Recently, we were in a grocery store in Greensboro and saw the above “Sweet Potato” box. We went to the internet to verify and, yes, North Carolina is still #1 in sweet potato production in the United States. It has been since 1971. North Carolina produces between 1-2 billion pounds a year– almsot 64% of the supply for the United States..

The soil in Guilford County is not conducive to commercial growing of sweet potatoes They prefer sandy soil that is looser and the top producers are Wilson, Nash, and Johnston (in the east). Our relatives remind us that, if you want them for Thanksgiving, buy them early as the medium sized ones will be sold out and you may be subitituting them for yams!