Hi, Batya, welcome to the Vegetable forum. My climate here in Michigan is very different from yours, and I'm envious of your ability to grow all of the things you mention outdoors, I have some of them, like rosemary, bay, and citrus, as houseplants. I can grow certain types of lavender outdoors very successfully. (Sorry, just a digression).

At any rate, the principles of what will grow in partial shade should be the same, though. I have a lot of success growing any type of salad green in those conditions, such as lettuce, mache, arugula, endive, escarole, many brassicas like collards and kale. Garlic and leeks do well, although the garlic won't make as large of bulbs as it will in sun. Celery does well in quite a bit of shade as well.

As for other things, it may be a question of trial and error, since shade is sort of variable -- it depends so much on the source of the shade, how dense, etc.

I planted some tomato plants this year in partial shade from cherry trees, and they did as well, if not better, than those in full sun, which really surprised me. I had run out of space, and just threw them in the spot, thinking that I might get a few tomatos from them, and they had a bumper crop of really nice tomatos. Who knew?

I've also had pretty good luck with green beans, peppers, summer squash, and cucumbers.

I can mention a few things that I know WON'T be happy in conditions -- sweet potatoes and okra -- both of these sulk unless in full sun. The sweet potato vines grow well in semi-shade, but they make no roots of any size.

The other issue is your climate/weather over the upcoming months. Am I safe in assuming that your winter temperatures are cool, as well as wet as you mention above ? -- you may have trouble growing certain warm weather crops, such as melons. I hope someone from a comparable climate, such as California, will chime in here and offer more advise.

I hope this helps. My winter gardening here is pretty much confined to looking at catalogs and growing a few things in the house under lights.

Dennis
SE Michigan

I am pretty new at gardening, so I can't answer all of your questions, but I did deal with partial shade in a lot of my vegetable garden this year. Leaf and root vegetables are good choices, but I also found that I could even plant peppers and tomatoes. Just pick EARLY varieties if you can, because they seem to grow slower and take longer to set fruit in the shade. Your yield may be a bit lower, and fruit smaller, but you can do it if you really want them. Cherry tomatoes are a good choice, mine did great.

You might also want to check out the seed exchange forums on here... you may be able to arrange seed trades with U.S. gardeners for specific veggie varieties. Especially if you offer some seeds for unique vegetables from Israel!

Hope this helps!
Lori

Thanks, but it's illegal to import seeds unless you have a business license for it and it's also illegal to bring plant materials back in with me when I visit. I've tried!! We get kind of California weather, never a real frost, LOTS of rain (I hope) and windy, until Spring. I'll see what leaf and root veggies I can cram into such a small space, but I fear my veggie planting days are numbered. Thanks Batya

Here is a list of the more shade-tolerant vegetables. However, some of these don't like a lot of heat. Look for heat tolerant varieties.

GREENS:
 arugula
 cabbage
 kale
 lettuce
 mustard greens
 pak choi
 parsley
 sorrel
 spinach

ALLIUMS:
 chives (can be invasive)
 garlic chives
 onions

HERBS:
 cardamom
 mint (invasive)

LEGUMES:
 peas
 bush beans

BERRIES:
 blackberry
 currants
 gooseberry
 strawberries

WOWie kazowie, thanks boo! I can try the garlic and the peas right away. We're going into our winter here, and heat (well at least the summer sizzle of the middle east bake-a-thon) is over. We finally got our first rain after 7 months and it's delightful. I suppose I could try the lettuce too. And cardamom? It's a favorite spice here and used all over the place but I've never seen any growing, even in village gardens. But it would be worth it for that gorgeous smell, so I'll ask around. I've tried strawberries but the slugs ALWAYS win. This is gonna be fun........Batya

Batya, don't have much to add that hasn't already been said, but I used to live outside of Haifa. It's been a long, long time, since I've visited, but I still have family around the area. It's a beautiful place and I remember it fondly.

Swiss Chard is an excellent-tasting green that thrives in part sun in my area with plenty of rain. The varieties "Lucullus" and "Large Ribbed" are the best I've grown (which aren't many). One of the two, I don't know which, grows huge, thick, dark green, savoyed leaves of excellent culinary quality.

Used coffee grounds, put down on the soil around the chard, work well in that the grounds add a little nitrogen, plus they slowly break down and add compost, plus they work as a mulch and protect soil from drying out. The earth worms also like the grounds.

Good idea with the chard and the coffee grounds. I think the coffee grounds may help to deter slugs too.

Bayta, glad to help. I hope my suggestions work for you. Good luck with the garlic, peas, lettuce & cardamom. I just planted garlic myself, but won't see the results until next summer.

Have you tried copper screening around the strawberries to stop the slugs. The copper gives off a small electrical charge they don't like. When you cut the screening curl up the ends and place them completely around the plants. They like beer so you also could put out shallow containers with beer to drown them. We enjoy our winter gardens more than the summer because of the heat. I like to plant all winter long in my area.

Many years ago when my kids were very young I would bring in fresh vegetables from the garden to eat at the evening meal. One day I asked the kids what they wanted for dinner. My second daughter immediately responded "NOT roll-ups". To which I said "roll-ups?". Their Mom jumped in immediately and said come on Dad, don't you know, roll-ups, turn-ups, you roll 'em, you turn 'em its all the same thing. Anyway, I think that was the last year I grew "roll-ups".