shade veggies

[Dixana]

The house we're moving to has an empty garden bed on the shade side of the house. It gets pretty much no direct sun.
Are there any veggies or edibles that will grow there? I can't think of any, but maybe I'm missing something...
If not I'll just turn it into a shade garden and plant coleus and stuff.

[Lunacy]

I believe lettuce and cabbage will grow there. I grow those on the side of my house and it gets less than 3 hours of direct sun. But I'm sure no expert.

[applestar]

I grow Ostrich fern AGAINST the north foundation of the house -- absolutely no sun whatsoever. They will happily take over. You eat the curled spring shoots. Make sure you get Ostrich Fern (will dig up Latin name later) and not just any fern if you plan to eat them and plan to grow in deep shade.

Blackberries and wild strawberries grow and produce limited fruits in the same area.

I think mints will do OK there too.

[Francis Barnswallow]

I think mints will do OK there too.

Speaking of mints, I planted peppermint in the garden 3 years ago....and now this stuff is everywhere. I smells nice when I mow it but I'm starting to get concerned because it's overtaking the natural grass.

Any suggestions?

[GardenRN]

If you are growing the plant to harvest the leaves or seed pods, dappled shade or low sun is ok. So think (even though it may be too late for some of these in your area) lettuce, spinach, cabbage, arugula, mint, peas, chards, etc.

If you are growing to harvest the roots or fruits, think direct sun.

[orgoveg]

Yeah, I was thinking spinach. Most of my problems with spinach stem from too much sun and too much heat. I don't know how it would do in complete shade, but as cheap as a pack of seeds would be, I'd definitely consider trying. My experiences jive with GardenRN's post. There are several wild edible forest floor plants that I could suggest, but I don't know if you're into that. Ostrich fern was already mentioned for harvesting "fiddleheads".

[BP]

After my spinach suffered in the sun and heat, I tried an experiment. I planted seed in an area that gets really no direct sunlight. It grew slowly due to high temps, but better than if it was in the sun too. Once fall came and the temps went down it grew great.

[soil]

gooseberries and currants will both grow well in the shade and will grow in your zone 4. they are very hardy and delicious.