Chook Pen

I've been buying seeds suitable for planting for this time of year.. like broccoli, cauliflower, spinach, collards, onions, carrots...
At school i checked out the companion planting guide and got excited about the chook pen and setting it up with my seeds. So yesterday after school i went up to the chook pen to see where the sun was setting to get an idea of how to plan out the garden.
I sat in the centre and realised pretty soon that the sun was in a different place to where i 'thought' it was when i sketched a quick map earlier. I also realised it depended where i sat in the garden as to the position of west, so it made me realise there must be a better method to get an accurate idea of the sun's path. i.e. a compass lol
I mapped out the room, the shelter and the trees and the areas their foliage reached, as well as the border of the space, including the actual chook pen. Then i estimated the areas where the property sloped a bit where there are already beds built into the earth from previous occupants.
The whole area is really overgrown at the moment and in need of clearing before i can start planting. I'd love to get hold of a sickle to clear it but i think we'll be using machetes, then piling grass up on the beds to mulch.
I'm a bit fearful of snakes up there cos it's a bit remote from the house, and being up there alone feels a little scary to me at times cos of the length of the grass. Forest had a fierce snake launch at him recently from the roof of the house up there.
Forest is getting some compost for the garden from his heap he's had cooking, and then over Friday and the weekend we'll be getting the space up there cleared to get beds ready for planting.
I'm intending on planting some of the same stuff we planted at school yesterday in the same manner, as well as other companion plants.