Harvest main-crop potatoes
Lift main- crop potatoes before the frosts start to penetrate the soil. Use a fork to gently loosen the ground well away from the plant to avoid stabbing the crop – most potatoes will be quite deep. Put the discarded stems (known as haulms) on the compost heap. Brush the soil off the skin, and separate the potatoes into two piles: blemish-free tubers for storage in paper sacks and damaged potatoes to be eaten first before they rot. Follow with a green manure or, for perfect soil next spring, add a layer of organic matter and top with weighed-down cardboard or black polythene.