Author Archive: Alexis Campbell

The Amazing Pawpaw by David Dietz

The amazing pawpaw is staging a comeback in American consciousness. This long overlooked fruit has always been with us, growing in the understory of our natural lands, especially in the river valleys and surrounding hills. Scientists believe that it evolved as a food source for now extinct megafauna, such as the giant sloth and wooly mammoth. At one time, Americans were more familiar with this truly American fruit, which is native to the United States east of the Mississippi River, and currently ranges from northern Florida to southern Ontario in the east, as far west as Nebraska and Texas, and as far north as Michigan.

Native Americans cultivated pawpaws as a food source, as it was the largest edible fruit indigenous to the land that is now the United States. In fact, the Shawnee even had a pawpaw month in their calendar. Europeans’ first documented encounter with the pawpaw was from Hernando DeSoto’s Mississippi Expedition in 1841, where one of the chroniclers noted its cultivation by the native people. In addition to the already belligerent nature of the expedition, a far more significant negative effect of DeSoto’s journey was the introduction of European diseases to much of the continent’s native population, resulting in widespread death from diseases against which they had no immunity. Scholars estimate that anywhere from 50 to 100 million native people lived in the Americas prior to European contact, with an estimated 90% of them perishing in the ensuing years. It is not hard to imagine that in pre-contact America, many established civilizations with thriving agricultural plantings covered much of the landscape–a landscape which would eventually revert to wilderness after the devastating epidemics had run their course. While pawpaws and other edible plants now grow wild throughout our lands, it is probable that many are descended from intentionally planted and managed Native orchards and forests.

The pawpaw has been valued by many throughout our history. George Washington claimed it as his favorite fruit, and pawpaws were grown at Mount Vernon and Jefferson’s Monticello. Jefferson is said to have believed the pawpaw had potential for cultivation, and sent seeds to Europe as an example of a uniquely American plant. The widespread fruit even proved useful  in feeding  the famous expedition of Lewis and Clark. They subsisted on pawpaws for three days at one point in their epic journey.

Pawpaws, which ripen for a short few weeks in September in our Southcentral Pennsylvania region, are a delicate fruit, not suitable for shipping. Easily bruised, they are not ideal for large scale commercial production. But they have always been a valued source of food for foragers and people living off the land. Throughout our history, pawpaws were a welcome treat for all kinds of people. From enslaved people to Presidents, the pawpaw has provided a delicious, nutritious treat for many. About the size and shape of a mango, the pawpaw contains a custardy flesh that tastes somewhat like a cross between a banana and a mango, interspersed by brown, lima bean-sized seeds.

Nutritionally, pawpaws are loaded with nutrients–they are an excellent source of vitamin C, and are also high in magnesium, copper, iron, and manganese. They are also a good source of potassium, amino acids, riboflavin, niacin, phosphorus, calcium, and zinc. These nutrients are found in pawpaws to a similar or greater degree than they are in bananas, apples, and oranges, all while containing a similar fiber content.

With a tendency to not be afflicted by pests or disease, pawpaws were a dependable source of food for people throughout history. Early American settlers relied on pawpaw groves for their fruit needs while they established their non-native orchards. The ubiquitous pawpaw provided names for places such as Paw Paw, Ohio, West Virginia, and at least a half a dozen other states. It even inspired folk melodies, such as Way down yonder in the Pawpaw Patch. During the Great Depression, the pawpaw was nicknamed “the poor man’s banana,” as it was an asset for foragers in tough times.

With the advent of supermarkets and the widespread availability of shipped produce after World War 2, the pawpaw receded from popular knowledge, as most Americans grew ever more distant from their once vibrant relationship with wild foods.

Meanwhile, several researchers made efforts to domesticate the pawpaw, and cultivars were developed, beginning around the turn of the century. Pawpaw breeding resurged in 1985, when R. Neal Peterson began a large-scale breeding program with the cooperation of the University of Maryland. Numerous named varieties have resulted from these efforts, and domestic production is slowly taking form. Pawpaw research is still a niche area of study, however, with little research funding available. Aside from private individuals, Kentucky State University is currently the only institution carrying on this work.

In the early 21st Century, with an explosion of farmers markets, and development of the slow food movement, pawpaws are now becoming more well-known again. Slow Food USA added the pawpaw to its Ark of Taste, further publicizing the nearly forgotten fruit. 

With the Horn Farm Center’s emphasis on native plants, it seemed only appropriate that the pawpaw would find a welcome place in our landscape. About a decade ago, local Slow Food USA member and founding member of the Horn Farm, Richard Bono approached the Center with a proposal to establish a pawpaw orchard at the Horn Farm. HFC agreed to it, and the orchard was planted. It takes about seven years from planting a pawpaw until it bears its first fruit. With this understanding, Bono has faithfully and patiently tended his orchard over the years, and his orchard is finally beginning to bear fruit. Dick and his wife Judy have shared their enthusiasm for pawpaws over the years by organizing hugely popular pawpaw dinners and festivals. Click here for more information on this year’s Pawpaw Festival event at the Horn Farm Center.

The humble pawpaw is once more claiming the respect that it is due. As knowledge of this delightful fruit spreads, our national palette is notably enriched. More and more, pawpaws are being rediscovered and planted by home gardeners, and if you ever get a chance to taste one, you’ll know why. 

“The Amazing Pawpaw” was written by Horn Farm Center Board Member, David Dietz

David Dietz has farmed in Hellam Township for most of his life. Growing up, he helped every summer on his parents’ truck patch farm, and he helped tend the roadside stand on the Lincoln Highway about a mile west of Wrightsville. Always interested in history, David earned a BSE in Social Studies from Millersville University in 1995, and spent several years teaching. Eventually, however, his love of the land drew him back to farming. In 2002, David started vending produce at York Central Market, where he continued until 2017. A founding member of the Horn Farm board, David helped start the Community Gardens and the Incubator Farm Project. Currently employed as the produce and dairy manager at Lemon Street Market in Lancaster, David is now interested more than ever in the challenges faced by local small-scale agriculture in a globalized commodity-driven economy. He is thrilled to see the Horn Farm Center leading with a vision for regenerative practices, learning from and working with nature. David is happily married to Waldorf teacher extraordinaire, Rochelle Dietz, and they have a delightful teenaged son, Gabriel.

Fall on the Farm – Call for Volunteers

photo: Michelle Johnsen

Eager to get outside and get your hands dirty before the winter months set in? Join Field Manager Andrew Horn for some time on the farm! Every Thursday from 10am-6pm, Andrew will be a holding volunteer field day on the farm. We will spend some time getting to know each other, discussing what’s happening in the fields and on the farm, plus there will be opportunities to pitch in to help with the fall clean-up.

Some of our end-of-season farm activities include:

• Harvesting Sweet Potatoes
• Prepping Garlic Beds
• Planting Garlic Beds
• Clearing, Composting, Forking, Mulching BioIntensive Beds
• Clearing, Composting, Forking, Mulching Annual Growing Beds
• Mulching around Perennial Trees
• Removing all Ground Pack and Irrigation Lines

Interested in joining us? Sign-up to volunteer for Volunteer Thursdays!

Horn Farm Center is Hiring!

Do you have flawless administrative skills and a heart to change the world from the ground up? Consider joining the Horn Farm team! We are now hiring a part-time Executive Assistant who will help to support the mission of the organization by managing our administrative systems and keeping our team activities organized! 

Upcoming Events:
Saturday, September 26: Wild Lands: Shelter Building and Finding Water
Saturday, October 3: Wild Lands: Art of Fire by Friction (sold out!)
Thursday, October 8: Fall on the Farm: Volunteer Thursdays
Saturday, October 10: Wild Lands: Foraging, Hunting, Trapping (sold out!)
Saturday, October 10: Foraging Wild Roots for Coffee and More
Tuesday, October 13: Backyard Composting
Thursday, October 15: Fall on the Farm: Volunteer Thursdays
Saturday, October 17: WildLands: Advanced Primitive Hunting Techniques (sold out!)
Tuesday October 20: Backyard Composting
Thursday, October 22: Fall on the Farm: Volunteer Thursdays
Thursday, October 29: Fall on the Farm: Volunteer Thursdays
Thursday, November 5: Fall on the Farm: Volunteer Thursdays
Saturday, November 7: The Living Landscape
Thursday, November 12: Fall on the Farm: Volunteer Thursdays
Saturday, December 5: The Living Landscape

See you at the farm!

York County has moved into the green phase for dealing with COVID-19, so we are resuming some on farm classes with modifications. Classes will be held outside and are limited to 10 participants per class. If more than one class occurs on the same day, start times will be staggered to reduce the number of individuals arriving at the same time. Multiple hand sanitizer stations are available. We will adjust as needed as time passes and things change. Participants are required to bring a mask and wear when proper physical distancing cannot be maintained. Except for family members physical distancing of 6 feet must be maintained.

It goes without saying that this year has been a time of global reckoning and transition. We all are feeling the gravity of our current paradigm as many of us continue to navigate the unknown and anticipate what comes next. Like many of the challenges we face on the farm, we can look to the land to teach us.

What role does a disruption, or disturbance, play in an ecosystem? 

Woodland Steward, Wilson Alvarez

In ecology, a disturbance is a temporary occurrence that causes a pronounced change. Disturbances often act quickly and with great effect, altering the physical structure or arrangement of biotic and abiotic elements in an ecosystem. For example, we can see many major ecological disruptions playing out in real time today.  Fires, flooding, storms, and insect outbreaks radically alter our landscapes and the ways they function. Surely we can also consider the global pandemic a major disturbance, one that has completely altered our socio-economic, political, and environmental systems. On a smaller scale, at the Horn Farm, we have come to appreciate both the impact and opportunity that disturbance can bring to both our natural and human systems. 

Small disturbances occur in our landscapes constantly. A felled tree, for instance, opens up the forest canopy and allows light to reach the understory in a new way. And while we might focus on the why and how of a tree coming down, the result of this action is a change in the system that provides an opportunity for new flora to thrive. Similarly, animals are some of nature’s most favored disruptors; as they move through the landscape they deposit seeds and nutrients while others reshape wild spaces by scratching, digging, and building habitats. These disruptions are part of an ongoing cycle of natural change. Healthy ecosystems require this movement of energy to flourish and self-regenerate. 

The land stewards at the Horn Farm have been researching and experimenting with how micro-disturbances, and even more so, intentional disruption, can improve the health of our farm ecosystem. Through intense observation and ecological literacy, Woodlands Steward, Wilson Alvarez has developed a methodology of land stewardship that he calls a “bottom-up” approach.  Based on biomimicry, we seek to imitate the disturbances and scale of impact that animals once had on the landscape. By studying and mimicking the behavior of animals, we can learn how and when to make small changes to ecosystems that will help to restore its natural functions. Through intentional disturbance, the Horn Farm ecosystems are being restored. 

Monarch butterfly emerging from chrysalis on September 25, 2020 at the Horn Farm.

Beyond our farmscape, we are coming to understand that the organization itself is going through a period of deep transformation. Through much reflection, hard work and growing pains, the organization has found new direction and leadership this year. Additionally, we are saying goodbye to two long-term staff members, Jon Darby and Pamela Moore. 

Both Jon and Pam have been a core to the success of the Horn Farm Center’s educational programs as well as its evolution towards a more ecologically-focused farmscape. Their impact at the Horn Farm is invaluable and we are thankful for the energy and creative input they have brought to the organization. Just as we value their hard-earned contributions, we are embracing the disruption and new opportunity that their departure will bring. As we continue to prepare for a new season at the Horn Farm, we will continue to stay connected, as Pam and Jon are forever part of our extended farm community.

To learn more about their journeys and to honor the work they accomplished here at the Horn Farm, keep reading below!

Jon Darby’s Horn Farm Story

Jonathan Darby – Education Director. Photo: Michelle Johnsen

It’s hard to imagine the Horn Farm Center without Jon Darby. For many in our community, the farm is synonymous with his name. Jon first became involved at the Horn Farm Center as a volunteer in 2007. Shortly after, he joined the Modern Homestead Farm Committee, which was tasked with organizing the on-site activities at the farm such as the community gardens and the Incubator Farm Program. In 2010, as a participant in the Incubator Farm Program, Jon started his own farming operation, Sterling Farm. The following year, he was hired as the Horn Farm Center’s first part-time Farm Manager. In 2016, Jon transitioned to a full-time position as the Education Director where he began to oversee all educational activities at the farm. 

During his tenure at the farm, Jon developed a robust schedule of educational programming that has impacted thousands of visitors and program attendees, helping to make the Horn Farm Center a destination for experiential, farm-based learning. As the manager of the CSA operation and the Farmer Training Program, Jon has helped to cultivate a healthier, more resilient community through his hard work, dedication, and inspirational teaching methods. 

Jon’s legacy at the Horn Farm has had a lasting impact: many of his students, having gone through the Farmer Training Program, have gone on to become farmers or work in the field of regenerative agriculture in some way. When asked what he loves most about the Horn Farm, Jon replied, “What I love the most about this place is the focus: reconnecting people to lost skills and empowering them to grow their own food. We are helping to make our communities more resilient.” 

After 12 years serving the organization, Jon is retiring from his current role at the farm but he looks forward to serving the Horn Farm other ways. He also plans to continue farming and teaching from his homestead, where he will be spending more time with his family. Jon’s official last day at the Horn Farm is October 10th. However, we are sure you will see him around! 

Pamela Moore’s Horn Farm Story

HFC Executive Assistant, Pamela Moore. Photo: Michelle Johnsen

Pam’s role at the farm is a little less visible, but equally important to the success of the organization. Pam has served as the Executive Assistant since July of 2018. As a trained instructional designer and systems administrator, Pam has brought her keen attention to detail and ability to organize, document and manage systems to the Horn Farm with great impact. She also helps to organize our big events, such as the annual Plant Sale and the Horn Farm Center Pawpaw Festival. Pam has helped to streamline the farm’s administrative operations and is leaving behind a fine-tuned machine. We have a few months to wish her well in her new full-time endeavor, which she will begin in January 2021.

We are so grateful for the contributions that Jon and Pam have made to the ecosystem that is the Horn Farm Center. Their absence will certainly create a disturbance in the fabric of the organization, and we will honor their legacy by using that shift as a catalyst for the growth and evolution of the farm. 

Here are some opportunities to visit in the next few weeks. We look forward to seeing you on the farm. 

Upcoming Events:
Saturday, September 26: Wild Lands: Shelter Building and Finding Water
Saturday, October 3: Wild Lands: Art of Fire by Friction (sold out!)
Saturday, October 10: Wild Lands: Foraging, Hunting, Trapping (sold out!)
Saturday, October 10: Foraging Wild Roots for Coffee and More
Tuesday, October 13: Backyard Composting
Saturday, October 17: WildLands: Advanced Primitive Hunting Techniques (sold out!)
Tuesday October 20: Backyard Composting
Saturday, November 7: The Living Landscape
Saturday, December 5: The Living Landscape

See you at the farm!

York County has moved into the green phase for dealing with COVID-19, so we are resuming some on farm classes with modifications. Classes will be held outside and are limited to 10 participants per class. If more than one class occurs on the same day, start times will be staggered to reduce the number of individuals arriving at the same time. Multiple hand sanitizer stations are available. We will adjust as needed as time passes and things change. Participants are required to bring a mask and wear when proper physical distancing cannot be maintained. Except for family members physical distancing of 6 feet must be maintained.

From the Executive Director

These first few weeks have been a whirlwind of activity as I become more acquainted with the farm and the people that care deeply about it. Although I still have a great deal to learn about the organization, I can say with certainty that the Horn Farm Center is a beacon of hope, shining a light on the path towards resilience. In the face of our current reality, which is challenging to say the least, the work that we do at the Horn Farm Center is inspiring. 

What strikes me the most is a palpable love for the land, the principle upon which the organization was founded and is still rooted today. As I have learned, the Horn Farm was saved by a community of passionate people, maybe you are one of them, who understood that our natural spaces and cultural practices of stewarding and cultivating the land are sacred and need to be preserved. 20 years later that same sense of responsibility for the wellbeing of our community and natural environment has endured. In fact, it has grown exponentially as we have cultivated a deeper connection with this place. 

What we have learned has led us to where we are now: we are deeply focused on stewarding the land with an understanding that we are inextricably linked to its wellbeing. Over time, and under our previous Director’s leadership, not only has our perception of the farm changed, but we have also begun to rethink our relationship with it. As we learn to observe and listen to the language of the land, we are starting to see ourselves in a different light: more than being caretakers of the farm, we are but one part of a larger system that has its own wisdom to offer.

This is the key to true regenerative practices. By first understanding our natural systems, we can better understand our role, and see where and when it is appropriate to intervene. We do so with protracted observation, favoring the wellbeing of the whole over any predetermined outcomes. 

The Horn Farm Center is a conservation success story. The greater York community, founders of the Horn Farm Center and subsequent stewards of the organization had the foresight and dedication to protect the farm into perpetuity. And just as we have so much to give to the land, we are learning that it has wisdom and knowledge to give back to us. That is why what started as a tribute to York County’s rich agricultural history is now  becoming a functioning and thriving farm ecosystem. Through innovation, hard work, and a balance of give and take, we are redefining what we know to be the best practices in farming.

At the Horn Farm Center, we are redefining agriculture. And, we are eager to share what we learn along the way.

As an educational center we invite you to join us on our journey of discovery and ask that you contribute as well. Similar to the biodiversity on the farm, the Horn Farm Center community is also diverse, with individuals and families engaging in a variety of ways. Whether you are a community gardener, CSA member, class participant, or simply a friend of farm, you too are part of the Horn Farm ecosystem and it doesn’t function without you. Each of you bring your own knowledge and energy to the organization, helping us grow.

So let’s grow together! As we prepare for the end of our farming season, we are looking forward to new opportunities in the months and years to come. Feel free to stop in, join us for a class or shoot us an email. We want to hear from you and look forward to the energy and innovation that you bring to the Horn Farm ecosystem. 

Upcoming Events:
Saturday, September 19: Wild Lands: Art of Seeing and Science of Observation (sold out!)
Tuesday, September 22: Tuesday Afternoon on the Farm (free! pre-registration requested)
Saturday, September 26: Wild Lands: Shelter Building and Finding Water
Tuesday, September 29: Tuesday Afternoon on the Farm (free! pre-registration requested)
Saturday, October 3: Wild Lands: Art of Fire by Friction (sold out!)
Saturday, October 10: Wild Lands: Foraging, Hunting, Trapping (sold out!)
Saturday, October 10: Foraging Wild Roots for Coffee and More
Tuesday, October 13: Backyard Composting
Saturday, October 17: WildLands: Advanced Primitive Hunting Techniques (sold out!)
Tuesday October 20: Backyard Composting
Saturday, November 7: The Living Landscape
Saturday, December 5: The Living Landscape

See you at the farm!

York County has moved into the green phase for dealing with COVID-19, so we are resuming some on farm classes with modifications. Classes will be held outside and are limited to 10 participants per class. If more than one class occurs on the same day, start times will be staggered to reduce the number of individuals arriving at the same time. Multiple hand sanitizer stations are available. We will adjust as needed as time passes and things change. Participants are required to bring a mask and wear when proper physical distancing cannot be maintained. Except for family members physical distancing of 6 feet must be maintained.