Small shady yard but want to grow vegetable garden
by
Tina
+11
I am a vey low income widowed mom of 3 teenagers. I want to grow a garden to help offset costs of groceries and possibly have enough to can/freeze. I don't have a lot to work with. My back yard is small with mostly shade, my front yard is also small with just a small portion near the street that gets sun for at least 4 hours a day. I need some low cost ideas for making the most of what I have and won't make my front yard look terrible.
10 answers
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Not many veggies will grow in shade .Green beans will if not too shady. Tomatoes are good to grow but require lots of sunshine and water. Be careful of you will need to spend more than you can get out of the garden except the fresh good taste of the veggies.
Peggy Bryan
on Mar 30, 2015
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...I would suggest looking at a RAISED garden bed, ( since they look nice, and can go anywhere , basically ) and there are so many ways to DIY it , including building one from GOOD ( heat treated ) pallets, OR even ' container gardening." There are many varieties of veggies that do well in either of these applications, and you can research this on Hometalk :) I hope this helps, and also take into account what grows best in your area. :)
Shelby @ The Weathered Barn Studio
on Mar 30, 2015
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It will not help with canning but lettuce and veggies that like cool weather will do ok in shadow esp. when it gets hot. You maybe able to have salad all summer. Cucumbers should be ok just slow, squash the same.
Robin Corzilius
on Mar 30, 2015
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@Tina is it possible that you could trim some branches to let the sun in. I have bushes and a few trees around our garden which I have to prune back. You can grow tomatoes in pots, and they also have hanging tomato pots now. You could do the same with peppers. Items such as beets and green onions can be planted on the edge of flower gardens if you have them. Root vegetables - potatoes, carrots etc. require some depth to grow. Hope you have some success.
Gail Salminen
on Mar 30, 2015
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That's a tough one. Even cool weather loving veggies like lettuces and spinach need a certain amount of sun. Have you thought about looking into whether or not there are community gardens in your area that you could join?
Colleen
on Mar 30, 2015
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have you thought about vertical gardening in your backyard where you are limited on space & sunshine? if you google it, you will find many different ways to do vertical gardening - you can use rain guttering (pick it up for cheap at a habitat restore or rummage sales) old pallets, etc. You can also mix vegetables in your front yard within flower beds - do you know what kind of veggies you are looking at that you want to plant & that would give us more of an idea on what advice to give you as far as space, etc? Sometimes you have more invested in plants, fertilizer, etc than you can buy the vegetables for in the store, but we all know nothing beats the taste of home grown veggies. Potato towers are an inexpensive way to grow lots of potatoes in a very small space - google those & check that out - potatoes can be used in so many ways to fill up hungry teenagers. Sometime green peppers can be cheaper in the store than they are to grow - sometimes 3 for $1 - you can freeze them & use them for stuffed peppers, in soups, casseroles on pizza, etc.
Vicki
on Mar 30, 2015
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I'll see if I can get someone to trim branches for me. I had another idea that I need to look at...my patio has a roof on it that gets some sun..maybe a small rooftop garden? We did well with leaf lettuce and some herbs just outside our front door last year and it looked cute, but had no luck with tomatoes & cucumbers. Too much shade.
Tina
on Mar 30, 2015
- See 2 previous
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I would go with a 5 gallon bucket garden. That way they can be moved to where the sun is. I would also grow vertical. Tomatoes and peppers produce a lot but need sun. Radishes and leafy vegetables will often do well in shade. Start out with a few plants this year to see what works for you, so as not to waste a lot of money on things that won't grow for you.
Eglehawk
on Mar 31, 2015
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Peggy's caution to be careful not to spend more than the value of what you harvest is good advice. Participating in a community garden is good, or do you have a neighbour whose yard is sunny and who might be interested in sharing the harvest with you? Also, check out my website for recipes to help you stretch your food budget: www.cookingforcents.weebly.com Canning and/or freezing in-season produce is a great way to save money as well.
Judy Borman
on Mar 31, 2015
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Thank you everyone for your suggestions! I have a lot to think about & plan in the next month
Tina
on Mar 31, 2015
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