Hello from the Bay Area, California

Hi everyone. I just joined permies, although I regularly visit looking for info and experiences on various things such as gopher control, aquaponics, chicken care, and more. I'm known mostly for foraging, and am the author of 3 books on the subject. My heart is in permaculture, and although I've always dreamed of broad acre permaculture and healing large ecosystems, I find myself doing urban gardening (containers, wicking beds, aquaponics, small backyard plots). I have been practicing permaculture for over 12 years where ever I can.

I am a good ways north of you, near Red Bluff, and am a bit new to the area (4 years). All my important new plants get planted in chicken wire baskets sunk in the ground against the gophers..... they are odd in their preferences.....destroying artichokes and ignoring asparagus for instance. Root crops they love, though, and I have 3 tall raised beds with mesh on the bottom specifically to grow root crops.
There is at least one large-scale permaculture site not far from you, at the MA center near San Ramon. I think it's called Green Friends Farm. I've gone to a couple of events there. They have a pretty big new orchard and someone is, or was, doing intensive grazing.....

Hi there, I've just relocated here to the bay and looked up http://greenfriendsfarm.org/ and got on their mailing list. Looks like they have some pretty good stuff going on! Thanks Alder for mentioning it.
This post caught my eye bc Kevin mentioned container gardening, and in my current situation, that's what I'm going to be doing. I have maintained container gardens before, but that was FULL sun on a rooftop in Rio de Janeiro. I'm curious what success you've had container gardening and in particular, shady areas? Any tips?