James
The most important aspect of arid farming is water preservation. Israel has developed and taught the world techniques to make even the most dry areas bloom without wasting water. There is plenty of information available from US university agriculture outreach services on the Israeli system.
The technique is simple but there is variation on the theme. Cheap perforated irrigation tube is buried along the rows. plastic sheet is laid down and the seeds are planted through a hole poked in the plastic sheet. Between raised planting rows sand, gravel, or dirt is laid onto the plastic to hold it down, these valleys have perforations to allow absorption of any rain. Plastic undersheeting might be required if the underlying soil is something like sand which will quickly drain your irrigation water away. The soil layer must be thick enough to both hold moisture and not overheat your seeds in the longest days of summer. Best growth in most plants happens around 70 degrees Fahrenheit (21C). Use of an electronic moisture probe will help you know how much water to use without tearing up the plastic and adjust the valves to get even irrigation. If you are using sand to essentially hydroponic garden you will need to add liquefied nutrients or compost to the soil through the irrigation system or add it to the sand before the plastic goes down at planting time. The equipment to do this is cheap here in Israel, not sure about in the US although improvisation using blown garden hoses or cheap pipe seem reasonable.
It is important to cistern any water runoff on your property during rainy times, adding a collection ditch downhill from parking areas and collecting from gutters is important considering that a long term public water system failure or depletion in an area is a real local TEOTWAWKI scenario. In some parts of the US collecting rain water is illegal so check the laws before you get a visit from a state bureaucrat and possibly a heavy fine. – David in Israel