CLEVELAND, Ohio -- If you're like me and your yard is all shade, you've probably long since given up the idea of growing vegetables at home. When we think of a vegetable garden, we think of sun-loving plants that demand hours of sun each day in order to bear produce.
But a gardening expert I met at a seed swap told me to try growing beans in shade. That made me curious about other shade-tolerant vegetables. I found several helpful websites that offered advice for good harvests in shaded conditions.
Most vegetables and herbs require at least six hours of sunlight a day to grow, but some plants will tolerate partial shade. If you grow a plant for the fruit or the root, it needs full sun. If you grow it for the leaves, stems, or buds, a little shade will be just fine.
"In some ways, growing in a site with part shade is easier than growing in full sun," according to an article on Organic Gardening. "You won't have to water as often, and crops that are quick to bolt in hot weather, such as lettuces and spinach, will grow quite a bit longer given some shade."
All shade is not equal. Some shady conditions will yield much more produce than others will, said a Mother Earth News article on growing vegetables in shade.
Observe your proposed garden site over several days. Pay attention to the amount of sun the spot receives, and the duration and intensity of the light.
Nearby trees create dappled shade. Partial shade can range from only a couple of sunny hours and many hours of shade to the opposite. Shade from buildings is more difficult to deal with than shade from trees, as it often plunges the garden into total shade, according to Mother Earth News.
If your garden bed receives a few hours of full sun but dark shade for the rest of the day, you can grow some crops, but you won't harvest as much as you would if the garden received bright or dappled shade.
To increase your chances for success, remove low-hanging branches from nearby trees, and create raised beds and liners so that tree roots don't steal water away from vegetables.
The Old Farmer's Almanac listed these shade-tolerant vegetables: beets, carrots, chard, cilantro, garlic, kale, lettuce, parsley, parsnips, potatoes and spinach. These suggestions came from Organic Gardening: salad greens, broccoli, cauliflower, peas, beets, Brussels sprouts, radishes, Swiss chard, leafy greens and beans.
Greens will persevere longer into the hot season if protected by some shade, according to information on the Hudson Valley Seed Library website. Plant spinach in the fall as empty spaces open up, after other vegetables have been harvested. Spinach will grow in the shade, then overwinter to re-emerge the following year.