At Homegrown Paradise in Fulton, 5-year-old Grant Norfleet and his little brother Jack tally up their day's pick.

How many did he pick? "Like ten, or four, or five, or one hundred," says Grant.

Homegrown Paradise has been open for two years. It has gained a foothold among strawberry pickers like Phyllis Schoening for one specific reason:

"I don't have to bend over to pick," Schoening says. "They're always such nice berries because they aren't on the ground."

Homegrown Paradise is a hydroponic farm, which essentially means the strawberries are grown without dirt. Using ancient Egyptian techniques, strawberries are grown in a mixture of volcanic glass and the mineral vermiculite. Growing the strawberries in vertical pots makes strawberry picking a whole new exprience.

"You'll never pick strawberries off the ground again," explains Jo Veta Deimeke, who owns Homegrown Paradise with her husband, Charlie.

There isn't really an easy way to "quit your job and grow strawberries in a styrofoam pot," Charlie says. Indeed, Deimeke recalls that there were people who were hesitant about picking these strawberries at first.

"Some people have come here skeptical," he explains. "There's myth that since they're not growing the dirt, they won't have any taste, and they usually leave with a different feeling."

At first, Lewis Baumgartner counted himself among the skeptical.

"Last year," Baumgartner remembers, "I asked, 'What are they doing?' Somebody said it will be a strawberry farm, and I thought, 'How can it be a strawberry farm in that old poor clay ground?' I'm amazed at what this has turned into."