I just hopped the link with no problem... Might be cached in my browser though... Sorry about that!

Anyway, here is the full article from New York Magazine, and it contains a lot more detail.

Warning: The article is Rated R, by me, for language.

At least in the detailed article, the author admits completely that it was a stunt. You also learn that with the exception of his father, who had been a potato farmer in England, he didn't have a whole lot of people around with the knowledge to pull it off. At one point, a family member who went down to see his "hothouse" in the basement, told him right off the bat that the grow lights were in the wrong place and because of this the plants were spidery and would fail, which they did.
_________________________
"Learn survival skills when your life doesn't depend on it."