Congratulations and good luck, YK. I am also a novice at permaculture, but am very inspired. I live in Aguanga (about 60 miles from you). It is at 4000' and in the Anza Valley. I live just north of the San Diego County line and between Temecula and Palm Desert. There are a lot of challenges here as I am sure you have as well.

I used to live in Escondido where I had a small avocado grove. It was not at all profitable, so I created a large garden for blind children. It was fun and easy. Growing in San Diego is very simple. Plant, water, and watch.

Alas, it is not simple here. I live on 40 acres that is probably totally virgin land. I designed and built my house. That in itself was a challenge. The government of Riverside County is mostly made up of jerks who are the complete opposite of helpful.

Now, I am concentrating on the land. Like you, I have to fight the lack of water and the difficult soil.

Let me share with you what I have done/learned so far. I compost everything I can get my hands on. I build the piles more or less in place and just rake them into the soil. I also do worm composting and have 2 bins in my garage. As water is scarce, I have been digging swales. Mine are about 2 feet wide and 2 feet deep. I fill them with straw to hold the water. In winter, I dig them out and use the, now rotted, straw as mulch.

I have found that moth balls, garlic and hot pepper seem to keep away the deer and rabbits. I try pepper, garlic, and organic repellent for the gophers. But, frankly, there are days when I am tempted to use napalm. They are that bad. I am searching for a gopher snake supplier as well.

If we learn from our mistakes, I am probably approaching genius level. I have learned to work in small areas at a time. I also realize the seeds, cuttings, and small plants save money and aren't so heartbreaking to loose. That said, I still buy larger trees now and then just to get the instant gratification..

Anyhow, that's enough for now. Good luck and I hope we can continue to communicate