What about atriums?

My wife and I might be taking over my mother-in-law's home. It's a duplex (or rather half of one), with a small back yard (and a potentially decent sized side yard -- if I can fence it off [HOA's and all willing]).

One of the features of her home is an atrium. At present, all it has is rocks and a drain in the middle. I'm thinking this area could be used for SFG purposes. But, I'm not sure what would be best for this area. The atrium is screened on the top, at the roof level, but is otherwise an unused area. The area would get limited 'direct' sunlight, but would certainly recieve ambient light throughout the day and into the night. I'm not sure on the exact size of this, but I'm quite curious as to what could be done with an atrium.

Should I think about growing veggies or simply plants? Does any extra lighting need to be planned for? Would Tomatoes and peppers do well? How about onions?

I'm thinking of the outside areas for most of my 'crops', but, I'd like to see what I could do with this unique type of space. I'm sure it's warmer than other areas, simply by being surrounded by a building on all four sides... and thus somewhat protected from the frosts that can plague our area. Neverless, if we do decide to take over that property, I'd like to see something growing and producing.

The biggest downside I can see is it wouldn't receive daylight for any extended period. I suppose this could be a blessing as well, but again, what to grow?

in my experience i have come across alot of shade tolerant plants and veggies i found last season that my cucumbers and peper plants that got partial shade produced better then the ones that were in the blazing florida sun and some of the herbs i had planted were a little bit aromatic then the ones out in full sun all day. im sure if you do some searching or ask at your local nursery they will be able to point you in the right direction maybe take a few pictures of the atrium as is so that they can get an idea of the space lighting and so forth.