I would say your site is just fine. Anything over 10 hrs. to me would be full sun in summer, but it sounds like you really aren't shaded overhead, and the time when the sun shines directly on the garden covers most of the day. The rest of the time, you may not have direct sunlight, but you still have direct sky which will still provide a awful lot of light, and it sounds like you get some shading later in the afternoon when it is the hottest and that will provide you with some heat protection.

9-3 direct is not bad. But more is simply better. Less is usually a problem, at least for some crops.

I was kind of trying not to put the garden in the front as my husband thinks thats not a great idea, and plus it would make big holes in the yard if I ever stop, since I will have a raised garden. I think I want to grow a basic mixture. Red potatoes, green beans (i love them raw), tomatoes (not to many I dont like them much) Maybe some strawberries, maybe a watermelon vine or 2, squash, I would like to try carrots and corn. I know on corn you kind of have to have them in a square pattern so they can pollonate and make the corn. I've never grown carrots before. maybe some romaine lettuce or something of that nature. I dont want anything flashy or exotic :)Just the regular!!
I do know however that there are moles in my yard and really all over our area. My dogs dig up little trenches in my yard trying to get to them. I'm not a big yard person so it doesnt bother me, but if they start eating my stuff then it will be a problem. My dogs do a good job keeping them at bay as far as I can tell.

pn, it is bright there in the back yard, but it is a little shady in the afternoon, but it will be dappled shade at parts of the time too. It seems like my house is at a wierd angle or something, or maybe I just never looked at how the sun lays on the ground at different times :)

it will depend on waht you are growing from my experience ie.,. summer or winter crops? all vege's need full sun in their season that is right from sunup through the day in winter for us down here that is what is needed for the brassica family to form, that would be around 6 hours of sun.

in summer most plants need at least 8 hours that for me is from sunup until early to mid afternoon, where the ideal is to have shade from that hot afternoon sun, morning sun is better than afternoon sun.

to get these conditions then the aspect of the garden needs to be considered for us our best planting spots are northern to eastern aspects, for you up there it would be southern to eastern. so our best sun then in winter is on our northern gardens but in summer these gardens can get too much very hot sun if there is no shade from say around lunchtime.

so then an eastern garden is often the ideal for summer, the aspect of the land will have a degree of effect on how well the gardens will perform even if you do have them on the right side of the house, our ideal aspect here is high ground behind to the south and the ground sloping down the the north, for you i'd suggest replace north with south.

if you get the sun part right and good air flow then problems like powdery mildew can be lessened.

currently my summer plants get too much afternoon sun but i can control the stress on the plants to some degree by heavily mulching around them so the root zones don't get that heat and moisture levele are kept up.

seasons greeting and a happy new year.

len

Here is a link that might be useful: len's garden page

Best aspect by far is dead flat. For most suburban lots there's no choice but to take whatever time of day you can get.

lindsayg

In your shoes, I think I'd do some thinking about which of the veggies you want to grow might need the MOST sunlight, or conversely, which ones can stand a little shade.

Here's your list: Red potatoes, green beans, tomatoes, Maybe some strawberries, maybe a watermelon vine or 2, squash

Maybe this will be somewhat helpful: Vegetables ... that need at least 6 hours of full sunlight per day are: Tomatoes, peppers, green beans, eggplant, squashes, cucumbers. The root vegetables such as beets, carrots, and radishes require less light, and leaf vegetables such as lettuce, spinach and swiss chard also require less light.

http://counties.cce.cornell.edu/suffolk/grownet/vegetable-garden/vegcontn.htm

Potatoes also require full sunlight.

You don't say how much space receives the 6 hours of sunlight, but you might need to alternate some of the plants on a yearly basis if you don't have a lot of garden space. Untrellised melons can spread anywhere from 10-20 feet!

I guess I'd decide which veggies I want most fresh from the garden and plant those. Then I'd find a farmer's market for the occasionals.

That said, if you have enough room that gets the requisite number of sunlight hours, go for them all! I think that's enough sunlight, particularly if you put the veggies that you like most in the sunniest part.

Luckily, I have the option to make my garden pretty much as big as I want. I have about 1/2 acre of fenced in area. I'm not wanting like a super huge area. I know I will probably give some of them away. When I was younger from the time I was old enough to walk, up until I was about 15 or so (then I moved) I was running around a garden, my grandmother had one. I remember it was like ... nothing, then BOOM there was more than we could give away, and we would have to store like potatoes she would lay them flat in the chicken house (while it was not being used on concrete floors it was for my show chickens :) )That way they would not rot as fast. But I also remember how much crap has to be done, weeding, watering, bug picking, keeping the dogs from digging :) turning the watermelon and cantaloup, and the occational fluff. I know that you have to stay on top of it when harvesting because sometimes it can rot in the vine if you arent paying attention.
The area is about 30X30 square probably a little bigger, I'm pretty bad about judging distance. It is actually close to 2 pine trees so needles would blow on them alot, does that change the PH of the soil? I know it is good mulch/topper for the winter for things.
The reason I am planting those is because that is the ones I mostly eat. Celery is another, but I have no clue how to grow that. I just want to make sure it will be food I use and like.
I have read that you can plant, I think its called the
"indian 3" or something, where its corn, sqaush on the bottom, and then pole beans running up the stalk of the corn. I know the indians used it I read it in history in highschool.
Thanks for all the input. My garden area would be on the SE side of my house and blocked of afternoon sun which sometimes can be brutal in the summer in South east Texas.
I was thinking of building them with cinder blocks, but I have read that it pulls out too much moisture during the day. But I will not do the treated lumber, and those "kits" as freaking expensive!!! $300 for a 6x4 spot!! but then again the amount it would take to buy the cinder blocks...... it may just even out.

Your garden plan sounds good. I would tend to agree with your husband in that putting the garden in the front yard doesn't usually add to the aesthetic appeal of your house. However, you can be creative and mix parts of your garden into your flower beds, getting both vegetables and landscaping foliage from them for an appealing effect. Just do a tomato plant here, a foot or two of carrots there, etc. and spread them around.

beeone,

I think my major issue was with the amount of sun, because I am pretty confident with everything else. There are just so many opinions around about the amount of sun and what is full sun that it really is mind boggling. I was thinking about doing just what you said, and putting plants everywhere, but I am one that tends to forget things when I am not constantly reminded of them. So I have been told that if the area is "in your face" so to speak, you will think of more things to do and look to see what needs to be done while your say doing dishes or making coffee :)

There are some veggies that are fine in "visable" areas, things that vine are a good example, peas, cucumbers, passion fruit have all been grown up my porch railing, and the vines with flowers are lovely. Strawberries I grow instead of a "groundcover" along the foundation. Many peppers are ornamential enough too.

I use cinderblocks just fine for my raised beds, 3 wide X 8 long each.

the aspect sounds pretty good unless ther are large trees to take away that early sun in the winter?

i would use blocks or anything else long before i would ever consider treated timber.

len