Greenhouse Awash in Specialty Produce : F & F Farms uses the soil-free hydroponic method to grow such gourmet offerings as arugula, kale and baby bok choy.

Nestled among the rolling hills near Somis, Fred Ellrott Jr.’s greenhouse looksa heck of a lot like others dotting Ventura County’s countryside.

The rectangular structure is made of transparent, corrugated fiberglass. Take a peak inside and it seems like a normal greenhouse.

Row after tidy row of verdant plant life--suspended on waist-high troughs--blanket the entire 1/2-acre space. The appearance is that of a lush green carpet hovering above the floor.

The collective drone from a bank of air-circulating fans can be heard. The temperature is cozy, a bit humid. The place smells like a greenhouse.

Yet a faint, constant trickle of water--nowhere to be seen--breaks through the enclosure’s stillness.

“This is totally different from conventional farming,” Ellrott said recently, explaining the process of growing his vegetables hydroponically--without soil.

That 24-hour trickle runs lengthwise down the four-inch-wide troughs--concealed by the vegetation above--and provides the plants with everything they need to grow.

The vegetables’ roots are bathed in the nutrient-rich, recirculated solution. The 12-ingredient concoction includes powdered forms of calcium, potassium, iron and more.

“We have to provide everything in the water that would come out of the ground,” Ellrott said.

With a helping hand from his father, the duo’s F & F Farms propagate specialty produce--mainly leafy vegetables--which they offer at farmers markets.

The greenhouse / farm is a year-round production site for gourmet lettuce, arugula, kale, tah tsai (Chinese cabbage), baby bok choy and even some spinach during the cooler months.

“All of these items go into our gourmet salad mix,” Ellrott Jr. said.

The family--including Fred Jr.’s son, Fred Ellrott III--can be found at farmers markets in Thousand Oaks, Ventura (Saturday), Santa Clarita and Calabasas.

Limestone lettuce, a delicate variety similar to butter lettuce, is Ellrott’s main crop. The smallish, leafy heads have an uncanny likeness to large rose blooms. The single-packaged limestone lettuce heads sell for 75 cents each at the farmers markets; the gourmet salad mix is $3 for a 3/4-pound bag. Other items sell for about 50 cents to 60 cents per bunch.

“Since we control the environment, we can grow year-round,” Ellrott Jr. said. And they can offer consumers a product they don’t get from the major growers.

That’s the key: grow specialty products that don’t have to be planted outdoors, and have them available when others don’t.

“We can only afford to sell high-end, specialty produce,” Ellrott Sr. said during a recent tour of the facility.

Fred Jr.--without prior farming experience--entered Ventura County’s hydroponic ranks in 1991. There are two other hydroponic farmers: Bob Beylik of Fillmore and Frank Armstrong of Somis.

Braving an economic tightrope has kept others from signing on to the no-soil farming method, longtime Ventura County farm adviser Bob Brendler said.

“There was a lot of interest in hydroponic farming quite a few years ago, but most weren’t able to make a living at it,” Brendler said.

Ellrott Jr. likens hydroponics to a production line. “From a production standpoint, this operates like a factory,” he said.