Shadow Gardening

There is a myth that you can’t grow veggies without lots of direct sunlight.

Whilst this is true to a certain extent you can also do a bit of a slight of hand trick by planting the right variety of vegetables at the right time that will do well in shaded conditions.

Choose leaf or root veggies and sow and establish them before the shorter months when the sun is low in the sky.

This bed of leafy greens was planted on April 1st (this is not an April Fool’s joke – we promise). They received about 4 hours of sunlight at that time but no direct sunlight from the middle of May till the beginning of September.

Look at how healthy and happy these plants are! We have been harvesting them all winter. The Cauliflower All Year Round will set heads later in spring. We have been picking the Chinese Cabbage Michihili and Tuscany Kale leaves since May.

Worried that your garden is too shady to grow anything? Try some of these varieties and see how you go.