Gardening: Vegetables Made in the Shade
01 August 2011
This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.
Not all vegetables need lots of sunshine. Mark Hoffman and his wife, Guia, own a bed-and-breakfast guesthouse in rural Kempton, Illinois. They often serve their guests produce fresh from the garden.
The Hoffmans have been growing food and flowers for twenty-five years. For almost ten of those years, Mr. Hoffman has been experimenting and working with shade plantings. He says visitors to his website -- greenhousebed.com -- often ask how to plant in shade spaces.
MARK HOFFMAN: “The bottom line here is that most plants will produce more in full sun. But if you do not have full sun, there are other options.”
Mark Hoffman's tomato plants growing up into the leaves of an oak tree
For example, he grows tomatoes near oak trees. Oak trees can produce a lot of shade. But Mr. Hoffman says his tomato plants grow as long as they get five hours a day of direct sunshine, especially morning sun.
Not only does this go against the traditional advice that tomatoes need six, eight, even twelve hours a day of full sun. It also shows how plants and tree roots can share nutrients and water.
Mr. Hoffman also planted asparagus around a tree at its drip line, the area below the outer limit of the branches.
MARK HOFFMAN: “Now the asparagus is in partial shade. It has been there for six years now and is doing wonderfully. It is right at the drip line of the tree. So when it rains, all the rain drips down right on the asparagus.”
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