When to dig up your Potatoes?

Not usual for me to do an update on a Saturday, but weather forecast tomorrow is for more heavy rain!
Anyway, I have been asked a few times 'When is it time to dig up Potatoes?'  as you can see here all the foliage (halums) have died back, this is a sure sign to dig them up, as no foliage means they cannot grow anymore, there is no problem leaving Potatoes in the soil, in fact its a good place to leave them, until it gets colder or you have Slug problems.

Here you can see the remainder of 2 rows of Charlotte 2nd early Potatoes (approx 5.5lb), there is still a row left to dig, but I'm happy to leave them there, for about a month anyway.
With 1st early varieties you can dig them up as soon as the flowers have finished, even if the foliage is still present, you then get smaller sweeter tasting boiling/salad Potatoes.

Todays Harvest:
Red Currants 2lb
Black Currants 10oz
Raspberries 6oz
Blueberries 2 only!
and the Charlotte Potatoes (above) 5.5lb.
Other Harvests this week:
10oz Strawberries, 8oz Raspberries, 7oz Mixed Blackberries, Courgettes, Peas, Cabbage, Broad Beans & Kale.

So as I said, the forecast is for more heavy rain, tomorrow and into next week too, in fact up to Wednesday, so might not get to the Allotment much :-(
We managed to get to the Allotment today (Sunday) in between the showers, so here's a  Harvest update: Tomatoes, Lettuce & Mint (to add to Potatoes as mint butter) 


Thanks for reading/returning. Ian