As an addition to Rhys’s comment after seemingly every year getting healthy self set potatoes, as an experiment for 2012 -13 I intentionally autumn planted some saved seed to see how they would do, they actully appeared to sprout and emerge a little later than spring sown though that might have had more to do with the amount of compost I dumped on them, they grew to be very big plants and produced a substantial crop.
I am on very free draining soil and having been no dig for five years now get no water loging problems regardless of the amount of rain there is.
