Kitchen Garden Forum

Where I live, I know some places where wild strawberries grow on the soil at forest borders, where sunlight rarely strikes. They seem to do great regardless!

Which edible kitchen garden plants tollerate (partly) shade?

Raspberries.

Thank you! Any other suggestions are still welcome as we're now at the point where the spring gets closer! I'm currently planning ahead which plants to place where in the new garden. It's going to be such a huge switch from a balcony to this!

Also, yesterday a friend asked me what to put on his shady balcony that produces food. I honestly couldn't come up with any answer besides spinach, which tollerates it.

Afternoon Elmigo, any quick maturing crops like, lettuce and raddish or the like, will appreciate a shady spot in the Summer...infact, it will help stop them bolting and going to seed...

Spinach is another!

Brassica's do fine mostly if the shade is not from trees, then they compete for the water!

Blackberries will grow perfectly well on a shady north facing fence. They will just ripen a little later.
Swiss chard (which is a more robust version of spinach does well too. There is a particular good variety called Fordhook Giant if you can get it whixh has lovely big leaves, and as a bonus seems to remains from free from slugs, butterflies, caterpillars and other diseases.

Somewhere here in the forums, I talked a lot about shaded areas. I grow gooseberries, currants, rhubarb and jerusalem artichokes in the shaded areas.
The subject requires a whole leaflet or a big article because most gardeners have shade somewhere and will want to make the most of it. Has KG done this?

Inidentlly I have wild strawberry plants growing ina north facing border. Have never seen a single one of them bear a fruit. They,ve become q bit Of a nuisance plant actually!

Dear All,
interesting subject for the gardener; so here are my thoughts on shade.

There are several kinds of shade for a gardener; here are the four sorts that I consider are relevant.

Permanent Shade - this is usually caused by immovable objects such as buildings, fences, garden walls and evergreen plants. Plants in these areas will get indirect light and most food plants will not do well here.

Winter Shade - this is shade caused by the low angle of the sun in winter due to any of the above reasons; the area is in full sun during the summer months when plants are in growth.

Summer Shade - this is caused by deciduous trees, shrubs and hedges coming into leaf during the summer.

Partial Shade - plants will have full sun for some of the day because of the effect of the earth's rotation on the sunshine.


Growing plants in permanent shade will not be easy. If you can direct more light into the area by painting walls and fences white then it should be considered. Do bear in mind the neighbour's/landlord's/freeholder's feelings on the subject and also planning rules such as grade listing and conservation area regulations. Don't forget to check whether you own the relevant fence or wall!

Winter shade will make it difficult to overwinter plants such as brassicas, broad beans and leeks as they continue to grow during the cold months. The soil will take longer to warm up in the spring and will cool down quickly in the Autumn so the growing season will be a bit shorter than you might expect.

Summer shade is a good area for overwintering crops as the area will get more light in winter. But the soil may be drier in summer due to roots from the shading plants. A good area perhaps for the leafy greens of summer such as lettuce and radish if you can keep them watered.

As for what to grow where - well the advice on that is highly subjective. Plants that come from warmer climates than ours will rarely do really well in any shade but you can always give them a trial. A good book on permaculture or forest gardening may give some ideas. It might also be worth considering items that are not usually grown in gardens such as fungi and other wild plants.

Regards Sally Wright

With all this new information it's probably going to take a very long time to figure out what parts are in shade and when! Guess the only way for now is to just experience what the coming growing season gives us.

Hello! There are many shady-like plants. I also grow some of them and then, of course, I use them while cooking. For example broccoli, parsley, spinach, kale, carrots, garlic and beets. They need 4 hours or even less of a sun a day so it is really little.

I just stumbled upon this!

Useful.

Interesting thanks