What to grow in less-sunny spots?

[BrandNewDay]

I've got a fair bit of garden that is in the shadow of the house for at least half the year. It's where the drying green is and I can't get anything dry there from maybe the end of September to maybe April. So, no sun in winter and it's a bit damp (I just noticed the clothes pegs have greenish mold on them and I've seen a sheen of green on the surface of the beds, as well). However, in the summer, it gets plenty of direct sun.

So, it's not a shady spot because it's bright for half the year. But, it's dark and damp all winter.

What do you think? Are there overwintering things/late harvesting things that don't mind dark damp for part of the cycle? Or should I stick to things that grow between April and September?

[bluemoon]

Anything green and leafy should do well in at least partial shade, things such as lettuce even prefer cooler conditions. When you think about it a plant needs to photosynthesize in order to grow, if light conditions are low then more leaves will be put out in order to increase the surface area, this is good when the plants are those where you eat the leaf, but not so great for other types who would make leaf at the expense of fruit or root.

[BrandNewDay]

Thank you, Bluemoon! That's a great point.

[bluemoon]

You could try overwintering onions. When I think about it, during winter the southernmost third of our plot is in permanent shade due to the privet hedge, I grow the rows north to south which means that for 6 months a third of the onion crop is in complete shade, yet there is never any difference between these and the ones in sunlight.

[cauli77]

If you happy to have something with thorns, you could try a gooseberry - Whinhams Industry is a red variety that would suit semi shade.

[thecarnage]

Spinach, lettuce and garlic!