Thursday, November 3, 2011

The shade is moving in

We're rapidly losing sun in our front garden so the landscape is going to change dramatically very soon. It's a little sad because if we did have full sun all year we would have a lot more options but thankfully we have the rooftop garden now so we will still be able to grow a nice variety of food, including tomatoes throughout the year.
The garden is already half shady at noon
A month ago this area would have all been in full sun. These plants could go on producing nicely if it weren't for the shift in the sun pattern but they can't go on much longer in full shade. We are going to let them stay a little longer to allow the fruit on them to ripen up a little but our neighbors will notice a dramatic difference in the front garden soon. I've been trying to talk Farmer D into tearing the house down and living in a tent because the house is blocking the sun but for some reason he isn't willing, so we have to work with the conditions we have.

By the time December gets here, the very front row where the roses are will be the only area with full sun
Right now the center of the garden is half sun and half shade. This is where the delicious eggplant lives and it is still producing well so I hope we can stretch it out awhile.

The raised bed in the center of the garden

One of our gorgeous eggplants
The massive avocado tree behind the house shades most of the area in back 
We are extremely grateful for our gorgeous avocado tree so we forgive it for shading our small back yard. The rooftop garden will most likely help us when harvesting our avocados too so it's all good.

Gidget is concerned and wonders what we're going to grow in all this space with no sunshine
We are going to have to stick with leafy things in the front garden during the shady season. We have several varieties of lettuce, spinach, chard, and we are going to try radishes but we do not expect the crops to produce nearly as much as they would if they were in sun.

Swiss Chard in full shade
Swiss chard in full sun
The shady Swiss Chard is 1 week younger than the sunny chard. The plants definitely do better with sun but we will have lots of baby greens from the shady garden to eat during winter and since the avocados are almost ready, we will continue to enjoy an abundance of food all year.

I am actually looking forward to seeing how the garden is going to transform over the next month or so, it certainly won't be as majestic as it is now but it won't require as much attention either and we'll welcome the short break before the sun comes back and we can grow warm season crops in front again. I'm so happy we have the roof with full sun. If I am overlooking any food plants that you know will thrive in shade, please let me know what they are!

No comments:

Post a Comment