[ti:Gardening-Vegetables Made in the Shade] [ar:Bob Doughty] [al:Agriculture Report] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]This is the VOA Special English [00:02.88]Agriculture Report. [00:05.02]Not all vegetables [00:07.51]need lots of sunshine. [00:09.25]Mark Hoffman and his wife, Guia, [00:12.44]own a bed-and-breakfast guesthouse [00:15.42]in rural Kempton, Illinois. [00:17.79]They often serve their guests [00:20.28]produce fresh from the garden. [00:22.67]The Hoffmans have been growing food [00:25.96]and flowers for twenty-five years. [00:29.25]For almost ten of those years, [00:32.35]Mr. Hoffman has been experimenting [00:35.18]and working with shade plantings. [00:38.33]He says visitors to his website [00:41.97]-- greenhousebed.com -- often ask [00:46.20]how to plant in shade spaces. [00:48.80]MARK HOFFMAN: "The bottom line here [00:49.65]is that most plants [00:51.31]will produce more in full sun. [00:53.51]But if you do not have full sun, [00:54.90]there are other options." [00:56.09]For example, he grows tomatoes [00:58.63]near oak trees. [01:00.32]Oak trees can produce a lot of shade. [01:03.71]But Mr. Hoffman says [01:06.15]his tomato plants grow as long [01:09.53]as they get five hours [01:11.23]a day of direct sunshine, [01:13.37]especially morning sun. [01:16.41]Not only does this go against [01:19.29]the traditional advice that tomatoes [01:22.29]need six, eight, even twelve hours [01:25.82]a day of full sun. [01:27.52]It also shows how plants and tree roots [01:31.94]can share nutrients and water. [01:34.98]Mr. Hoffman also planted asparagus [01:39.02]around a tree at its drip line, [01:41.51]the area below the outer limit [01:44.91]of the branches. [01:46.01]MARK HOFFMAN: "Now the asparagus [01:46.85]is in partial shade. [01:47.96]It has been there for six years now [01:49.50]and is doing wonderfully. [01:50.50]It is right [01:51.25]at the drip line of the tree. [01:52.00]So when it rains, [01:52.85]all the rain drips down right [01:55.44]on the asparagus." [01:56.26]The Hoffmans' website includes [01:58.50]a list of vegetables, flowers and herbs [02:01.25]that have produced acceptably [02:03.24]for them in partial shade. [02:05.65]Besides tomatoes and asparagus, [02:08.58]these include broccoli, daylilies, [02:12.41]horseradish, Irish potatoes, [02:15.10]oregano and winter onions. [02:18.34]Mr. Hoffman says plants with wider leaves [02:22.54]seem to do better in shady environments. [02:25.47]He also found that his potatoes did better [02:29.55]in partial shade than in full sun. [02:32.70]Moving them out of the sun helped [02:36.90]control an insect problem [02:39.30]with leaf hoppers. [02:40.94]Mr. Hoffman does not use pesticides. [02:43.93]Instead, he planted the potatoes [02:47.53]at the drip line, especially [02:49.67]on the east side of the tree. [02:52.16]The potatoes get morning sun, [02:54.69]but they are shaded during [02:56.98]the hottest part of the day. [02:58.88]Leaf hoppers dislike shade, [03:01.91]and the hottest part of the day is [03:04.11]when they do the worst of their damage. [03:06.70]Time of day. Brightness of the sun. [03:10.73]Shadows from trees, [03:12.52]walls and buildings. [03:14.77]These all influence [03:16.91]how much sunlight falls, [03:20.81]or does not fall, on plants. [03:23.62]And extension agent Curtis Swift [03:26.95]at Colorado State University says [03:29.79]people interested in shade planting [03:32.93]should also remember something else. [03:35.68]The term "shade" can describe [03:39.07]different amounts of darkness. [03:41.32]He says it can [03:43.70]even mean different things [03:45.40]in different parts of the world. [03:47.88]And that's the VOA Special English [03:52.21]Agriculture Report, [03:53.56]written by Jerilyn Watson. [03:55.50]I'm Bob Doughty.