Harvesting Potatoes
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| My 'Red Duke Of York' grew to a big handy size |
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‘Early’ potatoes and potato picking
‘Early’ potatoes are ready after about 90 days. You might begin harvesting potatoes when the flowers open. With ‘earlies’ grown under straw, paper or polythene mulch, you can pick a few at a time. These are readily accessible on lifting the mulch. Potato containers with side doors also facilitate picking.I harvest my potato tubs whole, although it’s tempting to take a few from near the top. (It's probably better to pick the large potatoes early on to stimulate smaller tubers to grow.)
Finally cut the foliage down, remove any supports, lay tub upside down in a bag and remove it from contents. Then scrape the soil back into the pot leaving the potatoes. There’s no need to use a fork.
Harvesting Potatoes From Soil
You can harvest a maincrop by picking as you need them or, all in one go for storage. Harvesting potatoes is a job for a warm dry day.
My ideal potato fork has flat tines with a more pronounced curve to hold up potato clumps, and a handle about ˝ normal length. I like the Sneeboer Ground Elder Fork with 51cm handle; the Sneeboer Potatoe Fork has a 70cm handle. This link goes to Sneeboer forks for U.K. gardeners .
A spade is not suitable; it retains earth, adding weight, and may damage potatoes.
Some gardeners advise working from the side - I usually work along the row from one end. Fork straight down and lift while gently pulling up the plant by its stems. Try to lift the plant to the surface with all tubers attached.
Remove all potatoes even the smallest – any left behind could be a source of disease for future crops and, food to sustain potato pests.
Handle potatoes carefully. Lay them out to dry for a few hours only and sort them. With the largest potatoes at one end, sort by decreasing size and then by the largest damaged potatoes to the smallest. The smaller potatoes and any diseased or damaged potatoes must be used first. They are not fit for storage.
You can only store perfect potatoes of sufficient size. They must be stored in a dark, cool and dry place.
Storing Potatoes
You can store potatoes in heavy guage brown paper sacks or hessian or burlap sacks. Keep in a cool dark place. Check regularly and every day over the first few weeks in storage. Any wiff of ammonia or putrid smell indicates rot. Don't ignore. A potato may be rotting down at the bottom of the bag.More information coming soon.
BOTTOM OF THE GARDEN - more information and links
