Tossed Taters

DEEP CREEK—The Spokane Hutterian Brethren figured most of their seed potatoes were going to go to waste after their main customers in the Columbia Basin cut their contracts by 40%.

So, Hutterians dumped the spuds in a West Sprague Road field.

Instead, a video posted online by Denise Bennett of Reardan alerted locals to the free spuds. And it has brought thousands to pick up their share of potatoes from the hundreds of tons that have already been dumped.

“I guess people are desperate for free potatoes,” Hutterian farmer David Gross said, noting Hutterians knew since the fall that this crop wasn’t going to turn a profit due to contract cuts.

Hutterians decided to invite the community to take their share.

“If we can help the community, we like doing that,” Gross said.

Most of the potatoes are Russet.

News of the tossed taters spread like wildfire in Lincoln and Spokane Counties.

Throughout the day Sunday, April 21, and Monday, April 22, 50-100 cars were regularly parked on West Sprague Road that had transported spud seekers, neighbor Byrne Bennett said.

“One guy was blaring music from his van,” Bennett said. “It was a real potato party.”

And lest the hundreds of prospective potato pickers deter interested “customers,” Gross said there are still up to 10 semitruck loads of potatoes to dump.

“We didn’t think people were going to take the time,” Gross said.

The spud mountain is just west of the “Grain Train” railroad tracks crossing West Sprague Road.

From Spokane County on U.S. Highway 2, turn north on Wood Road and left onto West Sprague Road.