Slashy, you should be able to grow a nice crop of salad greens, even if it's pretty shady. Here in the summer, I grow various baby salad greens in containers on my shady patio -- they grow more slowly and don't get as large, but they are exceedingly tender and sweet this way. Pretty much all of the things you mention, with the possible exception of Chinese Cabbage, should grow well. Chinese Cabbage probably won't get enough sunlight to head up -- you might be better off devoting the space to non-heading Chinese mustards, etc. Oh, one other thing on your list which does well in shade is watercress. It doesn't need standing water, just moist soil. If it's too shady, a lot of these things won't get full sized or live as long as they would in the sun, but what you can do is harvest for "baby greens" when they're like 4" tall -- you can plant very closely and make succession plantings so that you always have something coming into production. I don't know if the seed companies in Australia are selling the Mesclun mixes of assorted greens and/or herbs, but these are a good way to go. Also, peas shoots are good for salads and stir fries, and they don't care if it's shady for the first few weeks of their lives. Yes, you will be able to apply higher levels of nitrogen on your greens than on fruiting veggies like tomatoes or capsicum. Please keep us posted about your results -- your reports of your summer garden got me through a harsh, snowy, and cold Michigan winter. Dennis Michigan, USA

Go to Johnnys Seeds web site and clic on the type of vegatable you want to grow then click on the growing information highlight the information copy and past it into a word processing program then move on to the next one and repete the process and soon you will have growing information on all of the vegatables you can grow. here's the one from lettuce. Remember to go alphabeticaly from a to z. www.johnnyseeds.com Growing Information: CULTURE: Lettuce is hardy and can be planted as early as the soil can be worked. It is a cool weather crop and makes its best growth at temperatures of 60-65°F (16-18°C). Careful variety selection is important for hot weather crops. Sow every 3 weeks for a continuous supply of fresh lettuce. THERMAL DORMANCY: Lettuce can be dormant at high temperatures. For best germination results sow at soil temperatures of 68°F (20°C) or lower. The priming process in pelleted lettuce seeds broadens the temperature range in which the seeds will germinate, overcoming some of a lot's thermal dormancy. TRANSPLANTING: Sow in flats, 4 seeds/in., or in 3/4' plug trays, barely covering seeds with fine vermiculite, 3-4 weeks before transplanting outdoors. Shade the flats on sunny, warm days if necessary to keep the soil surface cool, below 75°F (24°C), until germination. If sowing into flats, transplant 1-2' apart into flats, pots, or cell-type containers about 2 weeks later. Harden seedlings by reducing water and temperature for 2-3 days before planting outdoors. Properly hardened transplants can survive temperatures as low as 20°F (-6°C). Transplant iceberg lettuce 12' apart in rows 18' apart, other types 8-12' x 12-18' apart. DIRECT SEEDING: Seeds germinate even at low, 40°F (4°C), soil temperature, but poorly above 75-85°F (24-29°C) depending on the variety and seed lot. Cover seed lightly, about 1/8', and firm soil gently. Dry soil must be watered to ensure coolness and moisture, and for even germination. Thin young seedlings to one plant per spot. For salad mix: sow in a 2-4' wide band, about 60 seeds/ft. MT0 SEEDS: A variety name followed by MT0-10 indicates that the seeds offered for sale in sizes larger than a packet have been tested for the presence of lettuce mosaic virus and that no LMV was found in a sample of 10,000 seeds or less. MT0-30 indicates that no LMV was found in a sample of 30,000 seeds tested. NOTE: A disease-free test result does not guarantee a seedlot to be disease-free, only that in the sample tested, the pathogen targeted was not found. DAYS TO MATURITY: For full-size heads from direct seeding and growth in mild temperatures; subtract 10-14 days if transplanting. Note: maturity can be 3 or more weeks later in cool weather, and up to 1 week earlier in hot weather. AVG. DIRECT SEEDING RATE: For full-size heads (precision seeded): 5,300'/oz., 220'/1,000 seeds, 5.5 oz./acre at 3 seeds every 8' in rows 18' apart. For salad mix: 400'/oz., 16'/1,000 seeds, 6,400'/lb. At 60 seeds/ft. TRANSPLANTS: Avg. 20,000 plants/oz. SEED SPECS: SEEDS/OZ.: 20,000-30,000 (avg. 24,000). MINI: 0.5 gm. unless otherwise noted (avg. 400 seeds, sows about 17' at 24 seeds/ft., or makes 250 transplants). PACKET: 1 gm. unless otherwise noted (avg. 800 seeds, sows 34' or makes about 480 plants).

Looks like you are off to a good start. My first year I grew the same mesclun mix, and it was great. I now buy the types individually so I can grow more of my favorites. This year I'm planting my favorites from previous years Bulls blood beet Mustard mizuna Mustard ruby streaks Red sails lettuce Salad bowl lettuce Royal oak leaf lettuce Butter crunch lettuce Bok choi Arugula And I'm trying mustard spinach (brassica rapa) for the first time. I too have hit and miss luck with spinach. I have had it do great some years, but the last two, it failed miserably. I wonder if it needs more cold than we usually get? The year it did well was unusually cold. Anyone tried the mustard spinach? If so, how spinach like is it? Thought I'd give it a try since brassicas seem remarkably tolerant of our poor soil and nematodes. And the biggest surprise of all was that sorrel did great! Not only did it do well in the cool weather, but it seems to be able to be perennial here and came through the summer fine! As for timing, planting my winter greens garden by direct sowing in late October seems to work well. Good luck! So fun to grow a salad in winter!

We used lightweight hangwire (I think that's what it's called) to make very short hoops to overwinter our lettuce. They were sturdy enough to stay in place all winter under the snow. They were inexpensive and we got them from a local building supply shop. We used Starbuck coffee bags full of rocks to keep the cover down. Here is a picture of the set up taken March 12 of this year. Here is a link that might be useful: