Moving to Mendocino County next summer. How can we be of value to our next community? (Eureka: for rent)

[justhavinfun]

I am familiar with the Pt. Arena to Westport area as well as inland from Ukiah to Willits, have been vacationing in the area for near 20 years now. We intend to homeschool and I think we would both like to work for ourselves from our home. I love working with plants and animals and being outside working with my hands so small scale permaculture based farming, pastured poultry and pork, CSA, etc. are certainly some of the things I am kicking around but not limited too. I currently work in IT and accounting but have many different interests and I believe working from a homestead or farm will allow me to better pursue these interests. My wife is currently working as a public school teacher and I believe would like to continue working with children although not in the public realm anymore; perhaps starting a preschool or education/activity based summer program, etc. Currently we are looking at the following areas: Albion, Navarro, Ft. Bragg and Willits. We are pretty open though providing we can be less than an hour from the coast. Inland is preferable as growing and raising some livestock are high on my list even if it ends up being just for our use and I would like to be out of the influence of the Coastal Commission.

The main thing I am looking for is a way to ask or gauge what sort of value I/we can bring with us, what are the areas missing or lacking or needing in these communities that people with the above interests might fill?

Also can anyone point me to more information regarding the class "K" permits in Mendocino county? I am interested in eventually building an underground house and would like to do more research on this as well.

Thanks!

[justhavinfun]

We have had to put off our move until 2012...we are still very interested in the Albion area and well as the area around Highway 20 on the west side.

It occurs to me that my use of "community" might have many thinking in terms of ecovillage(s), communes etc. In fact I am referring to the county in general and more specifically the immediate area we end up living in.

Some other questions:

Are there any fruits or vegetables or food items in general that could or should be growing locally that are scarce in the area? What other food items would you like to see or see more of? Would a commercial kitchen available for rent by the day or even hours be something of interest?

Is there a better place to be asking these kinds of questions?

Thanks.

[eureka1]

California is NOT undiscovered territory. If there is a way to make money here, chances are someone is already doing it.

[justhavinfun]

Originally Posted by eureka1

California is NOT undiscovered territory. If there is a way to make money here, chances are someone is already doing it.

I like it, keep believing and pushing that message. It can only benefit me.

[trailuser]

I'm also looking at a possible relocation to the area. You sound like an interesting person justhavinfun, my wife and I want a greener community than our current. I'm in education too, considering doing something different. We recently had some friends who started up some small scale farming in Ohio and we enjoy our visits to their place immensely, just wish it wasn't so far over there. If you ever move to Mendo send me a message.

[TrueTimbers]

Do you have a garden now?
Have you ever farmed?
Do you have a back up plan?

Have you considered subsistence living and getting income from something other than agriculture... (The subsistence living should fully satisfy your agricultural desires, and reduce your bills.)

Like Eureka said, it is not undiscovered territory. You will find competition at every corner... Everyone and their brother wants just what you do... 99% are city folks and underestimate the labor involved, and how much money they will loose and bail out after a few years.
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Pot is the #1 cash crop. #2 is tourism.

Take it from there... What do you see missing at local farm markets? After all, folks like you now are the customer you would be after!

Me, I am not in Mendocino county, but may be someday.. But I have been self employed for decade. Grew up farming, and then came back to it. (I grow produce and sell stuff made from wood on the Internet.) Yep, I make 15K a year, can not get health insurance drive a 13 year old truck and live in poverty. This is all by choice, just saying are you prepared for that quantum shift from where you are at now? Many self employed people have their hands in multiple diverse ventures... That helps when one is slow or just don't pan out....

Just saying if you are going to have a mortgage and no one with a real job in the home, agriculture on the Mendocino coast may not be the way to go. Me my spouse works outside the home, and we have no debts.. So I can screw around with agriculture a bit..

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I will stop being negative now... If you want to jam on some idea's.

Tomato Fest is just over in Little River... They did a cool job creating an Internet seed business... They grow heirloom tomatoes and sell the seeds online..

I have done the pastured poultry thing.. It is a real tight margin very easy to run into losses on the venture. Especially when you have to buy organic feeds. (Yes they eat lots and lots of gain not just pasture!).... Another thing to concern your self with is processing. You can not sell birds in a market that are not processed at a federally licenced facility... Are their federally licenced processing facilities near by that take small lots of birds? You can sell of the farm, but need to jump through some hoops and do things just right to be legal... I would suggest this book:
Amazon.com: Pastured Poultry Profits (9780963810908): Joel Salatin: Books