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Rex Creswell and his father, Charles, before him have been growing potatoes since 1953. Their Creswell Farms in one of only two remaining potato producers on Sand Mountain.

In years past, the Creswells have grown up to 300 acres of all red potatoes, but this year they only grew 150 acres; and as wet as it has been in digging season this year, they are probably glad that they have only 150 acres. The Creswells also have a mixed commercial cattle herd which varies from a total of 50 to 60 head.

The potatoes are grown in rotation with 250 to 300 acres of soybeans and 200 acres of corn. Rex explains,

Local high school girls, using well-trained eyes and nimble fingers, grade the washed potatoes culling those that are too small and too large to get the correct size for bagging.

"Rotations are the lifeblood of potato growing because of insects such as potato beetle. Rotation also gives color and quality to the potato crop. And we spray for blight every five to seven days."

The Creswells get their seed potatoes from North Dakota and Minnesota. They usually order five or six 50 foot trailer loads with 45,000 pounds of seed potatoes in each load. They start planting the first week in March, weather permitting.

The boys handle the tying and stacking of the 50 pound bags for shipment.

Harvesting normally begins the last week in June and extends through the third week in July. Rex states, "We have to hit this window because, when the northern markets start, the smaller southern growers can’t compete. Thus, we must ship four or five 50 foot trailer loads of 45,000 pounds bagged potatoes a day for a total of 60 to 70 trailer loads in the harvesting season. If we are able to ship ten to twelve trailer loads of marketable potatoes for every trailer load of seed potatoes, we are doing pretty well."

The Creswells have six full-time employees who plant, tend and harvest the crops, as well as tending to the cattle. In harvesting season they also use about twelve high school students who are on summer break. Rex says that these Sand Mountain teen-agers do an excellent job in the packing shed. It is very rare that he

has to let one go. He adds that about sixty boys and girls call to ask for jobs each spring.

Rex, who now mainly supervises due to the nature of the operation, reminisces, "I used to get up early and work hard all day long to make a living. Dad insisted that we always work one-half day each day; and he didn’t care which twelve hours we worked."

Rex gets up about daylight and digging begins shortly thereafter. They start packing at seven. Trucks begin loading shortly thereafter and continue to load until ten or eleven o’clock at night. The Creswell’s goal is to load four or five 50 foot trailer loads each harvesting day.

Rex says, "We ship everywhere east of the Mississippi. After the northern market window closes, we go back into Florida and northern Georgia."

Charles Creswell, who is retired, is the unofficial consultant seeing to it that the operation runs smoothly and efficiently and according to his afore mentioned "half-day" work ethic. His wife, Peggy, keeps the books.

Potatoes are dug and automatically loaded on a truck which hauls them to the packing shed.

Rex and his wife, Kim, have a son and daughter, who are both in college. Twenty year-old Kelly is a junior at Montevallo University. Brad, who plans to come back to the family farm, is majoring in farm management at Auburn. Brad’s fiance, Laura Kennedy, is also an Auburn student who wants to enter pharmacy school. Their wedding date is August 4th.

Kim worked at a bank until 15 years ago when she left to raise Brad and Kelly, and she never returned.

About three years ago, Rex and Kim went into the sock finishing business, which she manages. This was made possible by the Creswell’s close proximity to Fort Payne, which is not only the home of the country music quartet Alabama, but also "The Sock Capitol of the World." Then they added sales to the finishing process.

Kim says, "We ship all over the United States, mainly to ‘Mom and Pop’ stores, through our internet web site. It is basically a brokerage business through which we sell and ship three or four thousand dozen pairs of socks a week. As manager of the sock business, I often get the privilege of getting to fit my father-in-law’s ‘half-day’ work ethic into my schedule."

With two kids in college at the same time and a wedding on the horizon, Rex and Kim feel fortunate to have two businesses, especially since one isn’t subject to the quirks of the weather, such as this year’s deluges during prime harvest time.