Hi folks, a lil question about lawn conversion here.
My spouse and I recently bought a 1-acre property, zone 6b/7a-ish. Used to be a big farm, but has over the years been divided up into smaller lots. We moved into the old main house (>200 years old!) and our garden plot surrounds it. I imagine this part specifically was probably not cultivated very heavily, but historical information has proven hard to come by. Haven't done any soil analysis yet, but from talking with local farmers and neighbours the soil here is in a pretty good condition already, relatively sandy but with a fair amount of structure to it. There's a handful of winter apple trees, redcurrant and raspberry bushes, and a giant walnut tree on the property, and I found some hazel trees in the forest close by -- the two latter are relatively rare finds in Norway, so I guess this points towards good conditions for growing things in general. Most of the property has been kept as a lawn, not much in terms of pioneer species as far as I can tell, there's a good amount of clover interspersed in the grass already and not much else.
I won't be able to put much effort into the garden for some time. The house, although solidly built and beautiful, is old and in need of some pretty significant upgrades that I won't be able to handle myself, and I will be working some pretty intense shifts as a physician at the local hospital, taking extra shifts to help pay for these upgrades. Add to that the fact that my spouse is working abroad and won't be coming here for another few years (except for summers), we're left with limited time to tend to the garden -- in the years to come this will be our main project, but for now I will only have the time and energy to do relatively small things on my own.
Which brings me to my question, finally: What can I do with this lawn in these first few years, to prepare the ground for making a food garden later? Should I just stop mowing and let it go wild on its own, or are there any useful plants I could grow that would start building the soil right away?
All advice is very much appreciated! I have had this forum account for a few years but have never posted, it is my intention to become a more active member of this community as we start making our home and garden into a permaculture oasis
