not doing very well- what would you do?

[lindyloo]

well- i just have to admit i am not doing very well so far in the gardening game! i have spent 3 weeks procrastinating as to where to site a raised bed, and where to site some tubs.

grown in a conservatory roofed passageway, my tomato seeds have raised thier heads and promptly died. my leeks and spring onions have showed above the soil, but seem to be stuck now- stopped growing/ not straightening up. everything else i have cheated and bought as babies, ready to plant out.

a poor workman blames his tools, and so am i going too! i have a shady, extremely windy garden at the top of a hill, with a lot of greedy birds living in it, and i also have access to a feild where there is sun, but also lots of rabbits and birds, and i am not always there. when ever i have prevoiusly tried to grow there, it has all been eaten, bar leeks.

so, having decided the leeks, spring onion, garlic, rhubarb, pumpkin, swede, and hopefully parsnip, can go into the raised bed at feild, i am still at a loss as to where i can put the strawberry plants, the lettuce and salad, tomatoes and redcurrant bush.

as of last night , the strawberries have been planted into large galvanized washtubs, so are portable, and likewise the lettuce, with another prepared for the salad. so my question is, to all of you, where would you park these tubs, to best advantage, and could the parsnips ( also carrots) be grown in deep tubs or containers? and if so, how much space between each plant? and how deep do the containers need to be?

is it best to get morning sun, or afternoon sun (both is not possible) is shady and sheltered, better than more sun with a force nine gale blowing continually?

any and all advice gratefully recieved- how do you all manage in less than ideal circumstances? i am exhausted just planning, let alone digging!!!

continually?

[lindyloo]

forgot to say, the sun is also limited at home, as there is a tall building about 20" behind the house, so we get the shade from by house, and then later in the day, as the sun moves over, we get shade from the other one. there is also a tall tree to the west.

[Glutton4...]

What would I do? I'd blimmin well move house! LOL

Keep trying!

You could put up mirrors (semi-hidden behind trellis) to reflect more light round the garden, and plant or build a windbreak in certain areas to create more warmth and less turbulence. Good luck!

[lindyloo]

cant afford to move house!!! i garden is quite nice as a woodland glade- always shady and cool, violets and foxglove, and small shrubs; which is nice on a muggy day. i reckon there is about 4-5 hours of dappled sunlight in places. but vegetables?

[HeyWayne]

I feel your pain lindyloo - our garden sounds very similar (barring the wind).

Without my allotment I wouldn't have either the space, or sunshine to grow edibles.

Our garden is north facing and we have a medium sized (approx 25 years old) oak tree in one corner (to the West) and then a banked woodland area running along the West of the house - so like you I only get full sun for a few hours during the day - and only then during the summer months.

My greenhouse is sighted on the north eastern most corner of the garden. The sun comes round gradually warming the plants and then the dappled shade allows it to cool gently in the evening.

I'd sight the beds there if you can.

[Nicos]

I found this....

Quote...
"In general, leafy vegetables are the most shade-tolerant, while those that fruit from a flower (tomatoes, peppers, squash, eggplants) are the least.

In between are the root vegetables requiring at least a half day of full sun: potatoes, beets, carrots and turnips.

Shade tolerant leafy vegetables include lettuce, spinach, Swiss chard, arugula, endive and radiccio. Broccoli (and its relatives -- kale, kohlrabi, turnips, mustard and cabbage -- also grow in partial shade."


and from another site...


Quote...

"Cool-season salad vegetables such as lettuce, spinach and radishes may benefit from light shading through the heat of the summer. Beans, beets, broccoli, cabbage, kohlrabi, peas, potatoes, rhubarb and turnips will grow in light shade but not produce as large a crop as plants growing in full sun.

Currants and gooseberries are fruits which tolerate medium shade and still produce a crop. Bramble fruits such as blackberries and raspberries grow in light shade, but yields will be reduced. "

Hope that helps??