I had "Goldheart" ivy, basically a yellow-green variegated small-leafed version of english ivy and was able to keep it going for several years growing out of soil in a rolled up garbage bag that I had slung between my half barrel water garden and my clematis container and I think I first put it out there ~1999. What got it was a winter when the temps hit the single digits with wind (I think in 2004) and it was growing over by the windy side of the balcony, so that didn't help either. I never tried to protect it during winter and the half barrel had heaters going in it to keep the water temp no less than ~50° F through winter (because I had fish in there), so there was some warmth radiating around them. But that winter, with the cold snap and the wind, this definitely would have needed something more to help it cope. I think if you have a mild winter (not below 0° F and minimal single digits), you should do okay. In fact, it could be that the regular leaf english ivy can take the cold a bit better than the smaller leaf varieties when potted.

My raised beds are about 18" from the fence, but I wish they were a bit further out so I could harvest from behind the trellis a bit easier. Are you doing SFG? I'd really get the book, the library should have it. Are you growing pole beans, or bush beans? With pole beans, you'll definitely want a trellis or some other system, so make sure that you can easily get behind it. Bush beans don't need a trellis, but you'll want to make sure that you can get in there to pick. As far as spacing, you'll have to plan it all out. Google SFG spacing, or check the SFG board here, they probably have a list. With a 4x6 box, you'll have 24 squares. I think that everything that you listed will be pushing it, really. I'd think about putting the tomatoes in containers. Tomatoes - what kind are they? That matters, space-wise. Beans - Pole or bush? Bush go 9/sq, pole go 4/sq (or 8, on either side of a trellis). Squash - what kind? Tons of variables here. Cucumber - bush or vining? You could trellis them next to the beans if they're vining. Melons - you can trellis these too, or let them vine outside of the box. Hope that helps! Here is a link that might be useful: SFG spacing

When we plant in the garden we do it in trenches or make a basin around larger plants to hold water,so when we water if we fill the trench or basin with water it soaks into the ground. My husband waters the garden and does it from the rain barrel. I water my flower beds by hand, usually with the hose or I may use the rain barrel to do my pots. I saturate the ground as I'm going down the bed, until the water lays on top of the soil then I come back and do it again. I don't water often. I want the roots to go deep and make lots of them, looking for water. They are less likely to wilt and show stress. I use a nozzle on my hose that has a soaker setting so the water bubbles out in a stream. I only water the soil and never the plant. If I'm watering I water in early evening right after supper which is usually around 5 PM. I have many pots on my patio and a few other places-- small pots get watered every night, my larger ones every few days. I tend to grow more drought tolerant plants in my pots. I know they say soaker hoses are good, but when I first started gardening we couldn't afford them and I got into a routine of doing it this way and found I really enjoy doing it this way so that's the way it is.

When I was younger I worked summers at a Boyscout camp. Being an all boys camp we didn't have to worry much about heading to the latrine to pee. Every cabin had a more or less designated area nearby. We'd pick a grassy spot and for the first couple weeks the grass would grow like crazy. After about 5 or 6 weeks the vegetation in that area would get burned off and die and that spot would start to smell. It was worse in summers when we didn't get alot of rain. The proceedure at that point was to get a 5 gallon bucket of water and hose the area down, then switch to the backup spot for the last couple weeks of camp. We'd spend a total of 9 weeks there per summer. I'm not making any of that up. I'm sure different cabins delt with the problem in different ways but I stayed in 5 or 6 different cabins over 4 summers and each one worked pretty much the same.