Hi Chad! I'm also in N. Florida, in a semi rural part of Jacksonville. We're in the very, very beginning stages of our food forest. An ongoing family situation has delayed us several months in putting in our infrastructure(some swales/hugels, some fencing to help with critters, and a few trellises), so before it got any hotter we decided to put in some cowpeas for a cover crop just to get a little life going in our nasty light gray Florida sand. Since you've already discovered the awesome resource that is David the Good, I would say join a local permaculture group or two. I believe there is a good one in Gainesville, and I belong to an excellent Facebook group called Permaculture Jax. We have members from all over, and I am sure you would be welcome. I decided to sign up for the Kickstarter that Paul Wheaton currently has for his videotaped PDC course. Click on the link up top if you want to check it out. I think the most important advice this beginner can give you is to alert you to the dangers of using any outside hay, manure or compost not from your property. The only thing I personally feel safe using is wood chips from tree trimming services. If you do a search on thesurvivalgardener.com for aminopyralids, David the Good can explain it much better than I can. Good luck, and maybe I'll see you on Permaculture Jax!
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