Our Operation
Ferry Boat Seeds is headquartered on Page & Furrow Farm, a 17-acre farm on San Juan Island in northwest Washington State. The stable maritime climate and Olympic rain shadow create ideal conditions for a range of seed crops. Page & Furrow Farm is dedicated solely to seed production and is certified organic by the Washington State Department of Agriculture.
Ferry Boat Seeds also maintains offsite isolations which allow us to grow multiple seed crops of particular species each year. These isolations are either leased by us, or may take the form of seed production partnerships with local landowners. See our home page or contact us for more information about becoming a seed production partner! |
Our mission and values
Ferry Boat Seeds strives to manifest an ethic of stewardship in all aspects of its work. We believe strongly in the importance of genetic diversity in our agricultural systems – and the importance of clean, disease-free seed, especially in organic farming. Ferry Boat Seeds’ mission is to help increase the range of crop varieties available to farmers as high quality organic seed, supporting the success of those working towards a richer and more resilient food web.
We see the farm as a whole system, integrated with the natural environment around it. We build soil fertility using multi-year cover crops and maintain perennial beetle banks and hedgerows to provide wildlife habitat and prevent erosion. At Page & Furrow Farm, Ferry Boat Seeds has signed a Candidate Conservation Agreement to help save the rare Island Marble Butterfly.
We see the farm as a whole system, integrated with the natural environment around it. We build soil fertility using multi-year cover crops and maintain perennial beetle banks and hedgerows to provide wildlife habitat and prevent erosion. At Page & Furrow Farm, Ferry Boat Seeds has signed a Candidate Conservation Agreement to help save the rare Island Marble Butterfly.
Management Team
Ferry Boat Seeds is jointly owned and managed by Louisa and Brook Brouwer, both of whom hold PhDs in plant breeding.
Louisa founded Ferry Boat Seeds when she moved to San Juan Island in 2017 after completing her PhD at Washington State University as a member of the Sustainable Seed Systems Lab. She has done post-doctoral work in vegetable seed pathology. Throughout her career in agriculture and research, Louisa has focused on the organic sector. Before moving to the USA, she worked as a researcher on an organic arable agroforestry farm in the east of England (Wakelyns Agroforestry); and as a field assistant for an organic market garden. Her PhD was funded by a fellowship from the Seed Matters Initiative to support organic plant breeding. Louisa is British-Swiss and was born and raised in Hong Kong.
Brook joined the management of Ferry Boat Seeds in 2023 after serving for seven years as the Director of Extension for Washington State University in San Juan County. Brook has experience with crop variety evaluation, research in genetics, agronomics, pasture management, nutrient cycling in agricultural and natural systems and botany. Prior to starting his academic study of agriculture, Brook worked on diverse livestock farms on Lopez Island, WA, where he grew up.
Brook and Louisa met at graduate school and are now raising their family on San Juan Island.
Louisa founded Ferry Boat Seeds when she moved to San Juan Island in 2017 after completing her PhD at Washington State University as a member of the Sustainable Seed Systems Lab. She has done post-doctoral work in vegetable seed pathology. Throughout her career in agriculture and research, Louisa has focused on the organic sector. Before moving to the USA, she worked as a researcher on an organic arable agroforestry farm in the east of England (Wakelyns Agroforestry); and as a field assistant for an organic market garden. Her PhD was funded by a fellowship from the Seed Matters Initiative to support organic plant breeding. Louisa is British-Swiss and was born and raised in Hong Kong.
Brook joined the management of Ferry Boat Seeds in 2023 after serving for seven years as the Director of Extension for Washington State University in San Juan County. Brook has experience with crop variety evaluation, research in genetics, agronomics, pasture management, nutrient cycling in agricultural and natural systems and botany. Prior to starting his academic study of agriculture, Brook worked on diverse livestock farms on Lopez Island, WA, where he grew up.
Brook and Louisa met at graduate school and are now raising their family on San Juan Island.