Welcome!

You might post this on the Texas Gardening Forum;
there's a lot of experience & wisdom on that forum, & a number of gardeners in your area.

Happy Gardening!

You'll need a soil medium but you may still want to put the leaves in and do a bit of "lasagna gardening".

Items that are fresh but that could be put in compost piles could still be added to the garden with "trench composting". Otherwise, for your compost pile, you would want to have some particles that are consistent with particles of soil to know that it has "finished", though people may use it at earlier stages.

What are the measurements of your beds? That will help determine what might soil sources (where to buy or get) be feasible for the contents of your bed.

You'll probably want to purchase ready to use compost if you want to use those beds this year. Home made compost from leaves alone will take a while to break down well enough into useable compost- plus a ton of leaves alone won't make a lot of compost in the end. The dry leaves will need some green wet material mixed in too, to help move the compost process along. But those leaves do make great compost-able material.

I think adding the leaves to compost in the bed now is a great idea though after you fill your beds with ready to use soi! You could save them and shred them up under a mower or right into a catch bag, then use them as mulch after your veggies sprout too.

In your climate, you should be able to very soon, if not now, plant some cold loving crops like cabbage, broccoli, and lettuces.

You can add a great, organic, slow release fertilizer to your compost when you fill up your raised beds. This will boost your plants big time, and will last the whole growing season without overmedicating and causing problems with imbalances. Don't even have to think about it.

Here is a link that might be useful: Organic Feeder Paks

You'll probably want to purchase ready to use compost if you want to use those beds this year. Home made compost from leaves alone will take a while to break down well enough into useable compost- plus a ton of leaves alone won't make a lot of compost in the end. The dry leaves will need some green wet material mixed in too, to help move the compost process along. But those leaves do make great compost-able material.

I think adding the leaves to compost in the bed now is a great idea though after you fill your beds with ready to use soi! You could save them and shred them up under a mower or right into a catch bag, then use them as mulch after your veggies sprout too.

In your climate, you should be able to very soon, if not now, plant some cold loving crops like cabbage, broccoli, and lettuces.

You can add a great, organic, slow release fertilizer to your compost when you fill up your raised beds. This will boost your plants big time, and will last the whole growing season without overmedicating and causing problems with imbalances. Don't even have to think about it.

Here is a link that might be useful: Organic Feeder Paks

I would start with soil first leaves should be shredded and left to leach and decompose for 4-6 months for the best results then you can use as a top dressing or mulch you can also till it in for the organic matter ( the worms love it) . I start out with a 10x10x10 leaf pile ( shredded) and it shrinks to 1/2 that by spring by then it's ready for any garden use but no matter what you should shred them before using them in the garden. Back to the raised beds not sure how big they are and what kind of budget you have. I would start with some peat moss mixed with some top soil add some dried manure I would look for local stables you might get it just for hauling it off make sure it's older stuff . I take my grandson and we go to a friends cow pasture and fill about 10 5gal buckets with dried patties after we do that several times I run them through my chipper then I mix that into my beds works great. You can also buy composted manure mix the peat moss , top soil and manure add a few shredded leaves if you like and it should work great. If you have a lawn and a bagger for your mower try using the clippings as mulch around your plants its all I use it's like adding manure as you grow it doesn't burn or hurt your plants as some would profess I've done it for 40 yrs put it on thick 6-12 inches it decomposes fast.

This might not be practical for you, but the way I make my raised beds is to fill the bottom part with composted horse stable manure - I raise horses so have plenty - then I top it with a great mix from a soil company that mixes mushroom compost, bark fines and sand. They call it their "blend". Get it in the back of my truck. Things grow like crazy in this - and I topdress yearly with the compost and fresh soil. Check around - you might find a soil service like this, or one that sells mushroom compost that you can mix with bagged soil. When traveling, I often see soil service places with huge piles of all kinds of soil, mulch, etc. They load it for you. I also use leaves that I run over with the lawn mower. If you have a lot of beds to fill, the bagged soil from Lowes or Home Depot might not be cost effective - my soil service in the long run is way cheaper. I use so much I am having 10 yards brought to me by a friend who has a dump truck. Check around - never know what you will find! Have fun!

Judith