Blank slate on 2.5 acres.... where do we start?? :)

It's been a while permies! I hope everyone is doing well.

I'm really excited, we are supposed to be closing on a new home and property soon. We'll have roughly 2.5 acres. Over half the property is mature trees, and the rest is grass. It is just begging for a beautiful garden!

The only problem is.... we could do so many things, where to start?! Partly for fun, and partly for inspiration, what projects would you tackle first? I'd estimate just under an acre is already cleared and just grass and a few bushes around the home.

I'm thinking to start with a couple of garden plots and putting in some kind of cover crop. I've had great luck with rye before but I'm debating trying peas this time. I'm also thinking of trying to get fruit trees in the ground asap... not sure what kind yet. And certainly finding a spot to start blueberry bushes, maybe blackberries as well!

I would plot out where you want to plant your fruit trees first, then layer the garden around them. You need room to harvest when they get mature.

Stephen's right about the fruit trees first. Get those in the ground as early as you can, everything else can flex around them but trees need years to establish. Cover crop the cleared area while you work out where the garden plots will go, no rush on that part.

We moved 3 years ago to a pretty blank slate. A bit smaller than you, at just under an acre.
The first thing I did was get my next years order in for some of the slower growing fruit and nut trees.

Around here, there is really only only one good supplier for most of the rarer nuts and they sell out fast with almost a years lead time. I ordered less than a month after our offer went through.
I was able to get chestnuts, hazelnuts, pawpaw, persimmons and low tannin oaks. And most were in the "too big to ship" sizes since we were able to go pick up.
I had moved 60 + pots of things as well.
The first year was about laying out some of bones. The first fall, I put in a chunk of what we moved and prepped spots for the trees that were coming in the spring. We got lucky and scored some free arborist wood chips so I did leaf piles with chips to hold them down and didn't have to lift turf.
When the trees came in, most had at least a partial guild waiting for them.

Since then, I've been filling in our range of other fruit trees as well as shrubs and perennials and making beds and expanding and maintaining the guilds. Also hunting cheap supports, structures and supplies and running some experimental plot trials to see what works here.
Propagation is what I need to do more of now. We're still buying a few things but I'm mostly able to stick to deals and clearance specials now since the "needs" are in and it's all about "wants".

What is your vision?  Just garden? No animals?

What do you want to plant?  Blueberries, blackberries, fruit trees, Sounds like a plan to me.