From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishearly potatoes/lettuces etcearly potatoes/lettuces etcHBPpotatoes etc that are ready to be picked before any others → early
Examples from the Corpus
early potatoes/lettuces etc• Plant garlic, shallots and Jerusalem artichokes as soon as possible, early potatoes about mid-month.• Farmers near Girvan and Dunbar use these advantages to provide early potatoes for the large markets of Glasgow and Edinburgh.• The early potatoes were well up and looking very healthy, I was happy to see. 