Worms are great. They'll mix and aerate the soil for you. If it's clayey (the usual spelling I think, but still not pretty!) you'll need to add lots of organic matter - garden compost, leaf mould or (preferably) well-rotted manure to it. The manure will open up the soil and let the plants get at all those lovely nutients in the clay, and also improve the drainage. Spread it on the surface a couple of inches deep and let the woms get to work. But don't use it where the carrots are going or they'll all end up deformed.
In fact, if you want to grow carrots on heavy clay, the best plan is to make a hole for each one with a crowbar or similar, and fill it with a mixture of sand and potting compost, the sow into that. That may be too much faff.
Can you thin out overhead braches to let more light in, or is it buildings?
Courgettes don't seem to mind quite a bit of shade in my garden. But the one vegetable I'd never be without, and have grown successfully every year in every garden I've ever owned, is sugar peas. They come into the category of "best eaten the moment they're picked", so much better from your garden than the supermarket.
Since 2019 I've lived in east Clare, in the west of Ireland.
I've never grown them in really dense shade, but here they get sun for about half the day in summer - my garden is on a NE slope. They won't like very heavy clay though so you'll need to add plenty of organic matter, and you could also give them a head start by starting them indoors in pots.
Since 2019 I've lived in east Clare, in the west of Ireland.
Posts
Worms are great. They'll mix and aerate the soil for you. If it's clayey (the usual spelling I think, but still not pretty!) you'll need to add lots of organic matter - garden compost, leaf mould or (preferably) well-rotted manure to it. The manure will open up the soil and let the plants get at all those lovely nutients in the clay, and also improve the drainage. Spread it on the surface a couple of inches deep and let the woms get to work. But don't use it where the carrots are going or they'll all end up deformed.
In fact, if you want to grow carrots on heavy clay, the best plan is to make a hole for each one with a crowbar or similar, and fill it with a mixture of sand and potting compost, the sow into that. That may be too much faff.
Can you thin out overhead braches to let more light in, or is it buildings?
Courgettes don't seem to mind quite a bit of shade in my garden. But the one vegetable I'd never be without, and have grown successfully every year in every garden I've ever owned, is sugar peas. They come into the category of "best eaten the moment they're picked", so much better from your garden than the supermarket.
I've never grown them in really dense shade, but here they get sun for about half the day in summer - my garden is on a NE slope. They won't like very heavy clay though so you'll need to add plenty of organic matter, and you could also give them a head start by starting them indoors in pots.