For interplanting in corn, I've had good luck with winter squash. It doesn't mind a little shade and the leaves help keep racoons down. It does slow the maturity of the sqash a little. What you can get away with depends alot on the length of your growing season.
Some herbs may not like being potted. In fact, some actually require the winter dormancy to survive. Most are much tougher than you might think. If you want potted herbs for fresh use in winter, then by all means, but I'd leave the main harvest of most herbs outside. Are there specific ones you're thinking of?
How you initially design the layout of your growing beds can allow you to grow insect attracting herbs away from main traffic lanes. My main garden is approximately 50'x120' with the long dimension running east/west. My main growing beds are standardized at 5'x20', running north/south. they are in 2 rows, one on the north side and one on the south side of a main center path that runs east/west down the center of the garden. Between each growing bed is a one foot wide path that connects to the center path. The beds along the south half all end against another bed that runs the length of the south edge of the garden. I plant most of the perennials there. Here's a
rough sketch of a section of the garden bed setup. They're away from the main traffic lanes that way. When I'm drawing out my garden plan during the winter, I treat each 5'x20' bed as 4 5'square beds, each drawn on a single sheet of graph paper.
Here\'s an example. I have several that are reused each year, and add more as I find combinations I like. With all beds being the same size, it becomes easy to schedule crop rotation. Several of the 5' squares along the center path also grow perennials, like the rosebushes, lavender, and a couple climbing vines on trellises. Changing things around is half the fun, and every year I learn from it. Give your soil a serious examining. Look for the fertile areas, the damp areas, drier and less fertile spots, where the shade is and when, and try to plan to take advantage of it. I have woods to the east of my garden so the west half of it gets more sun than the east half. I put the ones that require the longest growing season and most sun on the west end. Make every year and every season an experiment, and KEEP NOTES!! Consider a long term plan too. Every year, spring here is dry and windy. This is always drying the surface of my soil and interfering with germination. My long term solution? On the west and north edges of the garden, I planted a fast growing, flowering hedge. In 3 years it's reached over 10 feet tall and has helped to significantly reduce my spring watering. It also attracts and feeds the bees in the spring and feeds the birds in the fall. Try to look at your yard this way, and picture what you can make it. Never stop planning and don't be afraid to make changes.
Rick