Growing a vegetable garden in the shade

Sunlight is essential for plant growth. Most vegetables need six to eight hours of sunlight to flower. What if the garden is located in a shaded area? Growing in the shade Plants are dependent on the sun. They use the light available to produce their own energy. They will then use it to grow and flower. The sun also provides them with heat, which stimulates their growth. Plants are able to detect the amount of available light and adapt their development accordingly. This is why it is important to choose plants according to the brightness of your site. Shade-loving plants have developed strategies to cope with a lack of light. Their leaves are often wider and thinner. Typically, we find burdock, stinging nettles, etc. If some plants like shaded areas, it is because they are protected from high temperatures in summer and benefit from humidity. And for the gardener, humidity means less watering! Growing in the shade is also of great interest since it allows for earlier or later harvests thanks to temperature regulation. To grow in shaded areas, you must first accept that harvests may sometimes be a little less abundant and that fruits or root vegetables may be smaller. But anyone who truly enjoys gardening will not stop at this detail! Especially since there are now many strategies to improve harvests! Capture light and heat! Orient crops! Observe your land and study the path of the sun. Place plants where they will benefit from the available light for as long as possible. Mulch! A light-colored mineral or organic mulch will reflect a certain amount of light. Pruning If the shade in your garden is not created by a building but by very dense vegetation, you can consider thinning it out by pruning to let light into your garden. Mirrors Well-placed mirrors can redirect light to dark corners of the vegetable garden! Plants are just as productive under direct sunlight as under the light reflected by mirrors. Shadowy areas are also created by buildings, which are particularly numerous in cities. Painting the walls a light color can be a good idea to give more light to the plants by reflections from the facades. By providing more light, you can grow a greater variety of vegetables! Finally, to increase the temperature and stimulate growth, it is possible to create a greenhouse effect by protecting crops with glass or plastic cloches. What to sow or plant in the shade? Strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, currants, gooseberries, blackcurrants and rhubarb were originally plants of undergrowth or forest edges! Planted in partial shade, they will adapt very well. Fruit vegetables are very light-hungry. You will probably have to give up growing tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, cucumbers and zucchini in shaded areas. Leafy vegetables, on the other hand, are more tolerant: leeks, chards, endives, cabbages (kale, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, kohlrabi and Chinese cabbage pak choi), garden cress, watercress and alénois will gladly appreciate a little shade and the humidity it provides. Spinach, lettuce and arugula are perfect for areas with low light. The freshness offered by this environment will prevent them from flowering too quickly. Protected from the heat, some varieties can be grown for longer. Aromatic and medicinal herbs include parsley, tarragon, mint, sorrel, chervil, celery, borage, angelica, lemon balm and comfrey. Radishes, beetroot, swedes, parsnips, Jerusalem artichokes, peas and climbing beans are relatively shade tolerant. For earlier crops, sow your seeds in conditions of sufficient light and then transplant them into the ground in a shaded area.