What a year! We will be taking a two week break–closing the office from now until the end of the year. Before we do, I want to share with you some of the highlights of 2016. In a world filled with news of tragedy and destruction, we’ve been quietly building a foundation for our community’s future. Grants from WellSpan and the U.S. Department of Agriculture helped to underwrite the restoration of our summer kitchen. It took almost nine years and more than 2,400 volunteer hours to convert an 1830s building into a licensed kitchen. We celebrated on November 9 with a ribbon cutting ceremony pictured above. We think of our summer kitchen with its wood burning squirrel tail oven as the hearth of the farm. When we look at the word ‘hearth’, we find both the words ‘heart’ and ‘earth’ contained within it, and those two words sum up our values: love of the Earth and each other. Now that the kitchen has been restored, we can gather there for the preparation of food once more. In the first month, we held workshops on Bread Baking Basics and Vegetable Fermentation. Up next is Bread Baking 201 in January. Many more classes and events are in the works for 2017. Look for details on our website and our Facebook page.
Other 2016 milestones:
- The York County Commissioners extended our lease of the Horn Farm property to 99 years!
- A conservation easement is being placed on the 189-acre Horn Farm property thus guaranteeing it will be a farm forever!
- We completed an assessment of the entire property and created a Land Use Management Plan.
- We built a second greenhouse.
- For the first time, we offered a Farming Internship, and we had the privilege of working with Andrew, Betsy, Joshua, and Miranda from April through October.
L to R: Andrew, Education Director Jon Darby, Joshua, Betsy, and Miranda
Remember to sign up for your 2017 CSA share before January 30th to get the discounted price.
Thank you to all of our amazing volunteers, friends of the Horn Farm, and to those who supported our work with their financial contributions. We wouldn’t be here without you! If you’d like to support our work, please donate now!