Hello from London, UK

Hello - I live in inner London (about 3 miles from the centre) and have a very small plot behind some garages where I live. I came across SFG in an effort to make the most of my space, and so far I love it. I probably have about 4/5 metres of space in total, but hopefully will be getting some more.

My main issue is sunlight, as due to buildings and trees my plot only gets the sun from midday.

Hi TGuest. Welcome from SE USA. Glad you're here. We like pictures.... ;-) And SFG will definitely give you lots of great goodies for your kitchen.

Hello T Guest. Good for you for gardening in a difficult space - so often they are just paved or turfed for convenience and yield no production: such a waste!

One encouraging thought to bear in mind: when gardening books or seed packets call for "full sun", what they mean is 6 hours of sunshine per day, not necessarily all day, so some shade isn't the end of the world. During the recent month of lots of sun and no rain, my south-facing garden was absolutely scorching as I have no shade at all, and it was a real task to keep up with the watering and to protect seedlings.

Not sure whether you own the boundary walls/fences of your plot, but you can greatly increase the light/brightness of the area by painting them white/light colour. It sounds simplistic, but it really does work - think of those side-return "courtyard" areas you get with terraced property or basement flats, for example. Also, don't dismiss the strategic use of mirrored surfaces to increase the light. Personally, I would advocate mirrored acrylic rather than glass for reasons of safety, but if you have a suitable site for one, mirrors in the garden can increase the light and the sense of space.

Finally, some crops do better if it's not too sunny and hot: salad leaves of myriad sorts do well and are less likely to bolt the minute your back's turned. Also radishes (tuck 'em in everywhere, they're ready in 4-6 weeks!) beetroot, kale, carrots, spinach, spring onion and Swiss chard (baby leaves or left to grow bigger for use as a vegetable). I'd even give french beans a go next Spring.

Welcome T Guest runner beans both kidney & French climbing  & peas such as sugar snap ,telegraph & snow peas  grown up netting tied to walls  can give you a massive increase in growing areas   they can be tub grown as well in rich well watered tubs .  

The best thing with them is if you pick as soon as you get decent sized ones the plants will produce more flowers & fruits in an attempt to complete their cycle of life so you'll  get a long extended  harvesting period  . 
 
Carrots need 21 or more days to germinate 7 come through  so if you use 50 cm deep tubs you should be able to germinate in bright sunny aspect them move them to a shadier part of you garden .   If your like me & are fortunate you will find pelleted carrot seed ( agricultural stuff ) on the likes of eBay  these are great for precision sowing one seed every 3 inches apart .