By AMANDA ZAMBRANO
Master Gardener Intern

Vegetable gardens have been a source of much angst on my shady lot. I thought tomatoes and zucchini were easy to grow, and didn’t think twice about plopping them in my little 4’ x 8’ raised bed.

The first year, my tomatoes did really well. That was the year we had an extraordinarily hot, dry summer. I’m sure my shade trees protected those tomatoes, because I’ve never had another good crop. Heirlooms, cherry tomatoes, standard hybrids – none of them want to grow. The combination of cool, damp summers and too much shade doesn’t produce great tomatoes.

I’ve learned a decent rule of thumb is if you’re harvesting roots or fruits it needs full sun, at least six hours. This would be veggies like tomatoes or potatoes. The flip side of that rule, if you’re harvesting stalks or leaves, it can tolerate less sun (sometimes only two to four hours). These would be your salad greens, rhubarb, and even some herbs. There is one side note to these general rules. Cool weather crops seem to do better in partial sun as well, things like broccoli or peas.

Here’s a general list of partial sun crops: arugula, chard, some herbs (mint, oregano, parsley), lettuce, kale, spinach, broccoli, peas, beans (particularly dwarf or bush varieties) and some small root vegetables, like beets or carrots.

Even if you have a very sunny garden, these are good plants to keep in mind for planting near tall crops like tomatoes or corn, which can block the sun over part of your garden. They also pair well with things like zucchini or cucumber, which you can train to climb on a frame, and then use the area underneath the frame for a small shade tolerant veggie like lettuce.

So what’s in my garden this year? I like to direct sow instead of planting, so I’ve got my cool weather seeds working already. I’ve got two rows of peas, a row of carrots, two rows of lettuce, a row of spinach and two broccolis. It’s still a bit cool to sow beans, but I’ve got some bush bean seeds to put out soon, around the middle of May.

The one other crop plant I have is rhubarb, which is a perennial. It is my most successful crop and I’ve already harvested some this year. I keep my rhubarb in my landscape instead of my raised bed. That way it doesn’t interfere with my annual veggies, and brings some interesting texture and color to an otherwise quiet part of my landscape.

So what about those tomatoes? Well, this year I’m going to try something new. I’m going to container garden my tomatoes, putting them in five gallon buckets on my patio. If they look like they aren’t getting enough sun, I’ll try moving them around my yard to see where they thrive best. Hopefully I’ll find just the right spot!

Amanda Zambrano is the director of advancement at Grace Village Retirement Community. She is a master gardener intern, just learning the ins and outs of successful gardening.

Along with her master gardener volunteering, Amanda serves on the board of directors for the Wagon Wheel Center for the Arts, the Symphony of the Lakes committee and a Kosciusko County Community Foundation scholarship committee. She plays flute for the Symphony of the Lakes and enjoys hand-quilting, baking and reading. She is also an occasional blogger. Amanda lives in Warsaw with her husband Dan and her son Alexander.