[AlaninCarlisle]

Instead of rooting about under plants at the end of rows and finding tiny 3cm spuds, I went to the middle of a row of Charlottes and dug up the whole root to find a dozen egg-sized spuds. No more tentative furtling about for me from now on

[Trillium]

Furtling is more a matter of choice; some folk prefer young smaller potatoes and select the ones they want to allow the remaining smaller ones to grow on. If you don't like it, then don't do it.

[AlaninCarlisle]

To furtle about or not to furtle (how I hate that word ) is, as you say a matter of choice. However, my main takeaway from this evening's non-furtle is that for some reason, plants in the middle of a row are more advanced than those on the margin of the patch

[Trillium]

I find all marginal plants are less than the main area ones, partly due to less watering and more compaction from walking or not cultivating far enough into the edges to equal what the centre gets. We'll let you make up your own word for the f word 

[AlaninCarlisle]

The Cumbrians would call furtling "ratchin' aboot", which unfortunately can have the same sexual connotation as furtling

[Trillium]

  Well, that wasn't quite the phrase we'd want to repeat.