If you want to grow more food at home, but you don’t have the option for a full vegetable garden in your backyard, the lack of sun is often the biggest issue. While many vegetables do need as much sunlight as possible, others do okay with just partial sun and partial shade. This is often when you grow them on your patio or balcony, in your sunroom, or even right in your kitchen. Here are some of the best vegetables that can grow with only partial shade.

Beans

The first vegetable you can grow on your patio or in your backyard with just partial sun and partial shade is beans. However, you need to consider what types of beans you have. The beans that are on a vine are fine with just partial sun, where they are shaded for part of the day. These would be the ones on a trellis. With the beans that are in bushes, try to give them at least 6 hours of sun per day. Continue reading →

When shopping for plants at your local garden center, you may notice some are marked ‘heirloom,” while others are labeled “hybrid.” Have you ever wondered what these terms mean – or which is better for you?

These terms seem to create a lot of confusion among novice and experienced gardeners alike. There are those who swear that heirlooms are the only way to go because they think hybrids plants are inferior. On the other hand, hybrid fans are convinced they are a better all around choice, because they tend to be more vigorous producers and are less susceptible to disease and pests.

In reality, there may be room in every garden for both types of plants. To better understand the distinction between heirloom and hybrid plant varieties, it helps to look at how they came to be.

Open-Pollination vs. Careful Manipulation

Open-pollination is a form of plant reproduction which occurs in one of two ways: Continue reading →