Have you done any reading over on the growing Tomatoes forum here? Most all of the questions you raise have many detailed discussions about them on that forum. The simple answer to your title question is there is no "best sized bed" as there are too many variables to consider - variety, type, type/size of support used, pruning or no pruning, planting dates, nutrient levels provided, sun exposure, season length, etc. all affect the plant spacing. But anyone can successfully grow tomatoes in just about any size or shape of bed or garden no matter if it is 2 feet wide or 100 feet wide. Even a hole in the ground can work. So your primary issue, given you live in an ideal tomato growing zone and season length and the info you have provided, would seem to be your limited sun exposure. Shape and size your bed to increase and maximize the sun exposure. "Ripe fruit sooner" is based on the variety used and the proper planting dates. And pruning - what you call removing the suckers - when sun exposure is already limited - usually only results in longer, lankier plants with less fruit. Dave

I few more details on the plans that I posted above: The raised beds along the fence would be completely separate from the fence, I'm not talking about heaping dirt against the fence or anything like that lol! Just building raised beds 2' wide and placing them against the fence so I can grow vertically as much as possible. I have a 50' roll of black vinyl coated chain link fencing (part of it is used to enclose the current garden) and I plan to repurpose it by hanging it along the back fence so I can trellis peas, beans, tomatoes, melons, whatever. I have been reading that growing vertically is one way to get more out of a small space. Since I have two medium sized dogs and I have learned the hard way that regular garden fencing or poultry wire isn't really sturdy enough, I was planning to buy some hog panels, have them cut in half, and have those go along the front of the beds to keep everything out. Hog panels are 34" tall and the bars are close together at the bottom and gradually get further apart as they go up. Each half would weigh about 17 pounds, so I can lift a section off as needed to tend the garden, then put it back up when I'm done. The design I came up with has a 4' tall 4'x4' fence post between each bed, about 2' feet out from the existing fence posts. The end pieces of each raised bed will be screwed into it, and once the 1' tall beds are filled with dirt, it should be plenty sturdy enough to support these panels. I also intend to have a piece of 2"x4" going between each of these posts and the actual fence posts to lend greater stability to both, and that will be the only thing that connects the raised beds to the fence. I thought it would be best to keep them totally separate to allow the fence to be worked on or even replaced later if needed, without having to remove the beds. The center beds would need a different setup for keeping out the dogs and rabbits. I had in mind some kind of enclosure that goes around the perimeter, with a gate at the opening. Most likely I would use the same hog panel idea so I could access the beds from the outside or the inside, or I could opt to leave part of it in place and use it for a trellis. I have thought about even enclosing the whole thing with heavy plastic to create a greenhouse for winter, and I could also use it to suspend shade cloth since the sun is a bit too much here in Oklahoma in the summer and it actually gets hot enough that the tomatoes stop setting fruit. The only thing I don't like about this idea is that it is right in the middle of the yard (actually, two of them, one on each side) though the dogs would have a blast running around them. Aesthetically, I think the perimeter beds along the fence would be more attractive and open, even with the smaller island beds added. I would probably put just low covers on those and use those beds for low growing crops since I would have plenty of space to trellis the taller crops along the fence. Thank you for considering my ideas and if you have any feedback or suggestions for me, please let me know! Here is a link that might be useful:

The Costco one is expensive, the Sam's Club one seems too good to be true! Can it really be stacked? That is what I need - a deeper bed, and the Sam's club one is recycled, USA-made plastic, so it is better than the wood ones I build. BTW: I checked the Kiwi Collar site - cheap beds, BUT a warning - it says to preserve the wood with Linseed Oil. DO NOT ever use Linseed Oil on ANY outdoor wood - it will grow mold! Apparently Tung Oil is not a mold food, and I've never Tung oiled anything outside (that's all I use inside), but I've never read of any tung oiled outdoor furniture molding, but I did read about a house that was sealed with Linseed oil and it grew mold. Normally I'm all for the natural products, but for this I'd probably use a deck sealer. That is the one benefit of the recycled plastic boards. Do you have to be a member to shop at Costco / Sam's Club?

Dave, HD has 5'x 8' trellis netting for $3.89. It's soft, so it doesn't cut the vines when the wind blows them. I use 1/2" metal electrical conduit as a frame. I just drive two pieces of rebar into the ground, and slide the frame over that, then tie the netting to the frame. Here's a photo of my winter garden, from mid-Decmeber. It's dark outside right now, but I'll try to remember and take a photo tomorrow so you can see the whole frame. The boards to the side were used to hold down the plastic sheeting I put over the garden the night before when we had a freeze warning. jtcm, I meant 2 plants on a 4' end. Sorry for the confusion. I want to be able to train at least some of each plant vertically.