Seed Catalog Cover Is a Hand-Carved Print

Sow True Seed's 2027 catalog uses a multi-color linoleum block print, with requests opening Nov. 1.

Updated on Nov. 3, 2026 in Botany

Carved linoleum printing blocks, an inked brayer, and stacked multi-color prints on a wooden workbench beside a window overlooking forested hills. — Sow True Seed, the employee-owned Asheville seed company, unveiled its 2027 catalog cover, a multi-color linoleum block print by Courtney Farquharson, with requests opening Nov. 1. AI Illustration. Upload story photo >

Sow True Seed, an employee-owned seed company based in Asheville, North Carolina, revealed the cover of its 2027 seed catalog, a linoleum block print by printmaker Courtney Farquharson. Gardeners can request a copy beginning Nov. 1. This is a printed catalog and merchandise release, not a product or scientific development.

Why it matters

Sow True Seed commissions original artwork for its catalog cover and seed packets through an annual call to artists, so the cover reflects a recurring local-to-regional creative process rather than a one-off. The selection of a relief-printed design for the 2027 edition continues that annual tradition.

The catalog cover is a linoleum block print, a relief process in which each color is carved and printed in sequence. The source gives no measured figures for the seed varieties or catalog specifications.

The players

Sow True Seed

An employee-owned seed company based in Asheville, North Carolina, that sells open-pollinated, non-GMO seed and commissions artwork for its catalog through an annual call to artists.

Courtney Farquharson

A self-taught printmaker raised in Tennessee and working out of Chatham, Illinois, who created the linoleum block print for the 2027 Sow True Seed catalog cover.

The details

Linoleum block printing is a relief printmaking process 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. The full piece will appear on upcoming Sow True Seed merchandise.

Nov. 1: gardeners can begin requesting copies of the 2027 seed catalog.

The Tech Race

This release is a printed-media and merchandise milestone rather than a development in plant breeding or seed technology. The source does not place it against any competing seed program or research roadmap.

Gardeners can begin requesting copies of the 2027 catalog on Nov. 1. The source does not specify whether the printed catalog or the merchandise carrying the artwork will be available at a set price or date.

The takeaway

Watch for the Nov. 1 start of catalog requests, the first concrete step in the 2027 release. The full Farquharson print is also slated to appear on upcoming Sow True Seed merchandise, a verifiable next milestone for the artwork.