http://cals.arizona.edu/pubs/garden/az1005.pdf
Here's a link to the AZ Extension Service planting veg calendar-- it is VERY helpful and lets you know best time to plant seeds and/or transplants.

I did most of my planting at 1st of March- it is getting late and hot for many plants. Before putting a lot of time/energy into planting veggies now, I highly recommend looking at a chart of this type.

Also, for flowers:
http://cals.arizona.edu/maricopa/garden/html/pubs/flowertable.pdf

Here's a link to all of their publications:
http://ag.arizona.edu/maricopa/garden/html/pubs/pubs.htm

The Garden Guy Dave Owen's book "Extreme Gardening" is also very helpful for our hot climate. Hope this helps!
Phyllis

Thanks for the reply and all the info! I was thinking it's too late to plant for the spring too. I'm thinking of just making sure that the garden will be ready for fall.

Do you think though how I am readying the soil is good?

serki,
Compost is great for veggies. It sounds like you are doing the right things to get ready.

Another way that is popular for poor soil is lasagna gardening. It helps break down clay or compacted soil and you wont have to do as much digging because you dont have to turn the pile etc. When fall comes you just plant straight into the *lasagna* layers. It will be naturally mulched and therefore use less water. The earthworms love it. My mom and grandma use this method as it is easier on their backs and yeilds just as good of results.
You just take wet newspapers and lay it out over the soil where you want your garden to be. Then you take peat moss and place on top. Then leaves or any other type of organic material (pine needles, coffee grounds, eggshells, etc. You make layers using anything you would normally use in a compost pile (sort of like composting in place).
You didn't say where you live in AZ but the summers are usually hot enough in most of AZ to break down organic material quickly for fall. Some people make a box around it all but you dont have to.
I am adding a link to lasagna gardening if you are interested.
~Lenette

Here is a link that might be useful: Lasagna gardening

Thanks Lenette! I live in Phoenix, and it is definitely hot enough. I have very compacted soil in that area too, as we all do in this area.

Will the lasagna method kill off the grass and weeds in the area? Or should I put down some kind of pre-emergent? I would rather go as organic as possible, but I really want to plant in the fall.

I love the name "Lasagna" too being Italian. :-)

seraki,
The newspaper layer should take care of the grass, but if you are unsure you can put down cardboard (make sure it is *not* waxed cardboard) as your first layer instead. It won't hurt anything and will provide a more dense cover to keep the weeds down while the lasagna layers are aging. You can add a few more layer of newspaper between the other organics as well. I wouldn't put any pre-emergence down if you want to stay on the organic side of things. My mom lives in Phx and it works well on her soil. I grew up in Phx until I finished college and moved around the country for my job, now have came back to AZ . My grandmother lives NW of Phx, I think her soil is a little better naturally, but not much, so getting the organics in is really a help. She has a fabulous winter garden every year. She likes organic too because she has a tortise that comes in her yard that likes to nibble at the plants and prickly pear. Plus you want birds to frequent your yard and eat the bad bugs :) I am not totally organic but am striving to find greener ways of doing things if I can.
You can also lay down soaker hoses under some mulch, to water stuff once you get the plants in to further prevent evaporation. Water early in the morning or late in the evening.
~Lenette

Yeah, I'm up NW too. And we have a lot of nice birds in the area, so I definitely want to keep them around. My sons and I love to watch them gather things for their nest. :-)

Going greener is why I have decided to start composting and growing some of my own veggies. Every little bit helps.

Thanks again for all the great info. It's much appreciated.

Update - I've started the lasagna method over the area for my veggie garden. I've noticed over the past few days that bermuda grass has started popping up through the layers. I want to stop this before it gets too out of control. Do you think the best thing at this point is a layer of cardboard? A friend said maybe a layer of plastic held down with some bricks to get the temperature up and kill any leftover seeds and grass?

Sounds like you have some particularly stubborn/vigilant grass. Plastic would probably work better than cardboard to raise the temps. Thick cardboard will block out the light which should kill the grass, it won't raise the temperature, the composting should do that anyhow, naturally, once it gets going. If plastic is used it should be thick or dark if you want to block out light. Securing either one with bricks or large rocks sounds like a good idea.

Thanks! I'll layer some plastic over it this weekend. What do you think the minimum amount of time I should leave it on for? Couple weeks?

Seraki

I would leave it until you see that all the grass has died. I was watching a garden show today that said if you use horticultural molasses on your compost pile it will speed up the process. Not sure where to get that kind of molasses maybe check the garden centers. You prob don't need it anyhow but just a thought.
~Lenette

I've had the plastic over it for over a week now, and it seems to be doing its job just great. I'm going to leave it on a bit more to kill the rest of it. I ended up starting a separate compost bin, and had no problem filling it up with greens and browns. (It's bulk trash week, lots of dead tree branches in the neighborhood) Plus I got some grounds from starbucks... LOL I can't wait until I actually get to plant something in it!!!

This link should help: http://communitygardensoftucson.org/blog/

Timing and amendments are key.

Andy

Thanks Andy :-) I've been reading his book, a friend recommended it to me. I swear it's like the Bible of gardening in phoenix. The poor book is already dog-eared to high heaven.