We have about 4 acres, densely wooded, with the exception of a 150' long, 55' Wide and about 4' deep pond, there's no clearings at all.

We can garden cold weather crops, however, things like tomatoes and corn and the like are simply not possible with all the shade.

I am ready, willing and able to drop trees to make some sunny space where I'll have direct sun from about 10AM to about 3PM, however, I'm unsure how long it will take to establish a decent growing area, or if I should just save money and buy 40 or 50 yards of topsoil soil and start there. Basically, I want to be growing in summer 2009 or 2010 at the latest, and I would like to get some advice on the idea. I can allocate about 1/2 an acre to a large garden.