Planning out the yard for next year I'm thinking about putting an additional raised bed against my shed for spinich, lettuc, herbs and other such plants.
This area would end up being a north to south bed 3 to 4 feet wide with the western side being our shed. This would mean the bed would have sun from sunrise until about 1pm or so.
Is that enough sun for these type of plants?
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applestar
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Leafy vegs certainly. Herbs -- depends. OK for Mint family including lemon balm and anise hyssop, cilantro, parsley. Tarragon, rosemary and basil too though they would get a bit spindly. Sage would have a hard time. Pineapple sage will be OK but it won't flower as well as when in full sun.
Arrange them by height for maximum sun exposure and you should be fine.
Arrange them by height for maximum sun exposure and you should be fine.
I'll definiatly be needing some advice on that one once I decide what types I'm going to grow. I've grown any lettuce or spinich or anything and my herbs never get very big, I usually kill them by aug or september cuz I cut too much off to use 
Don't take more than one-third of a plant at any one time *or* within a short period of time. Otherwise, there aren't enough leaves remaining for the plant to perform photosynthesis *and* it can go into shock.
This is true no matter what: whether you're cutting leaves off of spinach to eat, clipping basil leaves for a tomato dish, pruning roses back, or even renovating an overgrown fruit tree that hasn't been worked on for 10 years. (I got to work on my in-laws' fig tree, which hadn't been worked on for over 15 years....)
If more than one-third of a perennial *needs* to come off, it will have to come off in at least two stages, in successive years. One-third "now," and one-third next year.
In the case of my in-laws' fig tree, I took off one-third of its branches in January 2007, when my FIL was around to appreciate my work (performed at his request). My plan was to finish restoring the tree in January 2008, during the tree's dormant season. But FIL passed away in April 2007, and my BIL got caught up in re-landscaping the whole place in August 2007. Including the fig tree. His landscapers thought it was "too overgrown." Well, yes, it was; the tree was in the middle of a two-stage renovation, I told him.
They did not want to wait; they wanted to cut it NOW, in August, while it was setting the major crop of the year. I laid out the risk and said they ran a good chance of killing it or opening it up to some nasty diseases which would kill it in two or three years. They went ahead.
Guess what. The fruit no longer ripens but rather rots on the tree. Not even the birds will eat it.
So the one-third rule enforces itself. This may lie behind your herbs failing to become perennials (well, except for basil, a notoriously finicky plant).
Cynthia H.
Sunset Zone 17, USDA Zone 9
This is true no matter what: whether you're cutting leaves off of spinach to eat, clipping basil leaves for a tomato dish, pruning roses back, or even renovating an overgrown fruit tree that hasn't been worked on for 10 years. (I got to work on my in-laws' fig tree, which hadn't been worked on for over 15 years....)
If more than one-third of a perennial *needs* to come off, it will have to come off in at least two stages, in successive years. One-third "now," and one-third next year.
In the case of my in-laws' fig tree, I took off one-third of its branches in January 2007, when my FIL was around to appreciate my work (performed at his request). My plan was to finish restoring the tree in January 2008, during the tree's dormant season. But FIL passed away in April 2007, and my BIL got caught up in re-landscaping the whole place in August 2007. Including the fig tree. His landscapers thought it was "too overgrown." Well, yes, it was; the tree was in the middle of a two-stage renovation, I told him.
They did not want to wait; they wanted to cut it NOW, in August, while it was setting the major crop of the year. I laid out the risk and said they ran a good chance of killing it or opening it up to some nasty diseases which would kill it in two or three years. They went ahead.
Guess what. The fruit no longer ripens but rather rots on the tree. Not even the birds will eat it.
So the one-third rule enforces itself. This may lie behind your herbs failing to become perennials (well, except for basil, a notoriously finicky plant).
Cynthia H.
Sunset Zone 17, USDA Zone 9
Ah! 
You're gardening in circumstances similar to those which inspired Eliot Coleman to use cold frames. He's written several books on year-round gardening in Maine. I just checked the USDA map, and most of Maine is USDA Zone 4; some of it is Zone 5; the northern tip is Zone 3.
Maybe take a look at his website and check out one or two of his books at the local library? I usually look for non-fiction (gardening, esp.) books at the library before I spring for them out of my own pocket. That way I know whether I'll be using them constantly as references, or whether they're a One Time Wonder.
See Coleman's website at https://www.fourseasonfarm.com/index.html .
The photos of your yard in the other thread make me think that at least a couple of cold frames would work well for you. But Coleman is the master; see if his work resonates with you.
Cynthia
You're gardening in circumstances similar to those which inspired Eliot Coleman to use cold frames. He's written several books on year-round gardening in Maine. I just checked the USDA map, and most of Maine is USDA Zone 4; some of it is Zone 5; the northern tip is Zone 3.Maybe take a look at his website and check out one or two of his books at the local library? I usually look for non-fiction (gardening, esp.) books at the library before I spring for them out of my own pocket. That way I know whether I'll be using them constantly as references, or whether they're a One Time Wonder.
See Coleman's website at https://www.fourseasonfarm.com/index.html . The photos of your yard in the other thread make me think that at least a couple of cold frames would work well for you. But Coleman is the master; see if his work resonates with you.
Cynthia