Congrats on the new property!
orientation
I think it will matter more how you arrange things in your rows than whether they are exactly north-south. I like the layout with the two rows at the end for things that don’t love super full sun like the blackberries.
You also may change your mind on how you want to lay things out once the trees are cut down and you get a better sense of the property and what you can see out the windows and where the drainage is.
ugh deer. ugh fences
Definitely definitely worry about the deer. You can always put a cage of wire around a tree if it’s not in a fenced area. But then you have to really really want that tree because it’s a pain to go in and maintain the little caged area. (You started one of my favorite threads ever: 5 rules to reduce maintenance ) so I’m sure you have thought about this. You can also grow the trees so they are tall with scaffolds that start high. Then you have to think about ladders and such, but you can mow under them and there isn’t a cage to fuss with.
compost!!! yay!
The compost question is near and dear to my heart (as I am currently changing my compost strategy yet again). I started with a two bin system but I ended up needing more than two bins. I was running out of bin space and needed to either speed up the compost (by flipping and/or changing my strategy) or have another bin to fill.
tree clearing!
When they’re clearing your trees if they bring a giant hydraulic chipper, encourage them to chip as much as they want and leave the chips in a giant unsightly pile and not worry about hauling them.
My significant other was super annoyed about the giant unsightly chip pile. But I have been so happy. Also, 1.5 years later they are gone and spread around and decomposed.
Also, if any of your trees are big and straight with no side branches and of a desirable type, you may be able to have them removed by someone who wants the wood. I was surprised that I was able to get 3 big cedars removed for free by a guy who occasionally took stuff to a sawmill.
The downside to this was that I had to do all the cleanup of the parts he didn’t want, but it may be cheaper to have that cleaned up than to have the big trees taken down.