Your immediate concern may not be critters. I'm assuming it's a shady area which isn't optimal for growing vegetables--they need plenty of sun. Some trees thrive in sun; others do best in shade. If you know the type of trees you want to grow, Google them for growing information.

Altho' I don't grow cherry trees, I do grow blueberries and they need full sun + acid
soil + wet feet. I have a mature crabapple tree growing in part sun that has been happy where it is for 30+ years.

There are critter deterrents such as Liquid Fence to discourage deer. I'm fortunate (fingers crossed) the deer where I am seem to prefer my neighbor's garden to mine.

You may want to have your soil tested for pH. I know mine tends to be acid & sandy loam so I can gauge which trees/shrubs/perennials are likely to thrive where I am.

There's lots of helpful information at the link below.

Best of luck to you.

Here is a link that might be useful: Massachusetts Horticultural Society

Actually the trees are to the West. There is literally no shade in that are almost all day.

You have your work cut out for you. :-) I have not grown fruit trees. There is a fruit forum that is very active here. I would try reading posts on the topics of the particular fruit you might want to grow and hear what people who are growing them are dealing with before you start.

I wonder why the previous owner cleared the trees off that area and why it never went any further?

I would consider how far the space is from the house. Will you be able to get water out there to it? Can you do a combination of vegetables and fruit? Organic vegetables are very expensive, so to be able to grow them would be of real benefit.

Then I would visit the soil forum and ask a lot of questions about your soil. I know there are tests you can do on the soil yourself to find out what the composition of it is. You can send a sample to be tested for PH, nutrients etc.

Then I would do a search on GW for posts on the critters you mention to get a better idea of how much trouble it's going to be and which methods of neutralizing them you will want to try.

At that point, I think the decision of what to do will become more clear to you.

I live in a rural area where it's pretty common for people to cut down trees. It might have been big pines. Last year a tree company went thru town taking down large pines. I don't know what the deal was but looked like a big mistake to me.

I think you can get a quick start on vegetables if you do some simple raised beds or lasagna type beds. Well, you don't have the time for the lasagna beds to decompose this year but they would be ready for next year which is what I did when we moved June 1, 2007.

You might check out permaculture ideas. Google Hugelkultur beds which look like they are built on piles of brush. I'm not experienced with these but you might find somebody in your area who is experimenting with them. Check out local permaculture groups on meetup.com

We don't have rabbits but we do have deer. So far since I originally used deer repellant after they lunched on hosta, we have not had a problem. One possibility is there is plenty for them to eat in our area. We have about 4 that graze nearby. They did get some late fall cabbages last year but didn't touch the garden all summer.

I've had good luck getting free or low cost (small fee for loading our utility trailer) aged manure. You could get some large tomato plants right now and grow in large pots to have something this summer. Ditto on growing some lettuce and simple things. At least in our area the plants are on sale right now but will probably be tossed in another week or two. There's still time to plant summer squash and cucumbers and beans. I think I would concentrate on doing a small project well and prepping for next year. You might be able to put raised beds over stumps. Since they are not sprouting makes me think they are pine or hemlock. It depends on what your budget can handle for stump removal. My husband was able to de-stump a field with borrowed equipment and had time to do so.

Since I use the lasagna method, I don't need a tiller but I built on thick sod not stumps. Good luck!

Interesting site. Whatever you decide to do with it, start with improving the soil. Since this was recently forest in New England, my guess is that the soil is Sandy Loam with about 2-3% organic matter and a pH of about 5. But instead of guessing, get a soil test to know exactly what you have. You can use UMass, but I prefer the read outs I get from UConn. Those readouts will tell you how much organic matter to add and how much lime you are going to need.

Find a local source of organic matter. A local dairy farm that will sell composted cow manure in bulk is perfect. Figure out how much you need for the area you want to work and then get it trucked in. You can till it in for the first time, but no till gardens in raised beds are much more effective for a number of reasons. So rent the tiller once.

Below I've linked the Mass Master Gardener web site and specifically the fact sheets used for different types of gardening. The fact sheets should give you good reading to begin, but you can always call or email them if you have further questions.

Happy gardening. It'll give you plenty to do.

Steve

Here is a link that might be useful: MMGA Fact Sheets

Are you already living there? Or are you under contract and will be moving this summer? Mainly I'm trying to figure out if you are looking for the veggie patch this summer.

If you want veggies this summer, you are a bit late. Your best bed would be to build raised beds and buy a ton of compost.

But even for next year, I would still recommend raised beds. You can buy 2x12s at any length, nail them together, and fill. Not a whole lot of work. You don't even need to worry about the ground below.

If you can find a neighborhood landscaper, one of the mow and blow guys, ask them if they would be willing to dump their grass clippings in your yard. They are probably happy to find a place to dispose of for free. Most of my raised beds have been filled with grass clippings all summer, then shredded leaves in fall. Gorgeous compost the next spring! Think lasagna method, but inside a wooden box. I then mulch between the boxes with either wood chips or pine needles.

As for the fruit trees. You don't need to amend the whole area for the fruit trees. Just the area where you will be planting the actual trees. Some people say to just amend the actual hole you dig, others say to amend the area the diameter of the canopy. You probably want to concentrate on getting the fruit trees in this fall. They take years until they fruit so those should be the priority.

The area you have is pretty big. I would concentrate on the area for fruit trees first. Then the veggie beds. And then worry about the rest of the area.

Good luck. And think of this as a 5 year plan. I will crown you superwoman if you can manage this all in a year!