Author Archive: Alyson Earl

Horn Farm Happenings – March 9

community gardens at the Horn Farm CenterThere are 102 community garden plots at the Horn Farm Center! Each plot measures 20 x 20 feet. About half of the plots are managed by experienced gardeners who tend the plots year round. The other half are rented seasonally: from mid- April through October 31. We say the mid-April because the day the seasonal gardens opens varies from year to year. We have to wait until the ground thaws and dries enough for the tractor to be able to till the soil. For just $50 you can grow your own vegetables and be a valued member of the Horn Farm community! Click here for more information and to reserve your space today: Community Gardens


plant-saleOur annual Heirloom Plant Sale takes place Saturday, May 5 from 9 to 3. Click here for the list of plants we’re growing for the sale. To help make sure you get the varieties you want for your garden, this year we are taking pre-orders for plants. In advance of our SIXTH Annual Horn Farm Center Heirloom Plant Sale, we are offering pre-sales to reserve your selections! We’ll have plants for your garden and homestead grown organically by our Incubator Farmers and Internship program participants.


We want to share some highlights from last season, so we published a 2017 Annual Report. Don’t worry, it’s only one page. With your support, we did some really cool things for our community!


permaculture 101 classThe Introduction to Permaculture workshop we held in January filled quickly and had a waitlist, so we are offering another session on June 2. Register today!


Do you buy things on Amazon? Did you know that those purchases can generate revenue for the Horn Farm Center?! From March 12-31, Amazon is tripling the donation rate on your first smile.amazon.com purchase! Go to smile.amazon.com/ch/20-1061394 and Amazon donates to Horn Farm Center for Agricultural Education.


Upcoming events:
March 17 – A Gardener’s Guide to Soil
March 24 – Bread Baking Full Day Workshop (waitlist)
March 31 – Monthly Foraging
April 7 – Spring Volunteer Work Day
April 7 – Wilderness Skills: The Art of Seeing and The Science of Observation
April 14 – Wilderness Skills: Shelter & Water
April 21 – Wilderness Skills: Fire
April 21 – Monthly Foraging
April 29 – Low-tech Mushroom Cultivation
May 5 –  Heirloom Plant Sale
May 5 – Wilderness Skills: Foraging, Hunting, Trapping
May 9 – Making Bone Broth
May 12 – Raising Insects for Food and Farm
May 12 – Wilderness Skills: Advanced Primitive Hunting Techniques
May 15 – Tuesday Evening Work Crew (begins)
May 17 – Monthly Foraging
June 2 – Introduction to Permaculture

See you at the Farm!

Horn Farm Happenings – March 2

March is coming in like a lion! Perhaps it will go out like a lamb. Spring is just around the corner and we are certainly ready for some sunshine and color! These zinnias were part of last year’s cut flower bouquets. Betsy’s Flowers at the Farm is offering 22 weeks of organically grown cut flower bouquets for pick up at the farm or one of several locations in the Harrisburg area. Speaking of CSAs, we still have a vegetable share for you in the Horn Farm CSA. Sign up today!zinnias


To find out more about soil health and regenerative agriculture practices we follow at the Horn Farm, check out

Understanding Soil

Corn Stalks Everywhere


Upcoming events:
March 17 – A Gardener’s Guide to Soil
March 24 – Bread Baking Full Day Workshop (waitlist)
March 31 – Monthly Foraging
April 7 – Spring Volunteer Work Day
April 7 – Wilderness Skills: The Art of Seeing and The Science of Observation
April 14 – Wilderness Skills: Shelter & Water
April 21 – Wilderness Skills: Fire
April 21 – Monthly Foraging
April 29 – Low-tech Mushroom Cultivation
May 5 –  Heirloom Plant Sale
May 5 – Wilderness Skills: Foraging, Hunting, Trapping
May 9 – Making Bone Broth
May 12 – Raising Insects for Food and Farm
May 12 – Wilderness Skills: Advanced Primitive Hunting Techniques
May 15 – Tuesday Evening Work Crew (begins)
May 17 – Monthly Foraging

See you at the Farm!

Horn Farm Happenings – February 23

The weekend snow melted quickly as temperatures reached the high 70s by Wednesday. Our valiant volunteers from Columbia High School returned to work on the Woodland Restoration Project. They started clearing a new trail and building a new bridge across the stream. These students are part of a vocational training program. They tell us that being in the woods and learning to use hand tools as part of this project is highly preferable to the unskilled factory work to which they are accustomed.


Volunteering is a great way to support the Horn Farm Center! We have organized a Spring Volunteer Work Day for Saturday, April 7 from 9 to 3 (rain date April 14). We need help getting ready for the growing season: cleaning, painting, and working in the gardens. You can sign up for this and other volunteer opportunities on our website. If you can’t help in April, we will have work days on the first Saturday of the month, and starting May 15 we will need volunteers to work on the farm on Tuesday evenings. Thanks!


As you know, we have a new farm business on the incubator this year. Betsy’s Flowers at the Farm is offering 22 weeks of organically grown cut flower bouquets. Betsy is at the farm several times per week to prepare for the season. This week the first of many seedlings popped it’s head through the soil!

On the other side of the greenhouse Kilgore Family Farm has tables full of onions, peppers, and tomatoes! Yes, the tomatoes you’ll eat in August are already growing in trays in February. Farmers have to be excellent planners! Some of the seedlings will be available for sale at the Heirloom Plant Sale on May 5.kilgore family farm tomato seedlings
We still have room for you in our Vegetable CSA and Betsy’s Flower CSA. Sign up today for your weekly or biweekly share of vegetables or cut flowers!


Upcoming events:
March 17 – A Gardener’s Guide to Soil
March 24 – Bread Baking Full Day Workshop (waitlist)
March 31 – Monthly Foraging
April 7 – Spring Volunteer Work Day
April 7 – Wilderness Skills: The Art of Seeing and The Science of Observation
April 14 – Wilderness Skills: Shelter & Water
April 21 – Wilderness Skills: Fire
April 21 – Monthly Foraging
April 29 – Low-tech Mushroom Cultivation
May 5 –  Heirloom Plant Sale
May 5 – Wilderness Skills: Foraging, Hunting, Trapping
May 9 – Making Bone Broth
May 12 – Raising Insects for Food and Farm
May 12 – Wilderness Skills: Advanced Primitive Hunting Techniques
May 15 – 2018 Foraging Intensive
May 17 – Monthly Foraging

See you at the Farm!