Reflecting in Gratitude & Celebrating Community Abundance
As we bid farewell to 2025, we invite you to celebrate a year shaped by shared learning and a deep commitment to caring for the land.
Thank you for standing with us in this work. Together, we’re growing food, nurturing community, and igniting the collective spark to build a more resilient future. Your participation and support makes all the difference, and we can’t wait to see what next year brings.
Cheers to health, abundance, and a continued love for the land in 2026. We hope to see you soon at the Horn Farm Center!
“The Ecological Restoration Certificate was designed with the underdog in mind. Supporting courageous land stewards whose hearts beat for compassionate care, knowing intuitively (and scientifically) that toxic chemicals are not the path forward in restoration.
This learning container provides a place to explore language, tools, and techniques that will further empower you to take action with professional confidence.
It is encouraging to witness the community that naturally develops in this space, giving you the added benefit of allies that will help bolster your work in your neighborhood, community preserve, or place of work.” – Elyse Jurgen, Waxwing EcoWorks
Learning to Heal the Places We Love
The land is asking for our care. Are you ready to answer the call? The Ecological Restoration Certificate training program is a three-day, hands-on learning experience rooted in compassionate care for the land. Together, we’ll learn regenerative, human-powered techniques that support ecological healing while honoring the wisdom of natural systems.
Whether you are just beginning or have years of experience, this program offers space to slow down, listen, and build confidence in skills that truly matter. What you learn can be carried into your home landscape, your work, and your community—where small, thoughtful actions can create lasting change.
Join us for the 2026 Ecological Restoration Certificate training program, held on January 10th, January 24th and February 7th at the Horn Farm Center.
Next time you’re near a wetland, or strolling through a holiday-lit town square, keep an eye out for the bold red stems of red osier dogwood. Winter is when this native plant truly shines.
Watch the video linked above to learn more about this attractive local plant! Horn Farm Center staff educator Andrew Leahy shares how red osier can support local ecosystems and add beauty to our landscapes.
There’s so much to learn even in winter, which is why we’re welcoming the new year with our Winter Webinar Series. From forest gardens to live stakes, join us online to explore regenerative land practices that help us create positive change.
“Let us love winter, for it is the spring of genius” – Pietro Aretino
There’s no better time than winter for scheming and dreaming for the upcoming season. That’s why we’re excited to welcome the new year with a new way to engage with land-based learning! Join the Horn Farm’s staff and special guest presenters throughout the winter months for our fully-virtual Winter Webinar Series —Regenerative Roots: Ecological Action for the Local Landscape.
Over six sessions, we’ll dig deep into regenerative land care, spotlighting ways we can benefit local ecosystems while feeding and nourishing people. From community-centered agroforestry to backyard restoration, you’ll learn how to act intentionally for the land, reviving the relationships we need to ensure mutual wellbeing for ourselves and nature.
Program highlights include gardening like the forest, planting mini-forests, and unpacking our culture’s obsession with lawns!
As fall wraps up, we’re feeling the gratitude for our volunteers! Spreading leaf mulch, planting shrubs, and harvesting willows, a community of friends helped enrich our educational ecosystem in exciting ways!
In the demonstration field, a new teaching space for forest gardening is taking shape. Volunteers from our Community Crew service learning program planted over 90 elderberries and chokeberries, which will soon find good company with a groundcover of wild ginger and other native plant neighbors. All together, this plant community will provide a teaching model for multi-layered production, inspired by natural ecosystems and replicable in places like backyards and small farms.
Across the farm, in our multifunctional riparian buffer, another 200 native shrubs are now taking root thanks to volunteers from York College of PA and Lincoln Intermediate Unit 12. Last year we launched our first live stake sale to support restoration efforts in our community. Thanks to grant support from GIANT and Keep PA Beautiful, the newest plantings will help us expand these offerings, providing more native plant cuttings for local land stewards while bolstering ecological and educational value on our landscape.
Lastly, we just wrapped up with our first run of Winter Willow Workdays. Over two blustery afternoons, volunteers helped us gather and sort thousands of basketry willow branches for drying over the winter. If you’re curious about this agroforestry crop and want to help continue the harvest, join us for our perennial volunteer gatherings on January 18th, 19th &20th.
P.S. – If you’re crafting this winter, Horn Farm’s basketry willow varieties are now available for purchase online: hornfarmcenter.org/shop
Wrap Up Some Magic This Season
Looking for meaningful, locally rooted holiday gifts? Share the spirit of the Horn Farm Center’s land-healing and heart-inspiring work.
Gift Certificates: Perfect for the adventurous nature-lover or green thumb on your list, give a gift of hands-on learning experiences!
T-Shirts: Shop for wearable art from our collection of Horn Farm t-shirts, designed to celebrate our values and ecological focus.
Basketry Willow: Crafters will love this regeneratively-grown crafting material for weaving and natural works of art.
Every purchase supports our mission and brings a little bit of the Horn Farm Center’s special care and creativity to someone you love.
Beekeeping is more than just a hobby; it’s a beneficial practice that boosts local ecosystems by supporting pollination and bee populations. It also offers sweet rewards such as honey, beeswax, and pollen, which can fuel a small business or be used for personal consumption.
Next year, we are hosting our 11th Beekeeper Training Program at the Horn Farm Center. Taught by professional apiarist Mark Gingrich, the program explores all aspects of beekeeping – from the science behind it to managing a hive at home.
Learn alongside a community of budding beekeepers! The program is held once a month from January-October.
At the end of the first year, you will take home your own bee colony. In year two, you’ll have the option to further grow your skills with advanced techniques.
Register now to join next year’s cohort of beekeepers. The 2026 Beekeeping program begins on January 21, 2026
As we prepare for the grand opening of our new Education Center this spring, we’re collecting a few essential items to make our community hub ready to welcome learners of all ages.
Each gift on our Wish List will support hands-on programs, workshops, and the meaningful connections with nature that make the Horn Farm such a special place.
Holiday shopping this weekend? Please consider the Horn Farm Center while you’re hunting for deals and discounts. Help us open our doors next spring to teach, inspire, and bring people together. Note, in-kind donations are tax-deductible!
Embark on a year of transformative learning rooted in the land. For students in the Horn Farm’s Regenerative Grower Training Program, growing food is just the beginning.
This part-time field experience spans 33 weeks from February to October and teaches how to produce abundance while restoring the health of the land. From annual vegetables to agroforestry, you’ll design, sow, tend, and harvest alongside our team while building soil, stewarding water, and bolstering biodiversity.
If you feel called to touch the soil and grow your own food, we invite you to apply. Only six spaces are available, and interviews are underway!
WATCH: Learn more about the RGTP READ: Catch a glimpse of life in the RGTP JOIN: submit an application today
Together, we’re rekindling the skills our communities need to ensure resilience through an uncertain future. Learn how to feed your family and neighbors resourcefully and responsibly while regenerating the ecosystems we depend on.
At the Horn Farm Center, gratitude is a practice that roots us in relationship with the land and with one another. In this season of reflection, we pause to acknowledge the abundance that surrounds us: the food grown in our fields, the volunteers and learners who bring our mission to life, and the robust community committed to ecological learning and land care.
Last week for ExtraGive, our friends in Lancaster, York, and beyond helped raise over $9,000 to support transformative learning experiences rooted in the land. Every contribution is an investment in a healthier tomorrow. Thank you for believing in our work of helping land and people thrive.
Celebrating today’s gifts, we are reminded that our efforts are made possible because of thegenerosity of many and those who came before us. The Horn Farm Center sits on the ancestral lands of the Susquehannock and Shenks Ferry peoples, whose relationship with this place continues to inspire our work and fills us with a deep sense of responsibility to honor the land in the best ways we can. We are also grateful for the community of concerned citizens who came together years ago to protect the Horn Farm from development, and for the County of York, which entrusts us with its care.
As we look ahead to a new season of ecological restoration, education, and community building, we renew our commitment to being good stewards of this land. Gratitude calls us not only to appreciate what we receive, but also to give back – to care for the soil, water, plants, and creatures that sustain us.
Thank you for walking alongside us in this shared journey. Together, we continue the work of healing, learning, and cultivating a more connected and resilient future.
Thank You 2025 Annual Sponsors!
Winter Willow Harvest: Giving & Receiving in Reciprocity
Each winter, the willows at the Horn Farm offer their quiet gift. Harvested with care, their branches remind us of nature’s generosity and resilience: cut today, they rebound tomorrow, offering an ongoing cycle of renewal. This gentle practice embodies our approach to stewardship—receiving from the land while giving back, honoring its rhythms, and tending its health for seasons to come.
The winter willow harvest is more than gathering materials; it’s a moment to slow down, reflect, and participate in the regenerative cycles that sustain both land and community. By acting with intention, we witness how thoughtful interaction with the natural world can nurture abundance.
Join us for our perennial tradition of gathering together in community for our Winter Willow Harvest on December 8 & 9 and January 18, 19, & 20th.
Experience the joy of giving back to the land while celebrating its ongoing gifts!
This holiday season, celebrate the connections that sustain us! The Horn Farm Center’s “Remembering Our Roots” t-shirt, designed by local artist Steph Holmes, is inspired by the deeply rooted relationships that guide our work.
Give the gift of wearable art while supporting programs that nurture curiosity, stewardship, and a stronger connection to the natural world. Shop to support the Horn Farm Center and carry our mission with you this season.
Give Back to the Land: Ecological Restoration Certificate Training Program
Giving back to the land can be hard work but the rewards make a lasting impact.
Starting in January 2026, the Ecological Restoration Certificate Training Program teaches practical skills in habitat restoration, soil health, and regenerative land care. This program is an opportunity to engage deeply with the land and learn through hands-on experience with others.
Whether you’re a homeowner, farmer, or aspiring land restoration professional, you’ll gain the tools and confidence to create meaningful change in your environment. Join us for this 3-day course held on January 10th, January 24th and February 7th at the Horn Farm Center.
As we prepare for the grand opening of our new Education Center this spring, we’re collecting a few essential items to make our community hub ready to welcome learners of all ages.
Each gift on our Wish List will support hands-on programs, workshops, and the meaningful connections with nature that make the Horn Farm such a special place.
Holiday shopping this weekend? Please consider the Horn Farm Center while you’re hunting for deals and discounts. Help us open our doors next spring to teach, inspire, and bring people together. Note, in-kind donations are tax-deductible!
