Forest gardening question

[Odsox]

A question for those in the know.
The back bed in my big greenhouse has been empty now for several years because of the reduced light. That bed has the apricot tree and a grape vine growing in and above it, and now that they are both fully grown they effectively block out a lot of the natural light from May to November.
The bed is 4 feet wide and the end away from the tree is about 8 feet long, and is completely empty.

So the question is, is there a food plant that would grow under those conditions?

[Flo]

Ground elder - bought over by the Romans as a diuretic.

[Odsox]

Ground elder

Hmm, I was thinking of something I could get rid of if I changed my mind.

[Flo]

You didn't say that Sir.

So I presume that dandelions and docks are out too then - both of those can be eaten when young as can nettles.

[Green Aura]

What about brassica's that take up a lot of space and time elsewhere - broccoli and kale both do fine in shade and the heat in the greenhouse will give you the sweetest leaves. They're shallow rooted so won't affect the trees.

You'd need some sort of rotation of course.

Or maybe perennial broccoli - that would last you about 5 years.

[Green Aura]

....and there'd still be room for some lettuces underneath.

[Weedo]

If its heated, try some sweet potato, yams or Taro? Sweet potato will scramble rather than climb if it need to.

[Odsox]

If its heated

No it's not heated Weedo, in fact the vents are wide open all winter, to start with to give the apricot the necessary chill hours and then to stop it flowering before the bees are about.

I like your idea of brassicas GA, unfortunately I've just planted out several Romanesco in the tunnel as one of those would have been handy to test your theory. I've also been looking at Nine Star Perennial, but it's probably too late for this year, unless I can get some seed fairly immediately.
The other requirement I forgot to mention is the need to be able to pick the apricots, so small plants might get stepped upon.

[Flo]

Drip feeding us information here Mr Odsox. The ground elder would survive all your pre-conditions

You don't ask easy questions do you?

[Green Aura]

small plants might get stepped upon.

We put old floor tiles in between for stepping stones - doesn't matter if they're broken, just need to be big enough for a toehold.

[Odsox]

Drip feeding us information here Mr Odsox

Need to know basis Ms Flo

The ground elder would survive all your pre-conditions

Nope, I stipulated it must be removable
Anyway I don't have any growing on my property and who would buy ground elder

You don't ask easy questions do you?

If they were easy I'd already know the answer, plus I thought you needed a challenge

[Flo]

Only winding up up Tony - only winding you up.

I'm on a boring job of tracking down email addresses to one I'm going to destroy so need some entertainment other than that. I'll go away and be good and stop picking on you.

[Odsox]

I think after being on this forum for umpteen years Flo, I'm well used to being wound up.
Boring here too, rain is forecast to last pretty much all day, but not as boring as Thursday when we are due a planned all day power outage.

Just ordered a packet of Nine Star Perennial broccoli, along with a couple of new to me varieties of drying beans

[Odsox]

Why didn't somebody tell me how wonderful 9 star perennial broccoli is??
Just harvested the first from the greenhouse today, and it's basically Tender Stem Cauliflower.
Really really tasty and only needs a couple of minutes cooking.

Although, NOT a good idea for the greenhouse bed, makes far too big a plant, gets in the way when I'm picking apricots, plus it flops when it gets warm in there.
But I have sown some more and will grow probably 5 in a sheltered outdoor spot for next year, and the year after, and the year after, and (so on)

[ina]

It sounds just like my kind of veg... Except that my garden is a bit small for it. Must try and get some seed for my friend with the big garden.