Planting veg in part which is only sunny in the morning

[1984isnow]

I am a complete novice to gardening, but after getting some advice starting a compost heap, one thing has led to another and I now want to plant some veg.

However, despite the garden being a decent size, having sat and looked at it today, the best part to begin planting would be a side which is in shade from early afternoon.

I have an area at the back which could have worked, but the previous owners seem to have buried a lot of rubbish at the back and I have given up on cleaning it out properly (lots of bits of rubble, glass, fabric just mixed in with the soil, amongst bigger pieces etc).

I am planning on starting with onions and potatoes. Would this be ok in the shady part? Google tells me 'partial' shade is fine, but this area of the lawn can be quite patchy so I'm not sure if that indicates a poor growing area(complete novice remember).

I would also like to 'branch out' into other veg, if it turns out I can do this!

On the sunny part, there are rose bushes and shrub/small tree type plants along the fence, so it's either in the shady part or right in the middle of the garden where my washing line runs across..

In general, things where you eat the fruits or seeds need sun, things where you eat the leaves or roots can cope with less sun. I think your potatoes should be OK, I've never grown onions.

Lawn could be patchy because it's been walked on a lot and the soil has become too compacted.

When your compost has matured, you could simply make a 6inch high raised bed on the bit at the back. The roots could get down amongst the rubble, but the compost on top means you wouldn't be in any danger of cutting yourself on bits of glass.

Thanks. I checked a few times throughout the day, today to see how much sun it actually gets, and it's not that much at all really. The soil stays quite damp compared to the rest of the area.

It's also the part with the least 'traffic' so the fact that the grass doesn't grow doesn't seem to bode well (I'm guessing)

I am going to have a rethink, and see if I can make the messy patch at the back work. I'm just worried as I don't know exactly what has been buried there (could be bits of plasterboard too which I'd read can contaminate soil), but it would be the perfect section. Will just have to get digging!

Sorry, not a gardener, but could you use big grow bags on top of the poor soil in the sunny area instead? I guess it depends on how much you plan to grow, but they could be good for a test.

Also don’t forget it’s only March and the sun is still quite low, it will be very different come June. The most important thing at the moment is getting the soil turned over, and borrow a rotavator if you can. Potatoes and onions are good ones as they’re not very fussy about what soil they get, do remember to heap up the soil around the potatoes to keep them deep under ground.

Courgettes are good ones to do as they keep on giving and I always do beans as we eat a lot.