Recommendations for home orchard in Canterbury?

Hi,
We have just moved to a 4ha block in Mid-Canterbury and want to plant an orchard. We want to have apricots, peaches, plums, cherries, pears and apples, and will build a bird proof cage for raspberries, blackberries and the cherries. Obviously, every place selling fruit trees thinks theirs are the best, so does anyone have any favourites they recommend? Good flavour is essential, but they will be organic so need to have disease resistance too. I was thinking heritage varieties would be good but there are so many kinds and it's a long term thing so I want to get it right.
TIA :)

We are in hinds and have amazing raspberries, they produced a big crop this year, they are also thornless! Not sure what the variety is but if you're near ashburton I could drop you off some cuttings, they grow easily from cuttings.

Get a Wiggins Peach, it is a white flesh, freestone one and has the old fashion real peach flavour. Also a Peesgood nunsuch cooking apple. Both these trees are heritage.

Sounds fab. my agee jars all clinked together in approval. Prep work essential before planting though. Especially layout, irrigation, fencing and weed contol while your orchard establishes itself. Also if someone has ancient tree or type no longer produced, try grafting. Grapes are excellant to graft as is a couple varieties on one tree root stock. Check around older farmsteads and local church garden groups. Have fun sounds Magick!

Hi, You could contact the Biological Husbandry unit at Lincoln University, (http://www.bhu.org.nz ) and see if they could offer any advice, or maybe suggest some existing grower groups you could contact.
From memory they used to trial Heritage varieties at their site.
There is also a few nurseries that specialise in Heritage Varieties of fruit, just google them, one in the nelson region I think and also maybe not Heritage or specifically organic try searching the trademe members username nchun for a few interesting things to grow.