Harvesting first earlies?

When do I harvest my first early Rocket spuds? They're in potato bags and the top growth is now huge. There are flower buds on them but they haven't opened yet. Do I wait until the top growth dies back or just until the flowers open then die or before then? They were planted on the 15th March.

 

The usual advice is to allow 12 weeks between planting & harvest, I always wait until the flowers have finished.

 

Thank you both

 

Mrs K always wants "small new potatoes, like Jersey Royals" ... of course your get all sizes because our garden crops are growing tubers at all stages of development, but certainly we favour harvest-early for smaller spuds ... if you only have one or two plants that's probably a bad strategy, but over the years I have come to the view that a succession of New Potatoes is what we like to eat ...

So ... I grow just one bag of Rocket. We don't like the flavour all that much, but they are fast. So we harvest them first. Then we have Arran Pilot for the rest of the 1st early. I have 3 bags of those (planted at the same time - so if I harvest one too early I know when to guestimate for the other two) and then we have 2 bags of Charlotte (which is the taste we like the most).

I plant 6 or 8 Arran Pilot outside at the earliest sensible date, along with half a dozen Pink Fir Apple. Then I plant another 6 or 8 at fortnight intervals until we get to the first week or two of May when the whole of the rest go in (the last of the Arran Pilot, all the Charlotte and the Pink Fir Apple, and any other [e.g. main crop] varieties I am growing). My aim is twofold: first to get successional planting of 1st early to have as many "small ones" as possible. I have land / space enough, so the issue is not "maximum yield" for me. Secondly I got fed up of protecting spuds against late frost. I was having to protect 4 or more double rows with fleece, and sometimes having to scrabble to get enough straw and grass clippings when a really bad late frost was forecast. Then we would start harvesting and it would be a month before we finished harvesting the first earlies - so why not plant some of the first earlies a month later and save all that faffing about with fleece and straw?

The Pink Fir Apple are because we like to eat them for BBQ's in the summer, so I do a few extra-early to give us some yield early in the summer weekend entertaining season (your invite will be in the post real soon now )

Choose a Main Crop for best flavour, but grow it for maximum yield.

Choose 1st / 2nd early for best flavour, and grow it for best flavour!

So, personally, I would start harvesting the Rockets at the earliest likely date - quite possibly before they flower - or as they bud-up. Either way, keep a note in a diary so you know what to do next year

 

Thanks Kristen....I'll definitely keep a note of it.