from what I have read and understood and seen, the root crops and leaf crops do better in partial shade than other things. Especially things like lettuce and spinach acutally can grow in the shadier spots in the later heat of the summer when otherwise they would bolt. I grew lettuce in the shade last year this way. Many people buy shade cloth for those crops for the later heat. Right now I have had a ton of cool weather and hardly any sun and what is doing well is the peas, radishes, onions, lettuces and spinach and carrots. Root and leaf crops!

Overall, I think you could experiment and see what works best. Its the fruiting crops that need the most light. Even if, say, you did some herbs, I think they might grow a bit better with more light, but they are leaf crops and do okay with partial shade, and you would still get something.

Have you considered also doing some hanging planters? Not sure if that is an option. I know seed catalogues often have varities specifically for planters or hanging baskets. Or doing a tiered system of stacking boxes with things growing in them (visaulize like a stair case) so that you can make better use of your sunny spot by thinking vertically? Or even things like a strawberry planter that also uses vertical space? The new square foot gardening book gave me inspiration to think that way. They also describe how to make planters to hang over the balcony etc like window boxes.

I would attest to the fact that salad greens and peas do great, even without sun. We've been in a cold, cloudy snap for several weeks now, and it's definitely been my lettuce and peas that have been growing the nicest this whole time! Oh yes, my turnips and radishes have also done pretty decently without the sun. So there's hope!

Does anyone know of vegetables or herbs that grow in partial or complete shade? We'd like to expand our "garden" next year, but it would have to be shade plants.

Thanks!