Harvesting Potatoes

[Garden Manager]

I need some advice on harvesting and storing first early potatoes. I have been harvesting my crop of earlies (rocket) for about a month now, lifting one plant at a time when potatoes were wanted for meals. the yeild has been so good this year we have not needed so many potatoes at any one time (hence the gradual harvest.

I felt that since earlies arent supposed to store very well I thought it was best to leave most in the ground and only dig as and when. Now however i am begining to notice a bit of pest damage to some of the lifted tubers and am thinking i need to dig the remaining plants up and store them out of the ground.

Is this a good idea? or will they deteriorate too much out of the ground if they arent eaten quickly enough? What would be the best way to store them if lifting is the only answer?

Please advise.

[Garden Manager]

[Grant]

Have got the same probelm.  Been lifting Rocket since last week in June and still more to go.  I am just taking a chance and leaving them in the ground and getting rid of the damaged ones.  Still got 3 second early varieties to lift yet. 

[sweet-pea]

I'm going to try making some potato gnocci with my second earlies and feezing them for later.

[kcarlisle]

That's a brilliant idea!  Do you have a recipe?

[dingerbell]

Mashed potato freezes and reconstitutes quite well... :)

[Garden Manager]

I havent even looked at the maincrop plants yet. Same quantity of plants, so if the yield of the earlies is any thing to go by, we'll have enough potatoes to last until christmas!

[tim]

Store, GC? Paper or hessian sack? Away from mice!

[Robert_Brenchley]

My Cara gave up and died back long since. I haven't looked but I doubt whether there's anything there.

[sweet-pea]

That's a brilliant idea!  Do you have a recipe?

I'm planning on making them this weekend so will try and post the recipe next week if they turn out ok.  Haven't made them before so fingers crossed.

[Philbasford]

when do u harvest main crop deseree spuds(red ones)

[keef]

when do u harvest main crop deseree spuds(red ones)

Just wait for the tops to die off... You can leave them in the soil for a while afterwards if you hav'nt got time to lift them as slugs ignore them.

I store earlies without any problems - they dont keep as long as mains, but up till xmas maybe. Although the only earlies i'm storing this year are Cherie as my Arran Pilots were a complere disaster, probably only got 2 tesco's shopping bags worth of 25 plants  >:(

[saddad]

I find the earlies store OK in the brick outhouse in Hessian sacks but have usually all been used up before Xmas. Red Duke of York last beyond Xmas make a great jacket having tough skins which makes them fairly slug resistant!
;D

[Philbasford]

am thinking of harvesting our deseree reds , had two this weekend that were huge, and were good for baking, reason want to do this is that they are a e a bit to close to the surface and if they grow any bigger then they will be exposed to the sunlight!