A neighbor just told me that lettuce will grow well in shade. From reading and my own prejudice, I thought it needed "full sun" or "mostly sunny".
The spot being considered is between two buildings and also under two pine trees. It might get dappled sun briefly, a few times per day. The rest of them time, diffuse light or fairly shady. We do have a lot of clouds in this season, so "diffuse light" does mean "some light".
Do you think it is worth 3 cubic feet of soil, to try growing lettuce in a shady raised bed? I'm thinking of a bed with walls 48" x 16" x 8".
What kind of lettuce would be most shade tolerant - leaf lettuce, not heading?
I already have these varieties from trade, but no experience growing them:
"Marvielle of Four Seasons" - - 52 days
"Red Salad Bowl" - - - 50 days
"Black Seeded Simpson" - - - 45 days
'Bibb' - - - 50 days
'Grand Rapids' - - - 55-68 days
'Sunset' red leaf - - - 52 days
'Great Lakes' Lettuce
'Ruby' Lettuce
"Romaine" / "White Cos" - - - 75 days
'Iceberg' - - - 65-85 days
Corn Salad, Mache, Lamb's Lettuce - - - Valerianella locusta
What I have on hand is amended clay: amended with coffee grounds, composted manure, some crushed rock and pine bark mulch. I might buy and combine that with a bag of potting soil, more composted manure, or what-have-you.
That neighbor just offered to let me put a raised bed into that spot: I think it's in "her yard", but she thinks it's in "my yard". We live in a Manufactured Home park where we only rent the spaces, so it's almost a moot point. She has a big sunny backyard (big by park standards!) so she doesn't need the shady spot. I would share the letuce with her.
Are ANY vegetables or greens tolerant of part shade?
