Vegetables in a shady spot?

[BML]

The only part of my garden free to grow vegetables is in the shade of a large Walnut tree. Is there anything that will grow there?

[Ozark Lady]

How shady is it?
I have a walnut in my garden. To date, I have never had a problem growing anything that I want to, right in the shade.

I used to wonder, how come the roots aren't preventing it, then I discovered, walnut roots aren't a problem for all plants. So, it lets fruit trees, and garden plants grow all around the base of it.

Now my walnut tree is very tall, bears lots of walnuts, but being a black walnut, it does not have a heavy canopy. I find the oak and hickory trees are more of a problem, due to the heavy foliage.

[BML]

I'm not sure how to describe levels of shade. Is it possible to upload photographs here?

[soil]

I would be more worried about the allelopathic effects of the walnut vs the shade. you can do a google search for plants that grow with walnuts, I'm sure you will find more than a few lists of plants.

[orgoveg]

I grow a number of things under the shade of an oak and a silver maple. Some sun gets through at different times of the day, so it's not complete shade, but mostly. Kale, asparagus, garlic, potato, spinach, turnip, and lettuce all do well. I also grow some "wild" species there which probably wouldn't interest you, but they do fine. Many things like tomato, cucumber, squash, etc. need full sun, but not everything. It's only the cost of a seed packet to experiment and find out.

[cynthia_h]

In general, the leafy veggies will tolerate more shade than the fruiting veggies will.

In this case, I don't recommend trying root veggies, b/c the walnut tree most likely won't enjoy having its own roots messed with.

I'm sure that, among us, we could give you an A => Z list of leafy veggies!

Arugula, bok choy, chicory, ....kale, lettuce, mache, ... rapini (=broccoli rabe), spinach, ...

If I weren't so tired from going to bed at 11:00 last night and then being awakened at 12:00 midnight, 2:30 a.m., 3:15 a.m., and 5:00 a.m. by a dog in pain, I might be able to give you more ideas....

Cynthia H.
Sunset Zone 17, USDA Zone 9

[BML]

Well, having reached my middle seventies, attended two universities where I acheived three degrees I discover the "allelopathic effects of the walnut" which just goes to show the high level of knowledge to be found on this forum. I keyed the term, "allelopathic effects of the walnut" into the Web where most of the mentions appeared to refer to the black walnut tree.
It is a fascinating effect but the only study I found related to strawberries. As I have already planted Broad Beans, Potatoes, Cabbage, Brussels Sprouts, etc etc I can do none other than wait and see how they all grow so thank you all very much for making gardening much more interesting.

[garden5]

In general, the leafy veggies will tolerate more shade than the fruiting veggies will.

In this case, I don't recommend trying root veggies, b/c the walnut tree most likely won't enjoy having its own roots messed with.

I'm sure that, among us, we could give you an A => Z list of leafy veggies!

Arugula, bok choy, chicory, ....kale, lettuce, mache, ... rapini (=broccoli rabe), spinach, ...

If I weren't so tired from going to bed at 11:00 last night and then being awakened at 12:00 midnight, 2:30 a.m., 3:15 a.m., and 5:00 a.m. by a dog in pain, I might be able to give you more ideas....

Cynthia H.
Sunset Zone 17, USDA Zone 9

......parsley, spinach-mustard, chives, mint.....