Potaoes

I found an article on associatedcontent.com written by Donna Daniels, June 26, 2007.

An excerpt from this article:

The potato bush grows to be about one to two feet tall. It looks a lot like a tomato plant in fact the tomato plant is also a member of the night shade family so the potato and the tomato are related to each other. The potato bush actually forms small tomatoes on its plant but I don't advise eating them. both the tomato and the potato form blossoms that turn into the fruits. These blossoms are actually very beautiful and when you see an entire field of them they are gorgeous.

The potatoes grow underground. They form under the potato bush and can be found underneath the potato bush. The potatoes are ready to be dug up when the potato bush starts to wither and die. You can dig up the potatoes when the bush starts to die or you can wait to dig them up but you should dig up the potatoes before the first freeze because a freeze can harm the potatoes.

I like to use a potato fork to dig up potatoes. A potato fork resembles a dinner fork except it is very big and designed to dig up potatoes. You can also use a shovel if you do not have a potato fork but there is a bigger chance you will cut into a potato. When you dig up potatoes you should put the fork or shovel into the ground about a foot from the center stem of the potato plant. Then pull up on the fork or shovel and you should see some potatoes. If you don't then dig closer to the potato plant and keep on pulling up the soil around the potato plant until you have the potato plant and the area around the plant dig up. as you dig you may see potatoes and you should pick them up right away or you can loose them. they can be covered in more coil and disappear.

Hope this helps.
Skippy

should be ok to harvest now. if you rub the skins and it stays on then they will keep ok . put them in a hessian sack and store in a cool dry place. hope you get a good crop , all this rain and no sun !! our crop was ok-ish