[geo in mi]

Danaus29 is giving you good advice to use a year just to see the lay of the land and the path of the sun. A lot of what you can do and how fast you can do it will also depend on your cash budget. But spring comes early in Georgia, so I would take the month of December to mow and blow off the garden area so you can get started. (See the chart here)
vegetable_chart.pdf (uga.edu) Two keys there--use the chart to see when you can start, to beat the sun) and the other is the phone number of the GA Extension service--and you should use it for more, local, advice.

Here's a starter information source that is a wealth of information: Johnny’s Selected Seeds | Supporting Farms & Gardens Since 1973 (johnnyseeds.com)
Not necessarily for the seeds, (they sell mostly hybrids) but for planting information, depths, spacing, growing time, and an encyclopedia of knowledge for each type of vegetable.

This may also be a good starter resource for you, he mentions some seed sellers who can ship earlier than most of the national catalogs: Food Gardening | Walter Reeves: The Georgia Gardener

If you have to buy feed in bags to feed your chickens to get a few eggs, it'll cost you (per egg) much more than store-bought eggs. (Do it anyway, what the heck?) You might look into rabbits, ducks, geese, turkeys. Lots of youtubes for getting started.

The pine trees: Check with your extension agent--see if they're marketable, as planted, or what you have to do to make them into a valuable crop. And a tax/farming expense.....

And the two most important: 1) Take your time to develop your water. Looks like you may have a secure supply in due time, with a pond or two. 2) Biomass. Looks like you have plenty of it for now, between the rows of the pine trees. Figure out how to clip it and get it onto--and into--your sandy soil to give it fertility and hold moisture. As the trees grow and throw too much shade, you should develop a legume rotational system for your soil needs.

And, most important of all: Buy yourself a good pair of gloves.

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[geo in mi]

Here's what I would recommend to get started on a garden, Model 722 - BCS America You could add the front end sickle mower for it to clip the tall grasses between the pine tree rows for biomass mulch and fertility--as well as till the composted mass into the soil. In time, you will be able to just lay the mulch onto the top without tilling. For now, though you'll have to buy some commercial fertilizer and probably lime to counteract the acidity. I hope you can resist the temptation to buy a shiny new Kubota or John Deere with a front end loader and lots of other goodies. IH 350 utility, Oliver 55 0r 550 utility, Allis-Chalmers D-15, with some 3-point attachments would suffice. You'll need capital for tools, fences, outbuildings, too. Get acquainted with Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist.

geo

 

[geo in mi]

Microsoft Word - farmpond_exemptionguide5_08.doc (army.mil)

This is just a bit more info that you can get by Googling: Georgia farm ponds, to tuck away in your info library.

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[geo in mi]

"Thanks for the suggestion. I am going into this with very little knowledge regarding farming/gardening equipment, outside of basic tools. I actually was planning to purchase a Kubota in the near future, once I figured out what size and attachments I needed. Other than the high cost, is there another reason why I shouldn't go that route? I just figured having the ability to do most of the labor myself, rather than hire it out, would recoup much of the cost over the next 5-10 years." (This was as close as I can get to Kubota Orange)

High cost just doesn't pencil in. My sister bought one, she didn't tell me the price, but it had to be close to $30k. She mostly put a bush hog on it to mow the horse pasture and to take the trash cans down to the road each Wednesday. Kubota is an engineering marvel, easy to drive, and low on maintenance, but like Dad used to say, "I wouldn't have any horse on my farm, all they do is eat and s..."

Don't get me wrong or be offended, Kubota owners, I would love to have one, too, but considering all the other startup costs......

My own opinion,

geo

 

[geo in mi]

Your pics of the garden soil look pretty good to me, and from your first pics, the Georgia Tifton soil is very good, indeed. ga-state-soil-booklet.pdf (soils4teachers.org)

It looks like there is a goodly amount of humus (biomass, organic materials) for the present, but cropping it intensly the hot sun will soon deplete it if it isn't replaced each year. That's where composting and mulching, and also cover cropping with legumes comes in. I have a similar soil type here in SW MI which, if you don't keep replacing the biomass (or grow it in situ) it will soon return to glacial sand (here we call it blow sand, you may call it sugar sand) that won't hold moisture and won't grow much but (Christmas trees here) pine trees.

You can look into fava beans, Crimson clover, and whatever legumes are good for southern areas to develop a rotational system, since you have plenty of room for reserve, or active fallowing plots to do this. I think you could also grow Irish potatoes if you start early enough. When is your last expected frost date?

As for the brush, cutting, Roundupping it, etc, might get rid of the top growth, but underground, expect to find a network of interlaced roots to contend with, unless you use a root rake to scrape them out. Yes, they will rot, but it takes time, and you will hang up a tiller or plow quite often. Sometimes, a flail mower can quickly dispense with the top growth, though. If you are really patient, you can also wrap a tree trunk (while it is skin and not bark) with bare copper electric wire, about three wraps, and twist the ends together tightly. A tourniquet like that will let the tree trunk grow into it and the bare copper will kill it, roots and all.

From the Soil Survey description of your soil profile, you might be able to drive a sand point well to hit ground (surface) water within a depth shallow enough that will allow you to draw water for irrigation if you have droughty times during the summer. Driven Sand Point Well Advantages and Disadvantages (offgridnerd.com)

geo

 

[geo in mi]

Racoons and groundhogs are very territorial. Racoons claim rights to about 35--40 acres, while hogs (ground) don't stray much from their major food source--your garden. If you can eliminate the main inhabitant early, it will be the next season before another one comes along to claim it as his--usually-a dominant male groundhog, and hers for the other furry creature, along with her litter of five to six little eater/destroyers. For me, a little youth Marlin Papoose with a red dot sight, loaded with CCI .22LR MiniMags is just the ticket. (and a cage trap baited with marshmellows) It's lightweight, breaks down and fits into a briefcase to meet Michigan transport laws. Even though there is a hunting season for rabbits and racoons, you can shoot them on your property as vermin. I always toss a couple of beer cans at the far edge of the garden, just to say, "Honestly. officer, I was just target practicing and that critter came between the bullet and target just as I shot."

But rifles are an addiction for me. I thought 22 was the number of rifles I should buy just to get a good one.

If I had snakes, I would get the Springfield survival gun, an over under .22/410 combination--I need an excuse, maybe. For big hogs.... maybe a .410 slug? You're on your own.

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[geo in mi]

In my experience, outdoor cats are good only for clearing out rabbits. We had barn cats on the farm which did keep the barn rodent population in check. But that's a lot different than having a free range cat trying to control free range mice.

My neighbor's dog hates moles and will dig to China trying to catch one. There are dogs all around me but none of them go after the multitude of raccoons here. Nothing catches the stupid squirrels, not even the hawks that are supposed to eat the rodents.

I've got a couple destructive squirrels running around here now. Crock pot squirrel and dressing (not stuffing) sounds pretty good.

WDKK was only good at keeping the shrubs at the back step well fertilized. WDDKK ? World's Dumbest Kitty Kat

And, how do you stuff an undressed squirrel?



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[geo in mi]

Just a couple of garden tips:

I heartily recommend, "The Resilient Gardener", by Carol Deppe. She writes about her experience of raising staple foods of corn (not sweet), beans, (nor just green, but dry as well), squash, potatos, and ducks. Mostly by hand.

To use making straight rows: masonry twine. Doesn't sag, even after rain. Draws tight, doesn't bow in the wind. But be sure to collect it; leave none laying around, as well as other plastic: baling twine, plastic woven electric fencing. Those will quickly foul a lawnmower or tiller spindle.

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[geo in mi]

As in politics, "All gardening is local."

geo