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30 Fruits, Vegetables, and Herbs You Can Grow in Part Shade

April 1, 2020

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You want to grow a vegetable garden, but unfortunately all you have is partial shade, or even worse–full shade. Don’t despair. While you can’t grow everything you might want to, there are lots of fruits, vegetables, and herbs that do well in shade. In fact, I’ve made a list with pictures of 30 edible plants that grow in the shade.

Realistic Expectations for Growing Edible Plants in Shade

Just because a fruit or vegetable is shade tolerant, doesn’t mean that it will grow exactly the same as it would in full sun. Expect your plants to grow slower and produce less of a harvest.

If possible, you can get a bit more sun by trimming trees or removing them altogether. If the area is by a fence, you could always paint it white to help reflect the light, or even set up a mirror if you have a large one.

That said, here are some options for shade tolerant fruit, vegetables, and herbs.

Fruits that Grow in Shade

There are a surprising amount of fruits that will grow well in the shade. In fact, there are at least 10 that I didn’t list, because I live in zone 2/zone 3 in Canada, and I don’t like listing plants that I have no hope of ever growing. Wherever you are, I recommend buying any fruit bushes or trees at a local greenhouse, and asking the staff if the variety you want to buy can be grown in partial shade.

Don’t try and ask the staff at a big box store. Chances are very high that they will not know.

P.S. There’s a surprising amount of fruit you can grow in zone 2 and zone 3. Click here for 28 fruits you can grow!

Lowbush Blueberries

Blueberries fall into two categories: high bush and low bush. Choose the low bush varieties and make sure that your soil is on the acidic side.

Chokecherries

Chokecherries are very hardy and can even be grown in zone 1. If you’ve never tried one before, they are very astringent and don’t taste good raw. They are delicious in jams, jellies, and juices when you add a lot of sugar.

Currants

Elderberries

Raspberries

Raspberry canes have a spreading habit once established. Be a kind neighbour and offer to pull out any canes that stray over the fence line. Fruit does not grow on first year canes, so you will not get any fruit the very first year.

Need recipe ideas? You’ll love these scones, muffins, and no churn ice cream.

Rhubarb

Rhubarb is a very hardy fruit. The stalks are delicious, but the leaves are poisonous.

Saskatoon Berry

Canadians know these berries as Saskatoon berries, but Americans will likely know them as Serviceberries or Juneberries. Whatever you call them, they’re delicious!!

I’m a wee bit obsessed with Saskatoon berries, and have a lot of recipes on this blog. Click here for a list of all my best Saskatoon berry recipes!

Vegetables that Grow in Partial Shade

What vegetables do well in shade? The ones that like cool weather and tend to be quick growing. In general, most leafy greens and cruciferous vegetables are able to tolerate partial shade.

Arugula

Arugula is one of the quickest growing crops you can grow, with only 20 days to maturity!

Asian Greens: Bok Choi, Pack Choi, etc.

Asparagus

Asparagus is a perennial vegetable, and you can’t harvest anything until the 3rd year. Once the plant is established, it will provide you with fresh spinach every spring without any effort.

Beans

Beans prefer full sun, but if you’re okay with slower growth and a smaller harvest, you can grow delicious bush beans.

Beets

Most root crops are also good candidates for growing in partial shade. Get your seeds in the garden as early as possible, as they will need the whole season to get as large as possible.

Broccoli

In some cases broccoli actual does better in partial shade, as the cooler temperatures the shade provides means its slower to bolt.

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

Do you struggle with bugs in your broccoli? Here’s how to keep them out! The same trick will also work for cabbage or any other cruciferous vegetable.

Cabbage

Cauliflower

Photo by Irene Kredenets on Unsplash

Celery

Celery is not a quick growing vegetable. It’s best to start celery 8 to 10 weeks before you intend to plant them outdoors.

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

Collards

Collards are very similar in texture to kale and are quick and easy to grow. They’re not every popular in North American diets, but they should be!

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Kale

There are so many varieties of kale to chose from, ranging from the darkest green, to blue/green, to tinged with pinks and purples. Sneak some into your flowerbeds for something that is both pretty and practical.

Kohlrabi

Kohlrabi is super useful, as it can be ready in as little as 45 days, and both the leaves and roots are edible.

Peas

Peas are one of the less-shade-loving-slower-growing-options on this list, but they will still work. Just plant more than you usually would to account for the vines being less productive.

Potatoes

Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

Radishes

Radishes add a nice peppery hit to your salads. Don’t plant too many though–16 or so radishes in enough for one week. Plant a new crop every week or two while its cool for radishes all season.

Spinach

My favourite variety hands down is Bloomsdale. It’s the only one that I actually get to harvest before it bolts.

Swiss Chard

Swiss Chard comes in so many pretty colours. My favourites are Bright Lights and Giant Fordhook.

Turnips

Turnips are another vegetable in which both the leaves and roots are edible. I like the Purple globe variety because it’s both pretty and tasty.

Can You Grow Vegetables in Full Shade?

If you have an area that receives no sunlight whatsoever all day (example–the front of a North facing house, a walkway between houses that is constantly shaded) you can’t grow any vegetables well except for possibly Asian Greens. Many of the leafy green vegetables can be grown with as little as 2-3 hours of light a day, but the growth will be slow.

Partial shade, with about 4-5 hours a day of light, or even a full day of dappled shade underneath a deciduous tree is your best bet for growing shade-loving vegetables.

Shade Tolerant Herbs

All those vegetables would taste better with a couple of fresh herbs! Although most herbs are heat and sun loving, there are 5 herbs that tolerate the shade.

Basil

My favourite kind of basil Sweet Basil, but I also like to grow a few other purple tinged varieties to use as greens in flower arrangements too.

Cilantro

Photo by Tomasz Olszewski on Unsplash

Mint

Keep your mint in a pot instead of growing it in the ground, as it has a spreading habit that you might not appreciate.

Oregano

Parsley

Photo by Hanna Stolt on Unsplash

Which of these shade tolerant vegetables, fruits, and herbs will you grow? If you need more ideas for plants that love the shade, here’s 17 perennials that grow in zone 3, and 22 of my favourite shade annuals.


Wish you could grow fresh vegetables in a small space? Now you can, with Small Garden, Big Harvest. It’s the fastest way to learn all the intensive gardening techniques that can help you maximize every inch of your available gardening space. With lots of easy to do, real life examples, and 2 done-for-you plans, you’ll be able to start vegetable gardening, even if all you have is an apartment balcony.

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE


Kristen Raney

Kristen is a former farm kid turned urban gardener who owns the popular gardening website, Shifting Roots.  She is obsessed with growing flowers and pushing the limits of what can be grown in her zone 3b garden.  She also loves to grow tomatoes, but oddly enough, dislikes eating them raw.

3 Comments
Filed Under: Uncategorised Tagged: growing fruit, growing vegetables, partial shade, shade

About Kristen Raney

Kristen is a former farm kid turned urban gardener who owns the popular gardening website, Shifting Roots.  She is obsessed with growing flowers and pushing the limits of what can be grown in her zone 3b garden.  She also loves to grow tomatoes, but oddly enough, dislikes eating them raw.

Comments

  1. Robyn says

    April 2, 2020 at 9:10 am

    Haskaps also do great in part shade, I have them in my north facing front yard right up against the house!
    Reply
    • Kristen Raney says

      April 3, 2020 at 7:43 pm

      What is your harvest like? I bought three bushes for a spot like that and I hope to get at least some fruit from them.
      Reply
      • Robyn says

        April 3, 2020 at 9:52 pm

        There are more and more berries every year! That is, if the cedar waxwings don't eat them all. They usually get them just as they are ripening. Last year (about 5 years after planting) I bought row cover to try and protect just one bush (the best tasting variety) but it appeared to totally scare them off. So no waxwings, and I actually ended up with more berries than I even wanted! I took off the row cover and then the robins had babies and ate a lot of them, there was purple poop all over the yard and deck haha. The waxwings showed up again about a month after I took the row cover off to clean things up. Overall worked out well for all of us in the end!
        Reply

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Welcome!

Hi, I'm Kristen and I help new gardeners learn to grow their own vegetables and beautify their yards. I also share recipes that use all that delicious garden produce. Grab a coffee (and your gardening gloves) and join me for gardening tips, simple recipes, and the occasional DIY, all from the lovely city of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

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Hi, I’m Kristen and I help new gardeners learn to grow their own vegetables and beautify their yards. I also share recipes that use all that delicious garden produce. Grab a coffee (and your gardening gloves) and join me for gardening tips, simple recipes, and the occasional DIY, all from the lovely city of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

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Are you gardening in containers this year? When y Are you gardening in containers this year?  When you're shopping for vegetable seeds, look for varieties that have names with words like patio, tiny, small, etc.  While lots of vegetable varieties will do fine in a container, you'll have an easier time with ones that are specifically bred for that situation.⁠
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I hope you've enjoyed this week of chatting about I hope you've enjoyed this week of chatting about the best flowers to plant in a cut flower garden.  There's so many options, these 5 that I talked about all week don't even come close.  If you need more help creating a small cut flower garden, I created this plan intended for a raised bed (but you can plant it in-ground too.⁠
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Hey friends! There's a lot of new faces in this l Hey friends!  There's a lot of new faces in this little corner of IG, so I wanted to introduce myself.  My name is Kristen and I'm the gardener & content creator behind Shifting Roots.  I'm wife to @mgsraney and mom to 3 kids, ages 8, 23 months and 7 months.  Needless to say, our house is BUSY.  I garden in zone 3 in Saskatoon, SK, so if I can grow it in my short growing season and cold temperatures, you probably can too.⁠
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