(no subject)

[melannen]

I have been having a grump sort of day (possibly I have hit my limit for human interaction for the week already. Oh well, just a memorial viewing, church social hour, lunch with family friends, and a play left for the weekend, and then I can... start all over....)

anyway here is some grump for you, DW.

This is a short and very incomplete list of edible plants that currently grow in my yard, which is full of mature trees and very shady:

wild onion
wild raspberry
wild strawberry
pokeweed
wild mint
wild mustard
daylily
feral cherry tomatoes
chufa
bittercress
violets
dandelions
wood sorrel
wild grape
clover
rose
waybread
(and part of the reason why it is very shady: black walnut, pecan, mulberry, wild cherry, sugar maple.)

Here is a 100% complete list of domesticated vegetables and varieties that master gardeners and gardening books have suggested to me for mostly or full shade:

...cabbage, maybe, if you put it in a wheelbarrow and move it around to where the sun is.


WHY IS NOBODY WORKING ON SHADY VEGETABLE GARDENS FOR TEMPERATE CLIMATES?

Clearly it is possible to grow a variety of edibles in forest understory, since a variety of edibles are currently growing in my yard, and given the focus on resilience/sustability/urban homesteading/heirloom varieties/whatever right now, you'd think somebody would be promoting, say, a variety of potato that grows well in mostly-shade? Or publishing books that go into detail on what plants you can get some harvest from in the shade, even if it's not as much? I mean, I don't need maximum productivity, I can barely keep up with the wild raspberries as it is.

And yet all the vegetable gardening books and organic gardening gurus have to say about "if your garden is shady" is "well, maybe cut down some trees?"

I have looked into "edible forest gardens" a little, that seems to be the buzzword, but they seem to be mainly focused on planting trees and shrubs, and I'm good on trees and shrubs actually, I'd just like a squash once in awhile, is that so hard??

...anyway this is mostly just a grump but if you do have any good recs for sources for vegetable gardens that are 30% sun or less, I would be happy to get them.

Comments

[cyprinella]

I feel like someone should be working on shade strawberries because I've got wild ones that have tasteless berries pretty much overrunning any of the shady areas I haven't cultivated in some way. Sadly I have no idea if this is the case.

[melannen]

The tasteless ones are probably invasive mock strawberries from Asia, which are edible but not very good. They're the same ones that are in my yard. Supposedly they grow in basically the same environments as the native strawberries used to and have been outcompeting them in lawn/weed enviroments; the native Fragarias have fruit about the same size but much tastier. (My mom remembers eating them before the mock strawberries took over.) I would love to get rid of the mock strawberries and replace them with Virginia strawberries but I have no idea where I would even get any, to start with - the domestic culivars I've seen are all bred for huge fruit and thus want sunlight.

[cyprinella]

I can't remember if I've seen native strawberries at the Alexandria Native Plant sale or not. It's worth checking with their vendors though. It's a fun sale. http://www.northernalexandrianativeplantsale.org/

These guys seem to have Fragaria virginiana http://sunmountainnatives.com/list.html

[neotoma]

You might also try wood/alpine strawberries. I've had some luck growing them from seed, and Baker Creek carries a cultivar that will propagate by runners once you get it going.