There's no way to answer that in less than a gazillion words. Tell us more. lots more. But dig down first and see if you can tell why nothing grows in the very spot you want things to grow.

Then the scads of questions, like what veggies, how's the sun, how's your water, how big are your gophers, how far are you willing to go for a single tomato, and so on.

Write more!

Just turn a patch with a spade to break up the soil about 4 feet wide or less. Keep at least 3 feet of access around the entire area. I'd keep the patch small at first to see if you like it, but you can keep plans to expand the area in mind...in other words you can envision a big area but start small and you can grow it. 4x4?

Just use your native soil and see how it goes. Usually no matter how cruddy you think the soil is it actually comes out pretty good once you break up any compaction. As you work it over time the soil will improve in pH, carbon content and friability. Row or square foot style?

Then deal with the issues that present themselves: water, weeds, pests & disease (few of each but they are around), deficiencies ....

Start a compost pile at the same time. You will use this to amend the soil in between pulling the old (to the compost heap) and incoming the new seeds/transplants so you don't need to buy fertilizer to replace the nutrients removed by the old crop.

http://www.phoenixpermaculture.org/forum/topics/january-planting-tips-1 [you can search for all 12 months repeated about 3 years back issues]

http://www.phoenixpermaculture.org/forum/topics/february-planting-tips

http://www.phoenixpermaculture.org/forum/topics/more-seasonal-transition-tips-in-the-garden

http://ag.arizona.edu/maricopa/garden/html/pubs/pubs.htm#Vegetable [AZ1435, AZ1005]

http://cals.arizona.edu/maricopa/garden/html/pubs/mgpress/mgpress.htm

http://gardenguy.com/shop/extreme-gardening/

This post was edited by Fascist_Nation on Fri, Jan 16, 15 at 13:25

Good suggestions and questions. I appreciate any advice on any topic of vege gardening not just the soil preparation.

I included a pic of the area. It is in the southwest corner of my yard facing north and east. As you can see there is a lower section that despite its location would get pretty much full sun for almost the entire day. There is also a top area with a phx canariensis that depending on how close i plant things to it could provide virtually complete shade or partial shade.

Ive already started the following seeds indoors with intention to bring outside. Dino Kale, curly kale, spinach, lettuce, red bell pepper, cucumber, arugula.

I plan on putting in some pumkin and watermelon as well.

I'd like to add that you need to make sure your seedlings are getting adequate light while indoors. When I first started gardening, I started all my seeds next to the window(tomatoes, zucchini, cucumbers etc.) and thought "This window should be bright enough". It wasn't. After everything sprouted, all the stems stretched out really long. When it came time to plant outside, a lot of them died because their excessively long and tender stems would either touch the soil and rot or just snap off altogether.

You might want to try putting them out during the day, in a place that has bright shade or partial sun, and bringing them in at night. That way you can avoid the problems I had. Just be sure you don't let them dry out.

Of course if you already have them in a very sunny location indoors, then you don't have to worry about all of that.

I just wanted you to be aware of that because some beginning gardeners(like me!) tend to overlook stuff like that.

Good luck on your new garden !

Keep in mind that most leafy greens will die when it gets hot, although shading them may keep them going a bit longer. It's not you, it's the temperatures.

You planted: dino Kale, curly kale, spinach, lettuce, red bell pepper, cucumber, arugula. ... all but the bell pepper are going to be short lived. If you plant them in the early fall, after temps have dropped, you can harvest all winter and into spring. They will survive a frost or several.

If you want to break up that area, plant some okra. It loves the heat and has a massive root system. Then cut off the plant at ground level in the fall and let the roots rot in place.

"Armenian" cucumbers like the summer heat and get prolific, regular cucumbers will die.

Here is a link that might be useful: AZ Desert Veggie Planting times

Thank you for the advise. Any other veggies that will stand at least a good portion of our summer?

Yard long beans. Toss out some black eyed peas as a cover crop to enrich the soil and you'll have the beans for Hoppin' John on New Year's Day!

In addition to okra, Armenian cukes and blackeyed peas I've had good luck with Japanese eggplant, peppers, basil and Christmas pole lima beans. Swiss chard will go through the summer in shade. Blackeyed peas can be snapped as green beans. The peppers that produced all summer were Melrose and Red Marconi, both sweets.