I would take a picture of the area in question. Make sure, you have time date stamp on your camera turned on.

Then, go out every hour and take a picture.

Now you know, how much sun the area gets, in March. Of course, for the rest of the growing season you will have to guesstimate. You might want to do the same a day in April, May, etc.

Moni

I have a cheap meter that is supposed to tell light, PH, and moisture, it is just one notch above useless. There are charts on the web that tell sun angles each day for your location, or you can check for yourself with something like a hoe handle and an angle gauge. Just set the handle where it does not cast a shadow and read the angle. You can use the same method to guesstimate the angle to any nearby tree or housetop. I would probably decide about where I wanted something and go plant it, keeping in mind that the shadows will be shorter in the summer.

Larry

I did not know shadows would be shorter in summer... that's good news! It is a tricky spot... we have buildings pretty close (it is a urban area) on the east & west, the house very close on the north side, and the two gigantic pecan trees with other smaller trees/bushes around the yard. The effect of the pecan trees is the hardest to read because they cast sooo much shade in the yard, and there just isn't really any way to know for sure until they leaf out, how much shade there will be. But I have been watching it today, taking notes, not on exact angles and whatnot, but just how sunny it is. Apparently the garden won't even start getting light (because of the building on the east) until something like 10:30 am. I checked again every hour or so, and it was very sunny until I checked at 2:45 pm. So it looks like a good 4 hours there. It is shady right now, but last time I was keeping an eye on it, we got a few hours of light in the evening as well. So I am hopeful the sunlight will be sufficient. I am going to use the meter to keep an eye on the moisture for the most part, since this is the first time I've ever made a real attempt at putting anything in the ground. I'm basically a total newb, so for experienced gardeners it might be mostly useless, but I think it will be a good tool for me. Now, to test fertility...