In shallow trays of organic soil at her greenhouse in Harrisburg, onetime real estate agent Kate Brun is cultivating a business: growing and selling microgreens, tiny herbs and vegetables harvested when their first leaves appear.
Not even a year old, her company is already taking root – part of a wave of the homemade and home-grown springing up in Charlotte and across the country.
Two factors have combined to propel the trend, experts say: the increasingly popular local-food movement, and a recession that's prompted people to consider different ways to earn a living.
"We really are going to need more producers who are willing to grow for this kind of market," says Nancy Creamer, director of the Center for Environmental Farming Systems at N.C. State University. "There's sometimes a learning curve and some barriers, but I think there's a lot of interest and a lot of opportunity."
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Photo by Jeff Siner, The Charlotte Observer