Family of 3 in search of essential and natural living in California

Dear Permies,
Dear Readers,

i have been enjoying this forum for a while and want to say thank you to everyone involved. This is my first post, so please let me know if this is NOT the right place for this type of thread.

We are a family of three, mama and papa 40 and our son is 3 years old. We just moved back to California after living in Berlin, Germany for the last 15 years. I am a designer and builder, mostly of science and historical museum exhibitions, and my wife is a classical pianist/illustrator/visual and sound artist. Our son likes jumping on the bed. We moved back because we wanted our son to experience nature and facilitate a connection to all things growing and living (instead of catering man-made experiences in form of plastic toys. blue or pink are just not enough options:). We have been longing for a garden that we can tend and witness growing. We learned about permaculture a few years ago and agree with every aspect of it. We are by no means experienced permaculturalists, but we are certain that it gives better answers to the challenges of our world than what is in place now. We want to be a part of this and learn and practice now.

Moving to California is not the easiest place to do this, but we are attached to it with family and friends and the spirit that we think still exists. We have landed in the suburbs of Sacramento at my wife's parents, and we are building a Tiny House on wheels here in the backyard of a friend's house. (see picture attached) We rather call it a floating room than a tiny house. It is going to be as off-grid as possible but with optional hook-ups. It sits on a 8.5ft x 20ft trailer and is made of ecological materials utilizing modern passive-house building physics. (theres another image of it attached) Completing the build is going to take about another two months.

Now, we are looking for a place to land with our Floating Room. And this is the reason for this post.

We do not need much - and then it seems so hard to find at the same time.

We are looking for a place that has some proximity (2-3 hrs drive) either to San Francisco or Los Angeles. A place that is more rural than suburban or something in between. A place that allows us to have a little garden and to learn and practice permaculture principles. Thats what we are looking for.

And then there is the community, and thats another reason why I find this fits in this forum. In a dream or fantasy I imagine a few floating rooms tucked away in a lush californian forest, with a circle in the middle to meet if you want to, but dont have to. But that is maybe something further down the road. Lets start with one, or maybe two?

If you are reading this and find any of it interesting, want to follow us on our journey, or maybe even have a hint for us to check out, please let us know.

We know this is something we can not do alone, but with you people out there. So here it is.

All the best,
Love,

Tilman, Kathy and Noel

Dan Tilman wrote:

We are looking for a place that has some proximity (2-3 hrs drive) either to San Francisco or Los Angeles.

Are you sure you wouldn't consider Hawaii? Land is one tenth the price and less.


https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-search/Hawaii_HI/type-farms-ranches,land/radius-20/sby-1

Wow! That looks amazing! Thank you Burl Smith. We are hoping to find something in California though.

I'm not exactly sure what you are looking for. Land to buy? Suggestions of areas? Nearly all of Placer, Nevada, and Yuba counties are full of organic farms, permaculturists, hippies, whatever you want to call them. Same with Mendocino County, and some of Lake County.

hi Kali Gardener,

thanks for the suggestions! we are looking at those areas, but we don't know anyone personally yet.

we are looking for a place to park our tiny home (RV). on somebodies property. for rent.

how would you find that spot or person?

thanks again,
best regards,

Tilman

To Tilman and Co.
My husband and I live in Mariposa and are looking for help with our 5 beautiful acres that are in proximity of about 5 other 4 acre farmsteads of wonderful neighbors. The little town is 5 miles away- we are not remote, yet we enjoy the country "feel" with lots of trees, arable meadow, and abundant delicious water. We have captured and stored around 10,000 gal. of rainwater, have rudimentary irrigations set up for two gardens, a huge cob oven, a large shop, separate studio, and small mobile home in which we live. We also have another mobile home that we rent. There are additional services of power, septic, and water separate from both homes. We are in our 60's and need an extra hand(s) in exchange for gardening and restoring a two acre woodland. I am knowledgeable about permaculture principles and would love to implement them here. I am also a retired RN working on my music. My husband is a sculptor, teacher, inventor and we both do body work. We live in an amazing community and formed many deep and loving friendships here. We are originally from Portland, OR and made our home here 20 years ago.
We are 3 hours from San Francisco and about 6 from LA.
If you guys are interested, post a message thru the purple moouse (is that right?)
Leone and Donovan

Hi Dan, I have met people that have found situations like you are interested in, although I'm not sure how they did it originally. For Nevada County you might want to contact the good people at Sierra Harvest and ask them about possibilities in their area
https://sierraharvest.org/

When I went to their conference I did hear a lot of people needing help with seasonal work, so there may be the possibility of space if you also offer labor?

We have found a place to land for now. Thank you for all the messages and offerings we have received. We will post again when we are ready to move again.