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The Home Farm Comes Inside

Don Beland is converting his five-bedroom suburban home in Holly Springs, N.C., into a farm— indoors. In the kitchen he has set up shelves that hold 12 trays of tomato seedlings, arugula, spinach and microgreens. In about two weeks, the tomato plants will move into the dining room, where Mr. Beland will replant them into a 7-foot high soilless growing system he is building. Near a window, jalapeño and habanero pepper seeds germinate in a 3-foot wide miniature greenhouse.The house is typically aglow with purple LED lights that can be seen from the street. “My wife worries about what people think,” Mr. Beland says.Restaurants tout tomatoes grown on site and supermarket placards designate produce from nearby farms. But homeowners like Mr. Beland may be the ultimate locavores. They are reoutfitting their homes to grow the freshest produce possible—even in winter.The $2 billion vegetable gardening industry is finding new ways to get indoors as well as out. Hydroponics, a soil-free way of growing plants, appeals to homeowners who like the idea of gardening but would rather avoid the dirt, especially indoors. Scotts Miracle-Gro Co. now either owns or has a majority stake in three home hydroponics brands including AeroGarden, which are devices that look like salad-growing space ships.

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Wall Street Journal
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