Vegetables for a shade garden

I have a vegetable garden that has gone from a sunny to a shady area over the last few years. This has resulted in loss of production with many sun-loving crops failing to grow.

Since we love tomatoes and zucchini I needed to come up with a new garden site; however I did not wish to abandon the old garden.  The old garden is fenced in, pleasing to look at, and ready to plant. I wish to keep the cost down so I decided to add beds to the new garden a few at a time for the sun-loving plants and plant shade loving plants in the old garden. Once the new garden is complete I will use the old garden for herbs, salad greens, and shade loving flowers.

The old garden will need to be closely managed if it is to produce any vegetables. Shade gardens must be planted with plants that thrive in areas that get less than four hours of sunlight.  They also need to be fertilized a bit more since the trees that cause all that shade are also feeding off of the same soil.

So what can I plant in this area? You may be surprised to heard that the list is fairly long. Plants that produce fruits need sun but those that are grown for their leaves and stems grow nicely in the shade as do many plants that are grown for their roots.

Have a shady garden then try planting these:

• Arugula
• Beans
• Beets
• Broccoli
• Cabbage
• Carrots
• Cauliflower
• Celery
• Collards
• Corn Maiche
• Cress
• Endive
• Kale
• Lettuce
• Mustard Greens
• Parsnips
• Peas
• Potatoes
• Radishes
• Rhubarb
• Scallions
• Sorrel
• Spinach
• Swiss Chard
• Turnips

Herbs

• Alpine strawberries
• Basil
• Chervil
• Chives
• Cilantro
• Coriander
• Dill
• Garlic chives
• Lemon balm
• Mint
• Parsley
• Watercress

Note that these plants may not be as productive growing in the shade and they may be smaller in size than those grown in full sunlight.

Flower

Nasturtiums

Plants that need sun

1. Cucumbers
2. Eggplants
3. Peppers
4. Squash
5. Tomatoes

Today’s challenge is to gather documents to be put into the safe deposit box at the bank. Click here for that list: Safety Deposit box items.

The last two days have been very busy with Bill on vacation and us having to monitor one of our tenants moving out. They were given notice a month ago to be out by April 1 and the rain has delayed their move which means we had to delay the changing of the locks. I hate telling people they have to move but when they are 2.5 months behind in rent and the lease is up then they need to move to a place they can afford.

We have made two trips to Indianapolis this weekend and gone to the movies. Today we have church, a surprise 80th birthday party to attend, and Bill has a deacon’s meeting this evening.

One nice thing about road trips is it gives me plenty of time to plan new projects. I just need the ground to dry out a bit before I can start building. The water is starting to go down so hopefully the “swimming pool”  in the basement will drain soon so I can disinfect the area.