[al78]

1. Is there a technique to digging up potatoes without spearing at least one of them with the fork?
2. I am currently lifting early potatoes on the day I intend to eat them. Is it fine to leave the rest in the ground to do their own thing until the time I want to lift them, even if that is a couple of months away?

[Beetroot queen]

It annoys me when i spear spuds, such a waste as you always take out the best one 

We tend to just let the kids at them who happily get in the soil with hands and dig for ages, once they lose interest hubby goes in with the fork.

I am sure the kids wont always enjoy spud driving but we have florence up and coming so i have a few years yet. Se squeals with delight at the sight of a potato so we will be hard pushed to miss one

[jim1972]

i always lift them as and when i need them and just like you no matter how hard i try i spear the best potato every time 

[RJR_38]

I pull mine up from the stems - this pulls up the majority of them before I dig with the fork. Not speared any yet using this technique

[jonewer]

I go in with a spade, starting well away from the stem.

Still slice the biggest one though. Its a fundamental law of physics! 

[al78]

I pull mine up from the stems - this pulls up the majority of them before I dig with the fork. Not speared any yet using this technique

This doesn't work for me. I end up with a load of potato foliage in my hand with the potatoes still in the ground.

[DD.]

I suspect it won't work for most of us!

[rich24uk]

Aside from making sure that you lift from a good way away and get as deep as possible, not sure there is a secret to avoiding it.

[Yorkie]

I always spear some 

Yes, they should keep in the ground fine.  Just beware later in the season for slugs which might have a nibble 

[RJR_38]

I pull mine up from the stems - this pulls up the majority of them before I dig with the fork. Not speared any yet using this technique

This doesn't work for me. I end up with a load of potato foliage in my hand with the potatoes still in the ground.

a

Oh really? I must be lucky with my soil here then

[Lincolnshire Floyd]

If you grow them under black polythene nearly all of them are sitting on the surface when you lift the polythene because most of the potatoes are formed just below where the haulm meets the soil which you don't really appreciate when you mound them up.
If you grow them the traditional way you have created a heavy job trying to dig them all out and of course it's then difficult to find every last one.
Once I've gathered all the ones sitting on the surface I'll dig half a spit deep for the ones hiding inches below the surface and always use a spade rather than a fork and start work well away from the plant centre. It's not often I slice one but if I do it's always useable.
I couldn't go back to ridging spuds anymore. The black polythene method is much easier and I've found I suffer less disease problems this way.

[3759allen]

once i've started a row i just start further away and work my way into the crop, and go in really deep and pull the fork up through the soil, collecting the potatoes on the fork or at least bringing them to the surface.

[seaside]

It annoys me when i spear spuds, such a waste as you always take out the best one 

You do realise there's sort of a mathematical bias toward that happening. They're bigger.
I've always thought the best answer is to dig INTO the row from the side, not UP the row. There's a sort of safe starting point, and of course, you're pushing your fork in deeper attacking the job from the troughs.