You'll have to tell us what direction is what. If you plant along the fence, the fence can shade a lot. But you'll ideally want to walk all the way around a 4x4, so butting it right up against the fence probably isn't smart. That being said, if you want a yard, I wouldn't put it in the middle of the yard either.

Thanks...maybe I’ll put it close to the fence, but far enough out to walk around?

The fence with hydrangea bushes poking though faces South and the other fence is Wes.

One thing: we had 4’ wide beds and I found them difficult to weed in the middle. I’m short but even my husband struggled. We rebuilt with 3’ wide beds and that is much more doable.

If the beds are square you can get to them from all sides. So you'd never need to stretch more than two feet.

In most places, it is pretty darn late in the season to be starting a vegetable garden. Unless you can still find starts rather than seeds.

I know it’s late...I’m in Canada...zone 5 and we had frost up until last weekend.

i have starters.

I do not see why people gravitate toward raised beds, especially when they want it by a fence. A garden directly in the ground works fine and is without the problems of conflicts with nearby fences.

I think raised beds would be great in your situation. I would place them next to the far fence, but leave enough room to access all sides.

There are tons of videos on YouTube about raised bed gardening. Gary Pilarchik has some good ones.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFS3t6b8NkM

It's certainly not too early to start a garden here. We've had frost until recently, and could have it again. Some of us don't live in places where it always gets warm early.

Good luck with your new garden.

If the fence on the left in the picture runs EW (on the south side of the yard), it will seriously shade a bed near it, especially in Canada.

Let's do the math. If you're at 50 degrees north latitude, you won't get any direct sunlight within about three feet of what looks like at least a six foot tall fence that runs EW, and it'll get worse as you get farther from the summer solstice. Of course, if you're near the fence in the middle of the picture (running NS), you'll only get sunlight for half the day. Maybe you are indeed looking at the middle of the yard! Be careful. Zero direct sun won't grow vegetables.

Closer as opposed to farther away from water source unless you enjoy schlepping the hose or don’t mind leaving it out.

If you do raised beds, be sure you leave enough room to maneuver a wheelbarrow between beds and also the fence! You'll be adding soil/compost etc over the years. Also, if you've seen ANY gopher activity in the neighborhood, be sure to add hardware cloth (NOT chicken wire, it rots and critters can get through it!)

raised beds are overrated unless you have health issues and have trouble bending down, or have really poor draining soil.

in ground garden is so much better and practical especially for larger plants (corn, tomatoes, peppers, etc) or for in-ground growing vegetables that need a lot of room below the surface (tubers, etc).

they are more costly, they take up more room and depending how deep you make the bed, it only gives plants all around the edge, mostly one direction for their roots to grow.. downwards. not necessarily a bad thing, but it doesn't take many plants for a raised bed to become full of roots, like a pot, nutrients also deplete faster so you have to fertilize more often.

it's a work-in-progress, but have a look at my floating "raised beds" using 2x6s i started working on this year. it's supported by 2in. fence piping pounded 3 feet into the ground every 4-6 ft. i used natural wood because i didn't want to use pressure treated (whole controversy about it, you either love or hate it). outside will be coated with a natural waterproofing stain, and the inside i stapled a thick landscape fabric that lasts at least 10 years based on past experience lining wood in a bed to protect the wood from the soil.

the best place to put a garden when a fence is involved is on the north side (looking towards the fence) with the sun rising on the east side (your right) and setting west (left) put your taller vegetables like tomatoes on the fence side, and the smaller stuff in front so they don't get shaded by the tall plants.

Where is the closest hose bib? Which leads me to suggest placing it right against the patio edge for easy access and use as a room divider of sorts.

I have to say, the bushes poking through the fence is really annoying to me.

North side of a fence? At 50 degrees north latitude? Couldn't think of a worse place.

If you want to use raised beds, don't let anyone dissuade you from them with invalid arguments like they take up more room or they are only suited to certain vegetable types. That is only a personal opinion. Any vegetable that can be grown in the ground can also be grown in a raised bed. And as noted, they can offer some distinct advantages to inground gardening.

Daninthedirt....my whole yard is in full sun all day long!

Raised beds are perfect for your location if you want to grow warm season crops. My tomatoes ripened a full month earlier in a raised bed than they ever did in the ground.

I will tell you that I am experimenting this year with containers, fabric Smart Pots. Some sizes are on big sale at Grow Green MI. Today I purchased 12, 20 gallon pots with handles for $50 + shipping. The benefit to this is that you can move your garden where you want it. There are some benefits to smart pots about root formation, etc. They have a website and came out of a midwestern university program. There are also Smart Pot raised beds, but since I got several containers for less than $5 each, I am going to try this.

Note that they are meant to be planted with potting soil. I bought some organic potting soil at Home Depot but you can mix your own too. Potting soil will be lighter, you should be able to move your pots around if you want.

Best wishes for your gardening!

https://smartpots.com/

Out of wind, in the sun and near the kitchen. And if there are animals around that might get into it it needs to be effectively fenced against those. In my region a common problem is certain ground feeding songbirds pulling up vegetable seeds right after they have germinated. So just to prevent that a body would have to have overhead screening as well as fencing. Such would also be needed to keep out racoons (these like sweet corn) and house cats (these like to poo in anything that resembles litter box contents, with loose exposed soil in vegetable garden beds fitting the bill nicely).