new project in Humboldt co, CA kicking off

hello fellow permies. just want to announce the start of our project. We recently purchased 3.48 acres of gently sloping pasture land not too far from Humboldt Bay. Already put some garlic in the ground and broadcast some cover crop seed. Getting really antsy to put in fruit trees and blueberries! but my swales aren't in yet so...In the meantime the priority is building a small (~1000 ft2) house. I've been craigslisting like crazy getting all the free stuff I can manage, like urbanite and old windows...someone was giving away old metal roofing but I missed the boat on that one...Finally posted on the Humboldt permaculture guild's facebook page and got a handful of likes! Well, we're going to need all the help we can get so thank you in advance for caring and commenting! I'm very interested in moringa, where can I get some? One of our neighbors has horses, do they like to eat moringa? It'd be a good privacy planting if it grows as fast here as in say, florida...also I need to get some sea berries going but I don't think they're very common around here. well, its hard to start because now i don't know where to stop. my mind is getting a little scattered with too much to think about. Thanks again, what a tremendous resource Permies.com is. Thank you Paul and crew

I believe that Moringa is fully tropical and frost-tender, and likes warm to hot weather most of the time. Doesn't seem like a good choice for you. Even if it survives, perhaps coming back from the roots after a hard frost, the summer might not be warm enough for it to thrive. Ask on here who else in CA is growing it.....

hey =)
as much as its overwhelming it must also be incredibly exciting!

i have been missing the coast, i ve gone back and forth between the coast and the mountains for the last fifteen years, i lived in indianola if you know where that is for a long time. now i am your far away neighbor in very northern siskiyou.

one thing i found out was that its really not zone 9!
i mean yes, it is, technically, but many zone 9 plants wont do very well, IME. it's like alder says - not hot and sunny enough in the summer to be a really tropical climate. and the fog and grey too, even in the summer. it is a great climate to enjoy, the goldilocks zone, not too hot ever, never that cold either.

i grew a lot of brassicas, kales and cabbage, and tons of "cool season" veggies, any time of year- peas, onions...stuff like that. even squash in the summer had a hard time, melons were nearly impossible even with the sort of greenhouse i had, and tomatoes were extremely difficult. i gave up on those last two after trying and failing to get enough return in yield for my efforts. i had a really awesome lemon tree though =) i started lots of mandarin and tangerine trees, but no one really grows limes or oranges, just a bit short of enough sun and heat for those...but the lemons did great =). i killed several loquats putting them in the ground, as well as a few avocados =( but i think with a better spot and just the right luck one could grow these there too. i also grew tons of berries, and these probably did better than anything...as well i had a lot of fuzzy kiwis growing good...

anywho best of luck to you in your project...

oooo and you might check out these peeps someday...apparently they go to the farmers market in arcata quite a lot in the summer...and i have been really wanting several of their offerings...at least fun for window shopping online --->

https://www.rollingrivernursery.com/

Thanks for the replies. Ya, I'm aware of the lack of heat in our climate. However, things do seem to be changing, as in climate change...for better or worse...
I started a compost bin this summer (here at our apt) and have 4 avocados sprouting...potted and moved them out to the land (for full sun) and last night we had a freeze warning! smh... I wish you were still in Indianola Leila! That's just down the road from us.

Any ideas for border plantings? If I take willow cuttings should I root them first or just jam them into the ground? What else around here is easy to propagate with cuttings? I'd like to have blackberry fences but think they should be off the line so I can prune the other side...

Tim, did you ever plant Moringa? Wondering how it worked out for you.

no, I haven't followed up on moringa much. I had some buckwheat come up but a few frosty mornings erased them clean! I think the daikon is doing alright. Garlic is doing great. I've been more focused on our driveway and building a "craigslisted" pallet greenhouse/shed thing (<120sq ft to avoid permitting). So far, with my truck (which came with a tommy lift) I've managed to scrounge 2+ yards of clean 2" round rock. At least 2 tons of chunked up urbanite, 2-3 tons of cinder blocks filled with concrete (which I'm now laying for the foundation), 30+ pallets, some beach sand (from the parking lot) and a few window panes ($20). roofing seems in short supply (on craigslist) but we'll see.

got some woodchips for the driveway but after risking it on a too wet day and getting stuck again, got some crushed rock (in the little car) got the truck out and bought a proper load of crushed rock and just laid it on the tracks. In the meantime a neighbor had a driveway put in so I went and spoke with the contractor and suffice it to say we signed a contract to have them do it proper. Somehow the county is giving me the green light also so now we just need a little break from el nino. ay caramba!

Hey Tim, I'm curious how your homestead is going. I'm out here in the Arcata bottoms. Im curious what you have been having success with. Did you ever plant seaberries?