Sow True Seed, an employee-owned seed company based in Asheville, North Carolina, has revealed the cover of its 2027 seed catalog, a linoleum block print by Courtney Farquharson, a printmaker working out of Chatham, Illinois. Gardeners can request a copy of the new edition beginning Nov. 1.
Each year Sow True Seed commissions original artwork for its printed catalog cover and seed packets through an annual call to artists. The program pairs the company’s collection of open-pollinated, non-GMO seed with work from independent artists, and the printed catalog remains one of the primary ways the company reaches home gardeners and growers.
Farquharson was raised in Tennessee and is primarily self-taught. The artist works in linoleum block printing, a form of relief printmaking in which an image is carved in reverse into a block of linoleum, then inked and pressed onto paper. Farquharson’s prints are built in multiple layers, with each color carved and printed in sequence to create the final image.
Farquharson’s work centers on visual storytelling. Each piece contains dense imagery that celebrates familiar animals, forgotten places and the folklore found in everyday moments, themes that carry into the 2027 cover.
“Relief printmaking is slow, hands-on work, and every layer has to be planned before the first cut is made,” said Hannah Gibbons, marketing and communications manager at Sow True Seed. “The team here are longtime printmaking fans, and Courtney’s piece has the kind of detail that rewards a second look. That matters for a catalog that sits on kitchen tables all winter while people plan their gardens.”
The full piece will appear on upcoming Sow True Seed merchandise.
