Two beds of course, one in full sun and one for shade crops :)

Between here and the tomato forum, you should find plenty of advice on growing (tomatoes) in Georgia.

Here is a link that might be useful: Tomato choices for Georgia

I garden in east central MS, so our climates should be quite similar. My veggies get full morning sun and on until about two p.m. Then dappled shade the rest of the day. They love it. Full sun in the deep south is an entirely different sun than full sun in many other parts of the country. I used to garden in Indiana. It's radically different here. Your plants will appreciate some shade in the afternoon, and that goes for tomatoes too.

I sure wish I had a spot in my backyard with full sun. Consider yourself to be very lucky!

As others have mentioned, it seems like two locations is the answer. Maybe the main garden in the full sun, and containers or a small plot for the cooler season items.

Keep in mind that you can always provide artificial shade if needed with simple shade riggings but there is no way to increase sun exposure. So if you can have both, great. If you have to choose, go with the sun.

Also plot out the sun pattern as it moves in the sky (actua;;y we move, not the sun ;))as we approach the summer equinox. It will be in a very different place come July than it is now or then it will be in March. Does your cherry tree and fence shade the area now? If so it may not come July and vice versa since it won't be so low on the horizon.

Right now in Georgia the sun is 168 degrees E of North at noon. In July it will be 138 degrees E of N at noon. 30 degrees difference.

Just some thoughts to consider.

Dave

Here is a link that might be useful: Sun azimuth/altitude calculator

Well, I've never seen a farm with shade, so I think you'll be fine in sun. Mulching and watering go a long way.

Ideally the garden would have a few hours of light shade in the afternoons come mid-summer, but I wouldn;t worry about it. Alot of us would love to have more sun. I'd think any crop developing from a fertilized flower would do best with full sun. Don;t expect too much out of your tomatoes in August, whether in full sun or not. You might have an early spring planting that ripens in June/July and then another planting to ripen in the fall months. Difficult for them to set any new fruit with our nights in the 80's. And of course all those days in the upper 90's are rough.

Yes, two beds. There are many veggies that will do best in the part sun bed, though most of the summer ones will grow best in the full sun bed. You can not have just tomatoes, your very first garden should have many veggies of potential interest, some will grow well and some poorly, and that will give you a lot of experience for 2013. and you should also consider some Spring and some Fall vegetables. The year is 12 months long, you know, and in GA you can eat out of the garden without cover every day of the year. In fact, with hoop houses I do the same in MI.

I garden in downtown Atlanta, my garden acts easily as a zone 8 garden and it is BLAZING HOT, no shade, facing south and east. Everything does just dandy for me! Prepare soil well so it retains water, mulch very well and water when needed. I actually don't water all that frequently and everything is fine.
Cowpeas, yard long beans, bush beans, lima beans, okra, malabar spinach, butternut squash, luffa, sweet and hot peppers, eggplants, various melons and tomatoes all do fine. I grow Cherokee Purple, Brandywine, sungold, green zebra, Juliette, Taxi, Jubilee, Rutgers, Marlglobe, and many more different tomatoes but these are the ones I grow pretty much every year. Most of the heirlooms I vary simply to try new tastes every year. Tip: Grow sweet peppers in the shade of tomatoes. A local farmer taught me this and it works like a charm. I've increased my pepper harvests greatly and never get any burn.
Insects and disease are more challenging than that heat.

We have always grown tomatoes in the summer and other veggies. After last year's terrible bug and disease/fungus problems we have vowed not to do that again. Plant your tomatoes as early as you can after first frost. You might live too far north to get a fall crop of tomatoes. We are in 8b above Jacksonville,Fl. It was too aggravating to be bug hunting and killing every day. The tomatoes didn't produce well in the heat anyway.

Saying around here is maters won't set fruit when temps get above 95. My family always split the garden. One aunt put in early, then the other a month later. Still by late summer you weren't getting much more than okra. I started putting in fall gardens. That's when the "yankee" stuff does really well. Lettuce, broccoli, peas. I just quit getting lettuce about Christmas. Would still have it if I'd covered it. Get really short season varieties and plant after the worst August heat is past.
It's not the sun, it's the heat. Lettuce, broc and stuff will bolt at the high temps even in shade. And GGG is right, peppers like a little shade. Aren't they in the nightshade family?

Check out where the shadows fall now. It's only a little past the winter solstice, so that should give you an idea of what conditions could be like for a fall garden. The tomatoes probably won't mind a little afternoon shade, but you run the risk of not having enough sun for your cool season crops if you go for too much summer shade.
Two boxes seems like a good solution.

Here is a link that might be useful: What's Growing On?

Thank you all for your very helpful advice! This will be my first vegetable garden so I am excited, but nervous. I have tried growing tomatoes in containers in my back yard but i think the heat dries them up too quickly since they arent in the ground, then they produce nothing! I hope I don't kill everything! But im sure building raised beds will make all the diffence. I'm a champ in flower gardening....so hopefully I be just as good with vegetables.

If you have been successful with flower gardening, you can be successful with vegetables too. Just remember that just as every flower variety has its specific needs, so does each type of vegetable. I started vegetable gardening after years of successful ornamental gardening too. The single biggest difference is that vegetables, IN GENERAL, need far more fertilizer than flowers. Keep reading here and research things on the internet. You'll do just fine.