Many of the soils are of alluvial origin and range from sandy loams to clay loams and may contain varying levels of saline or alkali salts.
Climatic conditions favor year round vegetable crop production.
Many crops can be grown for a spring and fall harvest. The annual average temperatures range from about 65F in Aguila, about 70F around Queen Creek, and up to the low 70'sF around Phoenix. Half of the precipitation occurs in the winter months and the remainder during the summer monsoons from July through September. The winter snowpack in the mountains in eastern Arizona provide surface irrigation water that is stored in a series of resevoirs along the Salt and Verde Rivers. A majority of the vegetable crops are furrow irrigated with a small proportion grown with subsurface drip systems.