Edamame is a warm-season crop needing more than half-sun and consistent heat. Doubt you'd get much even in summer unless against a south wall. Nonetheless, sounds like you have a significant, limiting challenge to veggie gardening. I picture you moving the pots to follow the sun and heat.

In your specific area (presuming your nom d' e- indicates your location) the bonus is the lack of temperature swings. The detriment is the lack of strong summer sun and heat, which limits your choices and contributes moisture to foster pathogens. In winter, you need sun.

I suggest getting a good catalogue, like Johnny's Seed, that has good explanations of what the plants need. Then purchase the Sunset Western Garden Book and its companion, Book of Edibles, the WGB is the bible in CA. The Mry County Extension used to be excellent, don't know any more with the budget being what it is, but they still should have good pamphlets for the home gardener. CA is the epicenter of gardening and food so you should have little trouble finding sources to help you, including - if they still exist there - the public library, which has back issues of Sunset magazine, which is a decent beginner's source with lots of pictures, usable ideas and positive text.

Lastly, the Container Forum has plenty of discussions about organics in containers - I am one that does not do organic in containers as explained on that forum. Vermicompost is not enough as a general fertilizer but an excellent soil builder.

The Peninsula is one of my favorite places and there are plenty of folks there to learn from. Walk up the hill and over and look in people's yards and ask questions. Plenty of answers to be had.

Dan

Thanks dan for the good advice re: reading material. I will check out those books next time I go to the library. I was under the impression that lettuce and spinach don't need much direct sunlight to grow. There are spinach farms all along Half Moon Bay which is constantly foggy. I have got some chard to grow although it is taking quite a long time, but I don't think I was giving it enough fertilizer.

Much of the sun's spectrum can penetrate clouds and fog, which is why you can get a sunburn on a cloudy day (granted it cannot penetrate 10 days of 700-foot thick fog in the Sacramento Valley). It does not penetrate buildings or trees, however. I suggest walking up Greenwich Steps and look in those yards in deep shade and see what those folks are doing.

Dan

Is it hard to get a neighbor to hire somebody to trim a 100' tall tree? Could I consider it a "quality of life" issue? Heh, don't like to raise a fuss but if it comes between me and growing my own organic veggies then it's war!

Nothing you can do if it is on their property, esp if you are renting.

Dan

Presidiogarden.. Is that presidio as in SF? If so I really doubt you are a zone 10. I'm up in Santa Rosa and I'm only a zone 8-8.5.
I planted my winter stuff in Aug-Sept and most are doing fine in full sun (with exception to broc which isn't heading up)
If you're planting now, you won't get much if any action until things warm up in the spring.
It sounds like you should plant ferns and impatients and enjoy your shady space in the summer and find a sunnier space to garden your veges! Good luck! Nancy

I have three beds in near total shade, and three in total shade. Collard, lettuce, arugula, cardoon, kale, celery, and rutabaga manage to grow there. Collard has done very well and kale has done well.

Surely tatsoi and a number of other oriental brassica would grow too. Turnip and carrot would probably grow there. Beets, at least the greens, will grow there. Minor greens such as miner lettuce and corn salad would probably grow there. Horseradish is doing well there. It just takes longer. Not the most exciting of veggies, but nutrition- and health-wise it would be difficult to pick a better selection. Buy good olive oil and vinegar and you will be all set.

In regard to vermicomposting: what is the soil like in the Presidio? I remember it was very sandy in Golden Gate Park. If so, you need more than compost. If you have one of those California adobe clays, then you are probably OK with nutrients except nitrogen. A little daily addition of organic, man-made urea is all that you will need.

try to contact or join your local garden club.

talk to places that sell plants and seeds. local green houses etc.

Talk to local farmers.

find local gardeners like you. ask those who might know like the town hall or police station. People will know who is a great local gardener. go talk to him.

plants are broken up into those you eat the leaf. they grow with much less energy and light.

plants also make fruit. Imagine a 1000 lb pumpkin on a vine. All the energy from the sun must hit those leaves and have excess energy formed in the leaves and then move that energy to the pumpkin itself. That obviously takes a lot more light energy on the plant.

So low light will always do best with leafy green veggies. Chinese veggies include a lot of them. Kitazawa Seeds is out your way and will give personal advice over the phone. Call them.

I would not buy any books. you will get better advice on the internet. most books are very simplistic. wait a few years before investing in the books that might be of longer term interest.

Read all the seed catalogs you can get both on the internet and ask for free catalogs. You will find lots of plants where you eat the leaves.

Fedco is good and low cost includes some oriental leafy veggies.

Johnnys is good but a little more expensive and geared toward the cooler weather like you have.

Territorial Seeds is a bit more expensive but has a big catalog.

Kitazawa Seeds specializes in oriental veggies. they too are on the internet.

You can read all the catalogs on the internet. Or ask for a few paper copies. I prefer the internet to help the company keep their costs down.

There are tons of catalogs. Read them all. They are better than most books.

nancyjane- I put in my zip code while making a post here and it came up as zone 10. I do know that SF has much milder weather than Santa Rosa, so it would make sense that you would be a lower zone.

glib- thanks, I have never heard of tatsoi I will have to try that out. Unfortunately I do not have any sunny areas nearby I can garden. There are community gardens in Fort Mason, but I know they have a very long waiting list to get in. I wish I could just rent a plot of land in the city. I am growing all my veggies in organic potting soil mixed with worm castings. I am not planting them directly in the ground. Yes the dirt is very sandy here.

Hi Presidiogarden, you did the right thing of planting the cool weather corp now. I also prefer fall planting for cool weahter crops. I do get freeze a few times each winter. But the things you're growing never had problems in my garden fending off a light freeze.

Chard is always very slow going for me in the beginning, but once it takes off, I can't keep up. Two things I must have each winter is peas and cilantro (because I can't grow basil here in the winter). Some peas will require support. A few gardners on the forum posted pictures of their peas with support in containers, maybe they'll be able to share again here. What's good about some lettuce, chard, peas, and cilantro is they're cut and come again. So you probably only need 1-2 sowing per season.

Given your unique garden setting, you may be able to grow these year round. Some salad lovers may consider that a blessing :-)

Re: asking neighbor to trim/cut back tall tree. Depending on the variety, there may be an insurance issue. [limbs falling are common with Eucalyptus [My insurance company required that I trim/remove some Eucs in order to renew my policy.] The tree owner may also appreciate it you [& other neighbors] offer to share the cost of trimming ... might be a gardening problem to them, also. You may also want to check with local ordinances to see if any pertain to shading another person's property. Here in SoCal, where so many have pools, I think some local laws speak to reducing sunlight to a neighbor's property.

My yard is also 'shade challenged', so I've learned to push the envelope. For example, have had great success with tomatoes grown in dappled shade under my avocado trees. Have also experimented with mini-green house structures ... variable results. Have been known to place aluminum foil near plants to increase sun reflection. Gave up because it was so ugly.

BTW .. change of subject. Has anyone else had problem with starting a new thread? I get 'not found' message.

Hey guys, I took some photos this afternoon and uploaded them of my garden so you can get a better idea of what I'm talking about regarding sunlight blockage and the amount of sun being let into my garden- these were taken at around 3:45 PM PST on a sunny day but it is darker than usual as the sun is almost setting. Visit the link below to go to my flickr photo set.

borderbarb- the tree is a redwood or a pine- it drops tons of needles all over the ground (which is a hassle for gardeners).

Here is a link that might be useful: Rear garden area photo set

OK ... HERE'S THE PLAN ... you can do a hanging garden down the side of that tall building ... and tend/harvest the garden on a rope ladder. This will get a lot of fame/publicitiy, which will make you rich, rich, rich, and you can move to a sunnier location. Great pictures ... I think you're on the right track of going with the strengths of your site ... perfect for some things... and greens are so healthful... BTW ... is there a nearby community garden for you to grow plants that require more sun? If no space for you, maybe you can trade your shade lovers for other kinds of produce from other gardeners. Got to be a way to make some lemonade.

Barb - not sure how serious you are about the hanging garden thing.. it sounds really cool though, which "tall building" are you talking about?
Do you think that greens will have enough sunlight with what you see there to grow adequately?
There are community gardens semi- nearby, but they have a 5- 7 year waiting list (serious!) for a plot! The gardener exchange sounds like a great idea and I had the same thought earlier today- exchanging my greens for tomatoes and other veggies to other gardeners. That actually sounds like a winning social network idea!