In episode 127 of The Permaculture Vine Podcast, host Cormac Harkin was joined by Dominik Jais.
The conversation covered Dominik’s introduction to permaculture, his diploma work, the development of his Finnish homestead, digital permaculture, artificial intelligence, open-source alternatives, his book Digital Permaculture and his work with the European Permaculture Network.
Who’s at the Table
Dominik Jais lives in Finland. He is a web developer, permaculture diploma tutor and lead of the European Permaculture Network’s software. He also runs the Beyond Buckthorns permaculture homestead and wrote the book Digital Permaculture.
From Coding to Permaculture
Dominik first encountered permaculture in New York in 2014 after meeting people involved in DIY biogas projects through a local hackspace. During the visit, he attended a final presentation connected with a Permaculture Design Certificate course and heard a permaculture project being presented.
He continued learning through books, websites and videos before completing an intensive two-week PDC in Finland in 2018 with George Sobol. At the time, Dominik and his wife were already gardening and beginning to develop designs for their own property.
Dominik later began his Diploma in Applied Permaculture Design. His existing projects provided material for the diploma, including work on a barn and a communications design for the Finnish Permaculture Association.
Beyond Buckthorns in Finland
Dominik and his wife began developing Beyond Buckthorns after moving to their property in 2016. The project involves transforming the existing space into a permaculture homestead.
The property includes several gardens and indoor growing areas. Dominik described an indoor food forest built into an old barn using reclaimed glass from a municipal building renovation in Tampere. The space is used mainly for perennial plants, with some annual crops such as tomatoes.
The property also has a greenhouse and a recently completed partially sunken greenhouse. This was created from an old garage containing a working ditch below the frost line. Dominik plans to use it for trees that would otherwise struggle with the area’s winter temperatures.
Their outdoor growing includes garlic, vegetables and a range of berries. They do not currently keep livestock, although they have a cat named Ms Sophie.
Courses, Consultancy and Design Work
Beyond Buckthorns hosts different forms of permaculture education. Dominik’s wife, Lumia, teaches an introduction to permaculture course in Finnish. Dominik has taught two PDCs in English and usually runs a biogas course every other year.
They have also tested a regenerative energy course and different teaching formats. One format that has worked well is their design camp, which provides a direct and hands-on introduction to permaculture design.
Dominik also undertakes occasional design and consultancy work. The projects vary according to what comes to them, with the largest consultancy project discussed covering approximately 12 hectares.
Biogas in a Cold Climate
The conversation included the biogas system Dominik installed inside the converted barn. He explained that methane production is highest at approximately 37°C and declines as the temperature falls.
To operate the system in Finland, he placed it indoors and used approximately 40 centimetres of insulation. He combined it with a solar vacuum-tube collector, circulating hot water through the IBC containing the system.
The barn now contains the biogas system, the indoor food forest and a teaching classroom.
Applying Permaculture to Digital Systems
Dominik distinguished between using digital tools for conventional permaculture work and applying permaculture design within a digital context.
For property design, he uses QGIS along with graphics software including Inkscape, GIMP and Affinity. The choice depends on the requirements and complexity of the project.
Dominik described digital permaculture as permaculture design conducted within a digital context. It still involves observation, ethics, principles, a design process and an assessment of available options.
Cormac used his planned home server system as an example. The proposed system would store podcast files and family photographs while allowing files to be accessed and shared remotely.
Dominik discussed examining whether a network-attached storage system was required, whether existing equipment could meet the need and whether open-source or proprietary software was appropriate. He also noted that a proprietary system might remain the practical choice if operating an open-source alternative placed excessive demands on the user.
Artificial Intelligence and Digital Choices
Cormac described using AI-generated elements inside Affinity to create visual representations of greenhouses and trees for property designs.
Dominik raised the energy and hardware requirements associated with artificial intelligence, including mineral extraction and the production of computing equipment. He said that AI features can appear inside software without users making a conscious decision to adopt them.
They also discussed AI-generated images and voices appearing in permaculture content and course promotion. Cormac described finding an AI-generated version of a speaker’s voice off-putting, while Dominik referred to the increasing presence of this material within the permaculture community.
Platforms and Open-Source Alternatives
The conversation examined the digital platforms used by permaculture organisations and individuals.
Dominik questioned the reliance on large proprietary platforms and discussed alternatives including PeerTube, Mastodon and Signal. PeerTube was described as a decentralised and federated alternative to YouTube that can be operated through independent servers.
Cormac discussed Nostr as a system through which a user can retain an identity and carry information between services. They also considered the difficulty of encouraging communities to move away from platforms where large numbers of people are already active.
Messaging platforms were another part of the discussion. Dominik currently prefers Signal or Threema and does not use WhatsApp. He described open-source software as allowing its source code to be examined, while proprietary systems do not provide the same access.
The Book Digital Permaculture
Dominik’s book introduces digital permaculture and follows one complete digital permaculture design across approximately 200 pages.
The design begins with observation and surveying. Dominik inventories the hardware and software he uses, evaluates those systems and considers possible alternatives. The book includes areas such as digital zones, hardware, software and messaging services.
Dominik designed the book himself, including its fonts, layout and chapter presentation. It is distributed through a print-on-demand service and can be ordered through bookshops using its ISBN.
The European Permaculture Network
Dominik leads the software work for the European Permaculture Network. Its website is designed primarily for teachers and course organisers, allowing them to create profiles, list courses and share resources, books, links and funding opportunities.
At the time of the conversation, Dominik said the website had approximately 230 members and around 2,500 visitors per month.
The network also operates an assured-teacher process. A person must have completed a PDC, a Permaculture Teacher Training course and a diploma before becoming eligible. The process then includes a peer review with an assured teacher from another European country.
The network has a core council, monthly meetings and an open-source community forum. Dominik described it as a growing project developing through voluntary participation.
Permatalks, Dialogue Sessions and the Lync Project
Dominik discussed the European Permaculture Network’s Permatalks series, which returns at the beginning of each year. The programme usually contains eight to ten sessions presented by different speakers.
For the programme discussed in the episode, the network was adding dialogue sessions. Members selected areas of experience through their network profiles, and people with shared areas of knowledge were invited to take part in conversations together.
The planned subjects included PDCs, introductory courses, online permaculture education and teaching at homesteads.
The Permatalks programme was also connected with the Erasmus Plus-funded Lync project. The planned online convention included several sessions each day, alongside permaculture talks and networking.
Moving the Permaculture CoLab from Slack
Dominik is part of the Permaculture CoLab’s digital circle. The group spent a year researching an alternative to Slack.
The CoLab subsequently moved from Slack to Discourse, an open-source forum platform. Dominik noted that the two systems operate differently: Slack is primarily a chat platform, while Discourse is organised as a forum.
The decision involved evaluating alternatives and listening to members who wanted to contribute to the process.
Sensors and Remote Monitoring
Dominik also uses small digital systems around his property. Temperature and humidity sensors send data using MQTT, while sensors located farther away use LoRa.
The monitoring includes greenhouse temperatures and the water line entering the house. Winter temperatures can reach approximately −25°C, so the water line has an electric heating cable connected to an MQTT-controlled plug that can be activated remotely.
Dominik has also added a sensor to the washing machine so that it can indicate when a cycle has finished. For basic temperature monitoring, he uses smaller devices rather than running a complete Raspberry Pi system.
Closing
This episode covered Dominik’s route from web development into permaculture, the development of Beyond Buckthorns in Finland, biogas and indoor growing, the application of permaculture design to digital systems, open-source platforms and the work of the European Permaculture Network.
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