Sunlight

So you are told your garden spot should get at least six hours a day of sunlight.
(and just try finding out ways to increase sunlight..seems no one makes more effort to learn..easier to just, use the spot with the most sunlight..)

and guaranteed, it's the worst soil or inconvenient.

What to Do?

1.Make like the goats.

Goats will trim every branch off of a tree they can stand up and reach. this decreases sun-blocking foliage and can allow more grass, etc. to grow. We used our goats to clean out the trees to an almost park like state behind the house.

so....I picked up the loppers and made like the goats, on all the trees surrounding the garden.I check the surrounding trees every spring, now. Actually, if they have leafed out, I give em to the goats!

2. Do as the European fruit growers have always done.

Espaliered trees can be grown, especially on southern walls....often painted white. White reflects light back into the area.If however, the area might be made colder by light reflecting heat outwards, limit your white in some way...strips( see picture of our garden), mirrors or reflectors (old automobile shades have been suggested) or paint your raised bed supports white.It all helps.

3. Be a photographer.

Have you actually taken pictures of the garden site at different times of year? it could be, that by starting everything ( yes even carrots, turnips etc) indoors for a 2 week jump, and using row covers for that extra 2 weeks in the garden, you;ll have captured more sunlight. in some spots, this might be reversed;lower sunlight angles in August and September might really work well...so you might want to go slow with starting the garden every spring.

We get a lot of morning sun as long as the trees haven;t leafed out. we get good noonday sun part of the year-and some afternoon sun.Parsnips and green leaf crops are 2 of the best types if the sunlight is a little lacking.

4. Make suntraps.

Gaia's garden recommends a keyhole garden shape with the hole for the short path facing south. the rest of the garden is bowl shaped. you guessed it- a heat and sun trap.you could terrace this to increase the effect.I have enough terracing of the beds to not have gone this route yet-but I may.