9 Vegetables You Can Grow In The Shade

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What do you do if you have a shady garden? Or even just a shady spot in the garden?

Well, luckily, there are still plenty of vegetables that will grow in the shade and provide excellent harvests.

So with no further ado, let’s get into my list of 10 veggies to grow in the shade.

Beetroot

Beetroot will tolerate shade and grow in all but the darkest of spots.

They are a quick-growing crop, and you can use the leaves as well as the root, so why not give them a try?

If you are not a massive fan of the earthy beetroot taste, try growing golden beetroot, as the taste is much less pronounced.

They also have the added benefit of not staining as regular beetroot does.

Broccoli

Brocolli can survive just fine in the shade, both regular broccoli and the sprouting kind don’t mind a bit of shade.

In fact growing in the shade can help prevent bolting during the warmer months.

So if you want to try and grow broccoli all year round then try a shady spot.

Cabbage

Like other brassica crops, you might have noticed a few in this list already, cabbage can tolerate the shade.

They are cold-loving plants and as such don’t need to be sat in full sun all day.

They actually often do better in partial shade than they do in full sun.

Carrots

Another veg that can grow in shadier spots are carrots.

They will do better if they get some direct sunlight for part of the day but they can grow in full or dappled shade, don’t expect them to grow as large.

Leeks

leeks can grow in very shady spots, so if your garden has a particularly dark spot then why not give this tasty crop a grow?

In fact, they are another vegetable on this list that does better in partial shade than they do in full sun.

Parsnips

Another root vegetable makes it onto our list, parsnips.

They will do just as well in partial shade as they do in full sun, as long as they get a few hours of direct sunlight per day.

They can also grow in fully shaded spots but you will end up with a smaller harvest.

Potatoes

I actually ran an experiment last year to see if potatoes could grow in a spot that gets zero direct sunlight, and they do!

Have a look at the experiment for yourself here.

The result was a decent crop, but not as many or as larger spuds as I would have got growing them in the sun.

Still a great choice for fully shaded spots.

Swede

I love swedes, for me, they are one of the best-tasting root vegetables available.

Swedes can grow in the shade as long as they get some direct sunlight at some point in the day.

They are not one of the crops that can do well in a fully shaded spot.

Turnips

Another root vegetable that can tolerate shade are turnips.

I say tolerate because they do like some full sun at some point in the day.

They are another crop that doesn’t love heat though so if you are growing them through the warmer months then some mid-day shade may be ideal.

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