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Growng in the shade

Square Foot Gardening List - http://www.flinet.com/~gallus/sqft.html

It was written:

> I would love to be able to do square foot gardening. My only
> drawback is that  our yard is full of pine trees. There is really not a
square foot
> of space to  plant in. However, there is a patch between my solarium
and my
> garage that is  about 6x9. It is shaded about 50-60% by the overhang
from the 2nd
> floor of the  main house and faces WSW there is just not much light.
Also, the
> vent from the  clothes dryer is directed at a small corner of this
space. Can I
> do anything  with or do I need something with better sun light? I hope
you
> understand  what  I am talking about and that you can help!

My reply:

Well, the question becomes how much money and expense do you want to go
to in order to have the highest quality fruit and vegtables for family. 
Personally I go to considerable lengths and expense.

There are several plants you can grow that will get along well in lower
light conditions.  A lot of salad type green grow a bit more spindly in
the shade, but I find little actual taste difference.  Beets, swiss
chard, carrots and radishes all did fairly weel for me in more shade then
light.  I really pampered the ground though and they substrate was
amended till it was about 40% sand and 60% compost.

Dandelions grow fine in the shade also and do not seem to grow so bitter
when grown in the shade.  Many beautiful and ornamental herbs will do
well in fairly deep shape.  Try members of the mint family in particular.

Also alpine strawberries perform very well.  You also might want to
consider planting cherry tomatoes in hanging baskets with a "water
wicking" system in the sunlight.   They are decorative and easy to care
for and give great tomatoes.

If you really want to grow more you should be able to make use of
reflectors.  I had this problem some years back and was very succesful at
increasing the light by reflecting it into the shade with a bunch of
cheap wall mirrors I bought at Walmart for 4.99 a piece.  I think I had
some 15 mirrors and was able to produce a decent tomatoe crop...the
peppers still failed though.   The trick is to bounce the light from one
mirror onto another and let the light from the second mirror bounce to
the plant.   Of course I also used aluminum foil as a mulch beneath the
tomatoe plants.  But what the heck I had tomatoes.

You also might want to consider growing gooseberry and currant cordons in
such an area.  They do okay in the shade, and well, you are producing
something you just won't find in a grocery store.  Surprisingly
blueberries do fairly well in the shade also.   Frankly, I never find
sweet blueberries in the grocery store anyway, so you are not risking
much.   Daylilies also grow well in the shade and the young shoots are
delicious (just make sure you get the edible kind).   

Of course if you really want to grow stuff and still doubt the loction
try growing things inside via hydroponic methods.   I did this for a few
years and am surprised it did not catch on more with home gardeners.

	Very truly yours, Kevin(the fluffy bunny)Mathews




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