In Phoenix? Googling "growing vegetables phoenix" showed a lot of good links including lots of when to plant what. It's a very broad topic, too broad for a single thread imo.

How deep to make the soil? Meaning there's no soil in the box garden? Are you talking about bringing in soil? I'd imagine everyone would have there own opinion, but if you asked the plants they'd want rich soil 3, 6, 8 feet deep. But most people would do way less, all the way to just whatever soil their yard has...it will grow vegetables.

I recommend not trying to implement everything you read about. I've seen people invest a lot of money but not master the basics like proper watering so it fails and the disappointment is magnified by the initial effort and money. For example, if you plant in regular backyard soil and get some result you'll better understand what to improve next season.

I wouldn't worry too much about time tables, seeds are pretty cheap. You can still learn a lot. Can't beat experience.

Okay thanks for the tips!

http://www.urbanfarm.org/Planting_Calendar.pdf [by species]

http://www.phoenixpermaculture.org/forum/topics/october-planting [by month; see all of Catherine's monthly planting tips]

http://cals.arizona.edu/pubs/garden/az1435.pdf

To add to Waterbug's comment: You can grow darned near anything here if you know when to plant and which varieties to choose. The soil is quite good; there are deficiencies to be sure but if you get started the act of growing will improve your soil if you are adding back compost before replanting. Get started as seeds are cheap.

You need a compost pile to avoid the expense of fertilizers.

As a general rule, picking plant to harvest days 75 or less is better for a successful crop. Ignore planting dates on seed packets unless local grown seeds.

Several books on arid desert gardening.

The growing season here is a little tricky. We have what I consider to be 2 growing seasons at least for many plants. But each season is shorter than Anchorage Alaska's growing season. So plants like tomatoes can be grown but the harvest duration can be really short, Where in other climates you might get 3 months of tomatoes it might be 3 weeks here.

So like Fascist_Nation said, quicker to harvest plants can be important.

I've had to adjust what people here say can be grown. The term "grown" can be a little misleading. Many times I've had people tell me they're growing tomatoes and they mean tomato plants, not necessarily fruit. I've heard people say they get tomatoes all summer here but when asked it might be just a couple of tomatoes. It's a different scale, expectation thing.

Autumn plants that have worked well for me (I'm only 2 years in from being a *total* beginner)
CARROTS!!! they did superb, the size of my forearm they were last winter, and sugary sweet!
Beets
Watermelon Radishes - huge sweet purple juicy things - highly recommended
Garlic (regular and "elephant", which is actually a leek(?!)
Onions

and from seedlings purchased at Baker:
broccoli & cauliflower: Need to be vigilant about aphids
Tuscan Kale (also called dinosaur kale)
Red Russian Kale
Lettuces
Hon Tsai Tai (delicious asian leafy-green for cooking)

Bok Choy! If I can beat my dog to pulling it from the garden. Super easy. Super prolific. Super healthy for you.