The east facing wall is fine for a Spring/Summer garden. Along a south facing wall is best for a Fall/Winter garden. I have both.

You can usually find free manure/fertilizer on Craigslist. Also a member of this forum (tracydr) has free horse manure she has offered from time to time. Below is a link to a Craigslist search for "Manure" You can also do one for "Mulch".

I purchased the soil for my beds at Pioneer Sand. There are other Landscape supply companies around though. With a bed of that size though I think bagged soil is the way to go.

I have 540 square feet of raised beds. Some are built out of 2"X8" some with 2"X10" and one from 2"X12". This is my first year though so its hard to say if there is any difference in performance. I double dig all my beds down 24" though so regardless of the height they are all 24" inches deep.

Here is a link that might be useful: Craigslist manure search.

I don't have a south facing wall unless I put a garden right in front of the south wall of my home which I don't necessarily want to do unless I absolutely have to. Is the reason for south facing because of shade or to increase sun exposure? If the reason is to maximize sun exposure, what if I did something in the middle of my yard for a winter garden?

I guess the reason I was asking about soil is because I've heard you want at least some native soil, although I don't know why. If I can get all bagged and make a mix (Mel's mix?) that's fine with me.

Thank you for your response!

For a winter garden you want maximum sun exposure. For a summer garden you will want to limit exposure to the setting sun. Last winter I planted a bed of winter vegetables in a bed that was in the shade for part of the day. Nothing made it to maturity before my Spring plantings. I pulled them out in early March and got nothing for my efforts. You may be able to get away with spinach and leaf lettuce in such a bed in winter. Forget peas, cole crops or root crops. Its just not going to happen.

Thanks! I will make sure it gets lots of sunlight then.

I read that tomatoes can be planted again in August/September. Would those also be placed in full sun?

Are wood chips the preferred mulch? You just lay it out over the soil? Is this true for both warm and cool seasons?

ApexAZ our cool season is kind of short. The AZ Master Gardener Site says we only have one winter month here in the valley. That month is January. We can and often do have temps in the 80's into November. Early December you could remove mulch if you wanted to let the soil heat up a little more. I don't see the need though so I just leave it where it is.

If you plant tomatoes in the Spring and shade them from the afternoon sun they will live and thrive right through till first frost. No need to plant again. If you do plant tomatoes again in August/September you will need to give them afternoon shade. Those are our two hottest months.

Here is a link that might be useful: November temps Mesa, AZ 2010

I guess the concern is that if I put them on an east facing wall, will they get enough sunlight in the winter months?

ApexAZ only someone who has been in your yard in the winter months would know how many hours of direct sunlight a bed there would receive.

Thank you very much for your help!

I have Bob Sod which is a bermuda grass I think. Our community landscaper advised against composting bermuda grass. Is this true?

ApexAZ I'm pretty sure Bermuda Grass is just fine for composting. Its a good green material with lots of nitrogen and chlorophyll. However Bermuda Grass roots are extremely vigorous and would try and grow in your compost pile. In other words. Grass clippings from a mower are fine. No roots allowed.

Perfect, thank you very much.

Your garden looks great, by the way!

Whether you compost bermuda grass or not depends on how hot your compost pile gets. If there isn't enough heat generated to completely destroy anything that was bermuda grassy then you'll be spreading grass stolons/roots/seeds when you use your compost. I've never quite gotten the knack of running a really hot compost that sustains long enough to kill seeds so I'm careful about not introducing anything that I wouldn't want to spread in my garden. Bermuda is such a *#@^ to get out once it's decided to root down I just don't risk it.

Hmm, okay. I have never composted anything before last weekend so maybe I'll wait a while to see how I do before I start putting my grass clippings in it.

That brings up another question though.... How often should I be adding water to it? I have an enclosed tumbler composter that I bought from Costco which I completely soaked with water and after 48 hours, much of it was already dry. Should I add water to it frequently or perhaps there isn't enough nitrogen?

Thank you very much.