Potato Update.

If you are concerned when to harvest potatoes, just gently dig up a few near the surface. You can use a hand tool or your hand ( on lighter soils) to unearth some of them. Even if you discover potatoes that are so small you do not want to dig out anymore until later,  you can take the small ones you have unearthed home and fry them up rather than waste them.

.The weather this year is so bizarre here that I will be harvesting mine a few at a time and using them as and when I need them. I think this year 2016 you can throw the previous years rule book out of the shed window or keep it by for next year.  

I think if left in for too long in the ground the damp and warm weather may encourage an outbreak of blight. If this happens in past years I have followed advice from other allotment owners to remove the leaves and stems ( all above ground growth).  You will by then have seen signs of blight on discoloured foliage and sometimes also a sort of hazy look to the underside of leaves. Do not compost the removed foliage. If green tops are removed promptly it can be successful to leave the potatoes in the ground for a time after this but obviously without leaves they will not reach their full size potential.