Great article! Love what you are doing and I wish you all the success in your project. Just a few points as Permaculture student that you might already be thinking but for everyone else it might be useful..... Earthworks and Support species. If you are developing this land it is good in the long run to do some hardscaping/Earthworks and get the dams, swales, gabions and such out of the way first so they can start changing the hydrology. If you have the money, use a machine, if you have the labour, you can do it by hand. Simplest could be a few trenches dug 4 x 8' and about 6 to 30'' deep all over the property to improve the water recharge. Swales also need to be planted since they are a dynamic technology with both structure and biology. Just be sure to add nitrogen fixing cover crops, bushes and short term tree species that you can chop and drop to feed the fruit trees. Grows your compost and mulch on demand right where you need it. Geoff Lawton's DVDs on Food Forests and Rain Water Harvesting/Earthworks are great to check out. Wishing you a lush, fertile and abundant future! Cheers!