"gregpresley" wrote in message ...
A lot of leafy greens don't require full sun - various lettuces, spinach,
etc. I think cabbage family stuff does better though in full sun - so
collards, cale, etc would not work as well. But parsley and mint would also
be fine in partial shade.

Essentially correct. Never buy greens again, even though you are
gardening in partial shade. But collard does reasonably well in less
than full sun. I have one bed that is substantially more shaded than
the other beds, and that one is used exclusively for radicchio and
lettuce. The shadiest part of my garden has sorrel. Garlic and various
hardy greens do also well because they grow quite a bit before the
trees leaf out. Mache even goes to seed before the trees leaf out.
Other things that do reasonably well in part sun include chard,
potatoes, carrots and arugula. These are all fairly easy-to-grow
vegetables, mostly immune to disease and productive. Many of them will
overwinter in Seattle, providing 12 year round vegetables (I
overwinter collard, lettuce, radicchio, tatsoi and arugula under cover
in Michigan). One can push the envelope and try kale, some squashes
and cherry tomatoes on the slope, which are the most shade tolerant of
all tomatoes. I would use the flat spot solely for heat loving
veggies, such as tomatoes and peppers.

Finally, having gardened on a slope in CA, I suggest some terracing to
avoid losing the topsoil to runoff. Nothing fancy or pretty, just a
little stabilization.