Shade loving edibles

[Anny]

Are there any fruits, veggies or anything edible that likes shade/ part shade.

I only have a very small amount of yard that gets full sun all day and I have a 11ft by 5ft raised bed veggie garden in that stop, butI would like to grow more things around the yard.

I'm thinking of growing wintergreen...anything else that likes little sun?

Does anyone know a good place online to buy wintergreen no one around me carries it? thank you.

 

[BlueMoon]

Anny - rhubarb might thrive in dappled shade if the soil if exceptional. It does at my parents home, NE zone 5. They don't have much sun, but they do have their rhubarb in great compost mulch and have wonderful results.

Good luck with the winterberry - I haven't a clue where to find that.

 

[patandchickens]

Lettuce, swiss chard, other greens.

Mint, heh heh heh (confine it well and be vigilant for escapes anyhow), sweet cicely. Chives will tolerate only a little sun, tho they won't be nearly as happy as if they had full sun.

I believe asparagus will tolerate partial shade, BUT it is not really a planting-around-the-yard-among-other-sortsa-plants kind of thing. It needs its own bed, and it needs to be in an area where you can deeply dig up and heavily amend the soil, i.e. not in an area with lots of tree roots that will either impede your digging or if you chop 'em out will damage or kill the tree.

Good luck,

Pat

 

[OaklandCityFarmer]

Although we don't have much shade to begin with. We've found that a few non-flowering, non-fruit bearing vegetables produce well in the shade, such as:

Swiss chard, lettuce, arugula, endive, spinach and radiccio. Broccoli, kale, kohlrabi, turnips, mustard, cabbage do pretty good in partial shade.

Day neutral strawberries, like Alpine, will produce in partial shade as well and depending on your climate this will help cool them in the summer heat. Ostrich and Staghorn ferns, like most ferns, produce new shoots called "fiddleheads" these are edible and have a wide variety of uses.

Nasturtiums also seem to tolerate a good amount of shade and are great in salads.

A lot of the veggie crops above will tolerate shade more than they will tolerate heat. So the shade actually helps by giving them some relief from the summer sun.

 

[Anny]

Thank you so much guys!

I probly should have said I'm in zone 5.

I think I'll try some of these.



I have mint growing my grass right now, it came with the house...at least it smells good with I mow the lawn...right

 

[bills]

I have mint growing my grass right now, it came with the house...at least it smells good with I mow the lawn...right

I bet it does smell great! I have the same thing happen in an area of my yard where some oregano must have self seeded. On a hot day when the mower runs through it, it smells wonderful. I also have a eucalyptus tree, that when the fallen leaves are mowed, smells quite exotic.

The veggies mentioned by the other members will all grow in zone 5, so well worth trying for the price of a few packets of seeds. You'll soon find out what does best for you.

 

[aquarose]

I believe blueberries and maybe something like gooseberries will tolerate some degree of shade.