Harvesting first early potatoes, are they ready yet?

photo of first early potatoes in flower.
Flowers on your first early potatoes are a sign that they may be ready to harvest.It is a good idea to  'test the ground'  before digging up the potato plants to harvest the potatoes (in case they are not yet ready) gently remove the soil around them with your hands or with a trowel.  Just below the surface of the soil you should find a few potatoes that will give you an indication of how big the new potatoes are. 

If the potatoes you unearth are too small to be useful then do not detach them from the main plant, gently cover them back up i.e. replace the soil around them and let them grow on for a while.

If you are unearthing some potatoes that are large enough to cook; gently remove them from the plant and leave the small immature potatoes still attached to grow on further. You can continue to do this  until you are

ready to harvest the potatoes.

First earlies and salad potatoes  taste best when freshly harvested so this is a nice way to gather your first few first early potatoes or salad potatoes for today or tomorrow's meal.