Can I plant carrots and potatoes in a clayish shady patch?

[colditz]

Or will they jsut die?

I don't hold out much hope for the carrots but your spuds should be ok. You could try lining the seed drill for the carrots with sand before sowing the seed. Also I would cover the carrot seed with a cloche or something until the seedlings have germinated - if there is plenty of moisture in the soil they don't need any more from the sky! My veg plot is on clay with light shade and I can only get them to grow if I cloche them.

I agree with dozeynoo - carrots will probably be a waste of time. If you are clay and shady you probably have slugs, and I swear they watch you sow the carrot seed, wait with their sluggy mouths open for them to germinate, then squish along the row hoovering them up.

Did I read somewhere you can plant carrots in pots?

I have decided. They are all going in planters, bar the potatoes. I am very ungardeny, I was motivated more by The Good Life than any type of knowledge or experiance.

My mother's method of gardening was to shout "If you don't cut this bloody grass I'm going to pay someone, you hear me!!?"