Hi Tom,
I don't know the specifics at California, but I'd say your goals are not very realistic. You are missing a key point: people. You can't defend yourself, even hide, without a trusty group of people around. And another big one: time. A good permaculture design, one that does not need heavy inputs, requires one year for learning and seven years for establishing. What are you going to do to survive meanwhile?
If I were in a rush, I'd try to find a willing community first. Some place where people can teach me one thing or two, where my skills can complement theirs. For me this is in the city. Beware traditional rural communities, they are not very open to foreigners, especially when the foreigners don't comply to the
local customs, including the way you cultivate. It's slightly easier if you happen to be a relative of someone who has always lived there.
Even if you are in a rush, take solid steps. You will be spending money the first five years or so, before you can sustain your family just from your operation. Have you got any plan for paying the bills meanwhile? It might require to lose some comfort for the first years, otherwise. Living in a tent, or a
cob, for a few years, with no electricity or fresh
water. This might appeal to you, but might not appeal your wife, and without her support things can go very nasty very soon.
Being self sufficient is not about being able to produce everything you need for yourself. That's delusional. It's about being able to provide anything you need with the means of your work. If you are veterinarian and you can pay all your bills from your work, that's self sufficiency. You can be self sufficient in the city. But if your income depends on a single thing, your self sufficiency might not be very resilient. People go to the county not in search of self sufficiency, but of resilience. Resilience usually comes at the price of less efficiency, so typically you will earn less, but you know that you can still make a life when things go wrong.
So let's say you are expecting social collapse very soon. Fine. The very least you will need is food and protection. But after a few weeks or months you will need several other things: clothes, tools, fuel for heating, transport, medicines, a doctor, education, entertainment, a psicologist or a priest, just think about what your yearly needs are. This you can't do alone. Humans have never been lone wolves.
When society collapses, it's central goverment who loses control. There can be some turmoil until new structures form and take the power void. That turmoil usually hits harder in the cities, where more people are living. But the country will not be completely safe, as brigand bands can wreak havoc there, without proper law enforcements.
Make yourself a valuable member of a community, and you will find friends willing to protect you. Learn many skills, especially those that are of high demand where you live. Having a nice market garden is always a plus, and we encourage everyone to grow one, but you don't really need to be able to produce crops to
feed your family, unless you are willing to produce crops for the whole community, if that's your thing. Remember, you will need also fibers, medicines, construction materials, fuel, and many other things, you can't possibly provide everything yourself alone.
Let's say you really are into growing food. Then you can start with traditional farming that will give you enough crops even the first year, and keeping a small plot to be turned into permaculture. You will earn money from the first, while you learn how to implement the second.