Wednesday 12 May 2010

Shade tolerant food crops

I'm hoping to start growing some veg in my shady yard. It's common sense really... leafy vegetables are the most shade-tolerant, as they're most effective at harvesting sunlight I suppose. Those that fruit from a flower (tomatoes, peppers, squash, eggplants) are the least. In between are the root vegetables requiring at least a half day of full sun: potatoes, beets, carrots and turnips. Shade tolerant leafy 
vegetables include lettuce, spinach, Swiss chard, arugula, endive and radiccio. Broccoli (and its relatives) kale, kohlrabi, turnips, mustard and cabbage -- also grow in partial shade.