Indoor edible salad/greens companions

I cleaned out the honeysuckle from my woods and am going to build soil while I create my indoor garden spaces and try to make it fit naturally into my home as much as I can.

In that vein, I used to have a small balcony salad and greens garden that fed 50% of our food needs when we were good and ate a salad with lunch and dinner. We grew yellow squash, New Zealand spinach, a cut n come again salad mix, kale and a couple container tomatoes.  The only work really for this garden was it required 3 gallons of water per day in 100 degree weather at full bloom.

Recently I was thinking there are a lot of weedy perennial veggies and greens that look easy to grow, and so many Asian greens I’ve never heard of. So I thought i’d ask ideas for low light need prolific plants that either ready to pick in 20-30 days or are low water needs. If they are super-prolific, I’m willing to get them put them on a hydro set up, but don’t want to use more than cf lights.

Also, ideas if coplanting in the same pots, both for aesthetics and utility. I think this is a good way to try stuff before I make a big commitment outdoors.

Thanks, nice to meet you all

As far as conventional crops, arugula and radish greens come to mind(small and fast) and I have experience with; alyssum is a similar brassica that grows small, spreads fast, and doesn't need to much water(although the flower heads would just be for flavor interest, not a salad base).

and don't forget dandelions, of course

Gathered from around the web. There may be some repeats, and I will try to organize into a table eventually. Let me know if any of these are myths or more to add:


🥬 Greens


Partial shade:
* Salad mix
* Stir fry mix
* Sprouts
* Asian mustard greens
* Miners’ lettuce
* Dandelions
* Arugula
* Salad burnet
* Endive
* bok choi
* Pok choi
* Chinese cabbage
* Celery
* chard
* endive
* mesclun
* mustard
* sorrel
* spinach
* tatsoi
* watercress
* Kale
* Collards
* mizuna

Shade
*   upland cress (Barbarea verna)
* Lebanese cress

Veggies 🌽 🌶

Shade Tolerant Vegetables

* asparagus
* broccoli
* Cardamom
* Brussel sprouts
* cabbage
* cauliflower
* Carrot
* celery
* Chinese cabbage
* kohlrabi
* peas
* potatoes
* Cornfield beans (green bean)
* rhubarb
Shade Tolerant Root Crops

* beets
* carrots
* garlic
* horseradish
* leeks
* Taro
* Cassava
* Yacon
* parsnips
* radishes
* rutabagas
* scallion
* turnips
* Ginger
* Tumeric
* Sweet potatoes

Herbs

* Oregano
* Mint
* Lemon balm
* Chive
* Rosemary
* Cilantro
* Parsley
* Basil

And mushrooms 🍄
Crop
Shade Notes
Growing Tips
Arugula
At least three to four hours of sun per day.
Arugula welcomes shade, as this crop is prone to bolting as soon as the weather turns warm if in full sun.
Asian greens
At least two hours of sun per day.
Asian greens such as bok choi (also spelled “pac choi” and “pak choi”), komatsuna and tatsoi will grow wonderfully with a couple hours of sun plus some bright shade or ambient light.
Chard
If you grow chard mainly for its crisp stalks, you will need at least five hours of sun per day; if you grow it mainly for the tender baby leaves, three to four hours of sun per day will be enough.
Expect chard grown in partial sade to be quite a bit smaller than that grown in full sun. Baby chard leaves are excellent cooked or served raw in salads.
Culinary herbs
At least three hours of sun per day.
While many culinary herbs need full sun, chives, cilantro, garlic chives, golden marjoram, lemon balm, mint, oregano and parsley will usually perform well in shadier gardens.
Kale
At least three to four hours of sun per day.
You'll notice only a small reduction in growth if comparing kale grown in partial shade with kale grown in full sun.
Lettuce
At least three to four hours of sun per day.
Lettuce is perfect for shadier gardens because the shade protects it from the sun’s heat, preventing it from bolting as quickly. Often, the shade can buy a few more weeks of harvesting time that you’d get from lettuce grown in full sun.
Mesclun
One of the best crops for shady gardens. Grows in as little as two hours of sun per day and handles dappled shade well.
The delicate leaves of this salad mix can be harvested in about four weeks, and as long as you leave the roots intact, you should be able to get at least three good harvests before you have to replant.
Mustard greens
At least three hours of sun per day for baby mustard greens.
Mustard grown for baby greens is best-suited for shady gardens.
Peas and beans
At least four to five hours of sun.
If growing these crops in partial shade, getting a good harvest wil take longer. Try bush and dwarf varieties rather than pole varieties.
Root vegetables
At least four to five hours of sun per day for decent production.
Beets, carrots, potatoes, radishes and turnips will do OK in partial shade, but you'll have to wait longer for a full crop. The more light you have, the faster they'll mature. Alternatively, you can harvest baby carrots or small new potatoes for a gourment treat that would cost an arm and a leg at a grocery store.
Scallions
At least three hours of sun per day.
This crop does well in partial shade throughout the growing season.
Spinach
At least three to four hours of sun per day.
Spinach welcomes shade, as it bolts easliy if in full sun. If you grow it specifically to harvest as baby spinach, you'll be able to harvest for quite a while as long as you continue to harvest the outmost leaves of each plant.

I also have a huge outdoor balcony with little sun, Zone 6, maybe 7ish. The corner gets 2-4 hours direct sun. Gathered from this post https://permies.com/t/10302/Shade-Tolerant-Edibles

What trees will produce indoors or in a shaded balcony?


Annual Lettuces
Endive
Chard
Mints
Sorrel
Ginger
Fiddleheads of Pako Ferns, High Climbing Ferns, Swamp Ferns
Spinach
Beets
Akebia a.k.a. Chocolate Vine (fruit)
Scallions
Pawpaw
Blueberries
Actinidia (fruit)
Violas
Mushrooms
Strawberries?

asparagus
cucumber
blackberries
raspberries
basillycum

American Persimmon
Bunya Bunya
Ginkgo
Service Tree
Blackhaw
California Hazelnut
Blue Banana Bean
Chokeberry
Currant
Elaeagnus X ebbingei
Evergreen Huckleberry
Gooseberry
Goumi
Honeyberry
Oregon Grape
Red Huckleberry
Salal
Salmonberry
Serviceberry
Arctic Beauty Kiwi
Himalayan Damarru
Japanese Wineberry
Magnolia Vine
Sausage Vine
Stauntonia
Bear's Breech
Comfrey (for fertilizer)
Japanese Coltsfoot
Miner's Lettuce
Nettles
Ramps
Violet
Waterleaf
California Bay Laurel
Garlic Mustard
Sweet Woodruff
Wild Ginger
Alpine Strawbeny
Bunchberry
Emerald Creeper
Himalayan Bramble
Chinese privet
Devil's club
English laurel
Black raspberry
Ginsing
Mitsuba
Siberian or Pink purslane
Sweet cicely
Tarragon
Watercress
Linden
Blackberry
Plum yew
Flowering quince
Goji berry
dwarf chestnut
Beech
Mountain pepper
Blue or black elder
New Zealand flax
Creeping dogwood
Wintergreen
Nepalese raspberry (very shade tolerant)
Creeping bramble
Chinese bramble
Ground elder
Wild garlic
Wild angelica
Columbine
King's spear
Lady's smock
Good King Henry
Golden Saxifrage
Mock strawberry
Sweet woodruff
Aleroot
Hosta (yes, young leaves are edible)
Mallows
Lemon balm
Plantain
Solomon's seal
False Solomon's seal
Lesser switchwort
Violet
Sweet coltsfoot
Primrose
Rhubarb
Garlic mustard
Hog peanut
burdock
land cress
calendula
rampion
Hedge mustard
Black lovage
Groundnut
Sweet tea vine
caucasian spinach
Old Man's beard

wasabi
sprouts
mushrooms
mint

partial shade-tolerant vegetables
Arugala
Rutabagas
Beets
Salad Burnet
Broccoli (Can't testify for this one, but I'd say it wouldn't get very big)
Salsify
Brussels sprouts (Mine did poorly)
cabbage (Mine did poorly)
Cauliflower (Can't testify for this one, but I'd say it wouldn't get very big)
Summer Squash
Celery
Turnips
Angelica
Kale
Borage
Kohlrabi
Caraway
Leeks
Coriander
Parsnips
Potatoes (Didn't do well for me in the shade)
Tarrgon
Pumpkins (Didn't do well for me in the shade, unless you like small pumpkins)
Thyme
Radish

Other noteworthy ones:
mustard greens
pak choi
cardamom
peas
bush beans
currants
gooseberry

Commelina cyanea aka scurvy weed
Tetragonia tetragonoides Aka New Zealand spinach