As Inland Northwest gardens wilt from frost, a small Otis Orchards farm will remain in full crop production year-round to harvest several varieties of leafy vegetables.

On 2.5 acres south of Trent Avenue near Harvard Road, C&S Hydro Huts LLC operates as a hydroponic farm. Its greenhouse has a 7,000-plant capacity, and weekly, up to 1,500 heads of lettuce are harvested—green butter, romaine, red bibb, Chinese mustard, and other greens.

Most of the produce is sold wholesale for use by Spokane-area restaurants, and for retail sale in grocery stores—Yoke's Foods and Rosauers Supermarkets among them—usually at $3 a head. However, the farm also sells green leaf lettuce at $2 a head retail through farmers' markets and to residential customers who call in orders.

The lettuce finds its way to salad plates at such eateries as Wild Sage American Bistro and Hay J's Bistro, which also uses the farm's sweet Italian basil for pesto.

Since starting the farm in the fall of 2008, owners Stewart and Cheryl Fry haven't turned any soil, and the married couple remains its only two employees. They're able to handle it all with the help of computerized, automated controls that keep the farm's key ingredient of water continually flowing.

That water—with controlled amounts of nutrients added—is pumped through a piping system so that a thin layer runs across the roots of the plants in rows of elevated trays. The plants' roots are supported in a 1-inch square of biodegradable foam material similar to what floral shops use for flowers.

"With today's science, we know exactly what it takes to grow a plant," Stewart Fry says. "We're trying to get more people to know we can produce a product locally year-round. It can't be beat as far as producing a consistent product in both flavor and size."

"We use one-tenth the amount of water that a crop farmer uses, and one-quarter the amount of land space," he adds.

Fry says the couple initially invested $190,000 into building the 6,000-square-foot greenhouse and its equipment. They decided to start the farm to offer a sustainable product, and they owned the additional land near a self-storage business they operate, Big Bear Storage LLC, at 21919 E. Rowan, just east of Harvard Road.

The greenhouse is located across Harvard to the west. Its automated system monitors humidity and carbon dioxide levels, and keeps the internal temperature at between 58 degrees and 65 degrees, the best range for cooler-weather crops, Fry says. The water system adds in only basic minerals the plants need such as potassium, calcium, and magnesium sulfate, which go into the water in controlled amounts.

"It's electrolytes, essentially, for plants," he says. "There are no chemicals in the process, and the nutrients are all pharmaceutical grade."

The automated controls also will open vents and blow air as needed, Fry says, adding that this simulates the outdoors, where steady breezes help strengthen a plant.

"In dirt, you can't calculate how much minerals are in each square foot of soil, so plants vary in size like in a garden," he says. "This gives us a more uniform-sized plant. Each plant gets exactly what it needs, and all are about the same size."

To get their product from farm to table, Fry handles a few deliveries himself, such as to Rocket Market and five stores of Yoke's Foods Inc., which was the couple's first customer. He says the farm's lettuce is packed with roots intact inside a clear plastic container.

"Most of our products are delivered next day and because it has the roots still on, it will last up to four weeks in the refrigerator if you keep the roots wet," Fry says.

The couple also works with two food distributors that have operations here, Seattle-based Charlie's Produce and Spokane-based Peirone Produce Co., to fill restaurant and grocery store orders.

C&S starts its growing process with seeds planted in foam pads used to sprout seedlings. About every two to three weeks, that group of seedlings is transferred into the next staging area. The couple monitors four or five rotations of plants, from seedlings to harvestable heads of lettuce, Fry says.

By the time the C&S lettuce is harvested, steady roots are intact and the foam material has mostly broken down.

He says the farm doesn't use artificial lighting, so plants take a bit longer to grow during the shorter days of winter. It takes on average 45 days to grow a head of lettuce from seed in the summer, and 55 days in the winter, he adds.

The Frys usually spend at least two evenings a week packing up boxes to be picked up by distributors. Fry says that for the first two years, the couple re-invested into the business, but it showed a profit in the third year.

"This summer we picked up a lot of business," he says. "Some of it was from the farmers' markets, but we've seen sales pick up at grocery stores."

He adds, "We're really big, 100 percent, into buying local. If you spend a dollar locally, it tends to stay and circulate locally up to 15 times. It seems that people want more of their food grown locally. It's more accountable."

The couple, who wash up before entering the facility, wear gloves when packing the produce.

In addition to its lettuce, kale, arugula, and basil, the Frys have tried growing a limited amount of cucumbers, peppers, and tomatoes for farmers' markets. Eventually, they would need to build a wall or separation so that those plants could grow in slightly warmer temperatures year-round, Fry says.

From early November until April 1, the farm also offers tours that often attract school science classes and scout groups.

The couple charges $5 a person, although kids and students are free as long as they are with a parent or teacher. They also send heads of lettuce home with the group at tour's end.

"This is about five to seven years ahead of the curve," Fry says. "They're doing this on high rises in New York, and this is becoming more popular in high-density populations."