I have a spot where I would like to plant some veggies but the area gets only 3-4 hours of sun in the summer and I was wondering if anything worth while would grow there. Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.
BTW I have roses growing there right now which I want to move to the front of the house which would open up the area hopefully for berries or vegetables.

said:

I have a spot where I would like to plant some veggies but the area gets
only 3-4 hours of
sun in the summer and I was wondering if anything worth while would
grow there. Any recom
mendations would be greatly appreciated.
BTW I have roses growing there right now which I want to move to the
front of the house wh
ich would open up the area hopefully for berries or vegetables.

In my experience, the most likely veggies to produce where shade is
an issue are green beans, chives, parsley, lettuce and a few other types
of loose, leafy greens.

It's far better if most of the sun is in the morning and most of the shade
is in the afternoon than the other way around.
--
Pat in Plymouth MI ('someplace.net' is comcast)

Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced.
(attributed to Don Marti)

"Pat Kiewicz" wrote said:
In my experience, the most likely veggies to produce where shade is
an issue are green beans, chives, parsley, lettuce and a few other types
of loose, leafy greens.

i wonder if ground cover spinach would work there or how about what here in
New Zealand is called silverbeet.
its not a beet per se. its a dark green leafy plant. full of iron and tastes
good steamed on its own or chopped and tossed into pasta sauce or
casseroles.
not sure what its called wherever you live.
hang on, i'll google it for ya and find out other names....
Swiss Chard, i should of remembered this. my mom loved it. she lived in
california. i just never made the connection between the names. silly me.
heres some info i found.

Nutritional Information:
1/2 cup cooked silverbeet is a serve, and is:
 a good source of folate.*
 a source of fibre, vitamin C, vitamin A and iron.
 Low joule with only 62kJ per 100g.

Like English spinach, silverbeet is a source of iron. Its rich stores of
this valuable mineral however are not well absorbed by our digestive system.
Silverbeet is also relatively high in sodium (429mg per100gm) and should
therefore be considered carefully by those on low salt diets.
*Cooked silverbeet supplies about 60 micrograms of folate per serve. An
increased maternal folate consumption in at least the month before and 3
months following conception may reduce the risk of foetal neural tube
defects. It is wise for women planning a pregnancy to consume a minimum of
400ug folate per day in at least the month prior to conception and at least
3 months following conception.
Availability:
All year

Selection:
Fresh silverbeet has dark green, crisp leaves and a crisp creamy white
fleshy stem. Avoid silverbeet with wilted stems or leaves and scarring.

Storage:
Remove the string binding the bunch together after purchase, as this can
bruise the stalks. Remove damaged leaves and cut back the white stalk and
store in the refrigerator in an airtight plastic bag. Silverbeet should be
consumed within a few days of purchase.

Preparation Information:
 Salad (raw)
 Stir fry
 Steam
 Microwave
 Soup

Wash the leaves and stalks in cold salted water and drain well. Slice and
use in stir-fries, quiches or filo parcels with fetta cheese. Silverbeet can
also be steamed or pureed and used in soups, as a side vegetable or shredded
and added raw to salads. Cook as briefly as possible to retain maximum
nutrient content.

Historical Information:
This is the vegetable, with its big, dark green leaves and white veins and
stalk that many Australians mistakenly call spinach. Silverbeet is in fact a
close relative of both spinach and beetroot. Used for many centuries,
silverbeet was mentioned in Roman writings dating back to the 3rd and 4th
centuries BC. Even before this time it was a popular vegetable, thought to
have originated in the Mediterranean.

----------------------------------------

maybe the ground cover spinach is better after reading that info. didnt know
silverbeet was high in sodium, nor that the iron is not easily digestable.
oddly its a staple vege here. often pureed for babys around 1yr old and up.

lots of links on google for NZ spinach. as i dont know u'r location, cant
say which one would be the best source of the seeds. its grown in our
climate yr round. tho one website says only grown in summer. go figure.

i guess i can leave that to you to find. guess thats all i can suggest for
your vege plot.

cheers,

jeanne

argh, why is this double spacing?

i wonder if ground cover spinach would work there or how about what here in
New Zealand is called silverbeet [also known as Swiss Chard].

Both worth a try.

Rhubarb also, at least in zone 7 or cooler (roughly) (I don't think
the original poster gave a location).

There are bean varities which are specifically bred for partial shade
(the traditional example is growing up maize stalks in a maize field).
I know I've seen them at http://www.southernexposure.com/ ; don't know
about other seed catalogs.

But the person who said "forget about veggies in the shade" is partly
right. There aren't a lot of vegetables that can take shade. You
might consider looking for a shade-tolerant rose instead (Rosa rugosa
is the best known, although it is considered invasive some places.
Here in the Washington, DC area we have a native rose called Rosa
palustris). Depends on what you are looking for in a rose, though -
you can get rosehips and fragrance out of many of these roses but most
of them don't have the large flowers with many petals we've come to
expect from hybrid teas and other cultivated roses.