding nitrogen fertilizer, for example). However, long-term solutions to low energy flow must take into account all of the ecosystem processes, and must enhance biodiversity as well. The shape of the human economy in the United States is like the energy pyramid turned upside down. Less than 2 percent of our Gross Domestic Product is directly based on photosynthesis or biological energy (the solar dollar, or net profit to producers from sales of food and fiber). Yet this biological energy, in the form of human creativity and activity, drives the entire economy. For many economists, photosynthesis is a minor sector. When the ecosystem is considered as a whole, it is the primary sector. Source: managingwholes.com/pages/-ecosystem-ecoblocks.htm/

[@marilynroberts6644]

That was excellent. Gave me plenty to think about. Terri Conroy referred me to your channel. I know she'll love this ! Green Blessings Sir. 💜🌱🌿🌲🌳💜

[@jenhamilton]

VonCommon trail? I'm having trouble finding the correct spelling

[@Hohoz88]

A little late, but it's Von Karman (vortex) trail.

[@allanturpin2023]

Sort of off topic, but check out the pics of the wormnado from New Jersey.

[@RealtorCory]

I love Geoff but he sidestepped the q’s on this 1

[@mojavebohemian814]

Thank you

[@edcarlosribeiro2316]

BRazil São Paulo 🇧🇷👏👏👏👏

[@dantoppa1265]

It's always sacred geometry in different scales or feequenc8 as with your life and the universe

[@PaleGhost69]

If my life is a fractal, it's cycling between a poop emoji having a turd for an eye and on that turd is an indent of another poop emoji.

[@dantoppa1265]

@@PaleGhost69 you must like the poop

[@PaleGhost69]

@@dantoppa1265 no it's because my life is shit and when it's not shit, it's a joke.

[@dantoppa1265]

@@PaleGhost69 stop playing the victim the shit Ness is there for you to see what you want and don't want to see you are more powerful than you think .eternal soul actually it's just the clown show mind control you've been brought up with .the 7 hermetic principles is how things really work .no1 rule all is mind

[@PaleGhost69]

@@dantoppa1265 You're crazy and can't take a joke. Double whammy, what my luck

[@Skashoon]

I saw the energy flow a moment ago, but now I’ve lost it. Oh wait, that was cigarette smoke. Nevermind