Allotments 4 All

Hoping you can advise me.  We've only had our allotment a couple of weeks and still clearing (and planting as we go)
The bottom 20 foot or so of our plot is in dappled shade for 2/3hours in the middle of the day.  Virtually every veg I look up says 'sunny' required. I'd hate to waste this space but what can we grow there?  The soil is good although touching on a bit heavy/damper in this shadier part.
Obviously i'd have liked sunny all over plot but that wasn't on offer :-\

Lettuce don't seem to mind a touch of shade, and I believe if they are kept slightly cool and damp, they are less likely to bolt.  Mine are planted in my shadey patch and it looks just fabulous, all different lettuces getting bigger and bigger!

I am wondering about winter crops.  I am assuming that you have shade because of trees?  If this is the case, there will be no shade in late autumn, winter and early spring, so maybe things like Kale and parsnips that are in the ground during that period.  Hope this helps.  :-\

Spinach likes a bit of dappled shade too!

Wouldn't have thought dappled shade for 2/3 hours a day would be a hindrance to many veggies if they get sun part of the time at least.  Think the soil and actual light are most important- might be a blessing in very sunny dry periods (which we hope to get!).

I ahve a bed which is shaded for part of the day and have noticed it does hold the moisture better.

Good luck.

JO2 - we have a bed that gets no sun at this time of year until after 11 am. It is heavily shaded by trees, but not actually canopied by them.

We use it mainly as a salady bed. Lettuce, carrots, spring onions, parsley, courgettes. We grew corn there last year, but its growth was graded, directly proportional to the amount of sun the bits of the block received. Have a look at this one -  http://www.oldhouseweb.net/gardening/Detailed/686.shtml = Tim

Thanks folks, I see there is a lot we can do with it.  It is rather damp so I think salady type stuff might like it.  The old chaps have told me that potatos dislike that end and people have tried there before but they just won't thrive there.  
We have done a rather mad thing to counter this as a lot of the stuff we want to grow needs better drainer sunnier soil and now taken the plot next door too!  This will mean we can use the worst areas on the plots for shed, compost and dog lawn area(need somewhere to tether my dog where she can't eat veggies!) and then have a fairly decent sized area of only partial shade then the rest of it in good sun.  This plot is also on the boundary fence so will give us something to train more stuff up in full sun.
We must be mad, got 10 feet of our first plot left to clear and the neighbouring one we've just taken is 6 foot high thistles!-still at least the plot is rent free until next year and we have been offered the loan of a strimmer to clear it.