Everyone knows most plants need lots of sunlight to grow, especially the tasty ones we prize as a human collective. But having a plot of land that has lots of light, access to water and good soil can be challenging, these terrains are usually quite expensive and are the first to be taken by those who see farming as a profitable activity.
Having absence of trees has it's own set of challenges because it means you have to solve the need for firewood in cold climates, wind protection, lack of shade, and drought when things get too hot.
The ideal plot, in my humble opinion, would be at the edge of a forest where you can have the best of both worlds available. However, it is not my case, the part i had the easiest access to is a forest area that was completely taken by willows and apricot trees, with too much shade to be productive food-wise.
But what I've learnt is that when you look at things from a permaculture perspective, food isn't the only thing you can garden for. If you change the perspective, i have a massive garden that yields infinite firewood and building material!
As I harvest these things, i open new entries for sunlight which begins to power food production. It is a slow process but in the end it's all the same thing. On another scenario i would have food but no materials or wood and would have to be outsourcing them while i patiently wait for trees to grow.
According to my experience so far, the amount of energy placed into gardening doesn't get repaid with enough food in a forest setting. If you're in the shades you're better off foraging because gardening will just make you starve. Wild plants are way better adapted to low sunlight.
Despite this inconvenience, I still do some gardening for two main reasons: one is to diversify the local flora so that this becomes a place of abundance in many senses, and the other is out of pure enjoyment as it just feels nice in the body. I would dedícate much more time to gardening if I didn't have to so many other tasks on a daily basis, but it's ok, I'm done worrying about that.
Anyways, here are some pictures i took today that i found nice to share. There's a lot more but i don't want to spam the internet with my garden photos haha
Dianthus barbatus, Sweet William
Different brassicas, garden sorrel, and a lillium
Squash, definitely needs more sun but it's still trying and putting out some flowers.
Michay, chilean native. Berries are definitely one of the best things to grow in a forest garden, they will yield the highest amounts of calories, along with some roots.
Another lillium
Up till now i had only yellow raspberries but my mother brought some red ones on a trip north. The good thing about these is that they rippen after the yellow ones so that means a longer raspberry season.
Growing in tires has proved quite convenient but as you can see there's a lot of attack by the insects. I don't mind so much, i just remove the invaded leaves and put them on the soil so they compost, no need to get all bent out of shape.
Do you have any recommendations on what to grow in shady areas? Read you in the comments!