where to start?

foothills of NC, zone 7b, assuming soil is likely compacted clay. looking to hear experiences with slowly planting a food forest in what's currently a 6000 squ ft front lawn. *ETA i have many of the actual plants chosen based on what we eat, general climate, what's native or well adapted, etc.

do you start with earthworks? soil amendment? grass removal? i certainly can't afford to plant the whole space in one go, but i came away from gaia's garden a little confused on whether to plant a complete guild at a time (as indicated early on in the book) vs plant in zones with trees first and then fill in to complete guilds later (as indicated towards the end). i'd like to get bigger stuff in the ground asap for earliest production, but obviously not at the cost of throwing away tons of money.

as an extra, does anyone in that area have favorite additions for a food forest or fruit tree guilds that i maybe haven't thought of? so much of what i see seems to be focused around the PNW which is a very different climate

While we are located in a different grow zone, the method doesn’t change.
The first thing you do, is observe.
1.  Are there places where weeds don’t know?
2. How does the soil feel ?
3. What directing is it facing, as in east, west, north and south?
4. Is water collecting in specific places, while others always are dry?
5. What foods do your family spend the most on buying?
6. What types of foods does your family like?
7. What plants grow well in your area?
8. How can I stretch the time for harvest of fruits, berries and vegetables. Here I mean don’t plant 10 fruit trees that all ripens at the same time. It will make you burn out on preservation.

The next thing you need to do, is figuring out what kind of soil you have, and how to improve it. Getting started there, keeps you from having plants die.

Once you know these things, you make a plan for it, keeping this information in mind.
On the design plan write in what you have observed. Then start adding in what you want to grow, but staggering them, so you have canopy trees on the top layer, then shorter trees, shrubs and lastly the ground layer, nitrogen fizers, vegetables, berries and herbs. As for the aquatic level of the forest, you can add that at any time during gardening, but it is always smart adding the swales and other things, to the design plan before you start.
This planning process is important because it keeps you from making mistakes like planting a mulberry tree next to a septic tank. This saves both time and money.
Once your soil are better, you start by planting the plants, that will take the longest to mature. This very often means trees.
Happy gardening

With compacted clay, start adding organic matter such as wood chips, coffee grounds, leaves, etc.

Start with some native fruit trees and some thing you like to eat.

The observation step is underrated. Worth spending a season just watching before you commit to earthworks or big plantings. Where does water pool after rain, where does it dry out first, where does the frost sit longest. That shapes everything else more than any book plan will.

We have the most horrible non-draining infertile clay possible and I wished I would have started with deep ripping the soil. Terraces work well and I would start with a plan, then the earthworks.The next step is to think about water how do you get the water around? Do you lay pipes and taps? The water tanks or bore or whatever you use  - where do the pumps go? It would have saved us a lot of hand digging if we had planned exactly that at the beginning, because pumps need electricity or a solar panel, so plan for that. Do you have drought patterns? Do you have too much rainfall? The next step are fences, buld them well and ONCE! make efnces high enough for any animal in your area. Then Make fences for your animals. Plan the paths and how you get around.
Do not start planting before all this is in.

Start by observing.

Observing includes digging some holes to see what's actually going on under the soil.

Observing includes witnessing what the weather does in all seasons, and pondering the various earthworks and buildings you'd like to have later, and how they and their resulting microclimates would combine with the existing features of the land.

Observing includes paying attention to what does well and what does poorly on neighboring sites.

Worst case if you plant a tree in the wrong spot, there's a few years when you can dig it back up and move it. Lots of labor for a problem you could've prevented by waiting, but small sites and big enthusiasm can intersect like that sometimes.

Thinking in guilds is helpful to determine what species you want to establish, but once you have your wishlist, think like a nursery instead. Buy as few plants as possible -- you only need a couple of each desired cultivar. It's highly important to keep that nursery stock alive, but once you've got it happily established, you can propagate from it indefinitely and try that plant in every possible spot to see where it's happiest.

Over time you'll build up a seed bank in your soil. Let everything set seed, and spread the seeds around all over your site. That way, plants will volunteer where the conditions are right for them. In the endgame of food forest equilibrium, you only have to move plants around to suit your human notions of convenience, like shifting things out of your paths.

Nicola Bludau wrote:We have the most horrible non-draining infertile clay possible and I wished I would have started with deep ripping the soil.

Deep ripping of soil is not always advised.

https://permies.com/t/93093/Tilling-Sustainable

https://permies.com/t/65316

Then start with Dr Bryant Redhawk's Soil Series:

https://permies.com/wiki/redhawk-soil