Happenings

Horn Farm Happenings – September 15, 2023

Next Weekend: Discover the Wild & Uncommon of York, PA!

Get your ticket to celebrate the wild and uncommon of our region at the 2023 York County Pawpaw Festival, presented by the Horn Farm Center and Explore York on September 23 & 24, 2023 from 10 am-3 pm at the Horn Farm Center

The 19th Annual York County Pawpaw Festival is an outdoor, family-friendly event that brings together local food vendors, artisans, native plant nurseries, and educational nonprofits in a celebration of the wild and uncommon in scenic York County, PA.

The centerpiece of the festival is the pawpaw: the largest edible fruit native to the Eastern United States, which grows naturally right here in York County’s bountiful Susquehanna Riverlands! Similar in taste to tropical fruits, the pawpaw is a unique, nutritious, and ecologically significant delicacy that ripens for a short period of time from mid-September to mid-October.

In addition to sales of pawpaw fruit and pawpaw-inspired items, this year’s Pawpaw Festival features new educational experiences, including pawpaw talks and free, family-friendly tours, orchard walks, and outdoor programs on the Horn Farm Center’s regenerative landscape.

Purchase your tickets in advance to ensure your admission to the festival. Admission is $5.00, children under 12 are free. Tickets are available for purchase online while supplies last. All proceeds support regenerative land stewardship and educational programs at the Horn Farm Center.


The 2023 Pawpaw Festival is supported by local businesses who believe in our mission to foster ecological learning through land stewardship, community partnership, and hands-on experiences.

We thank the following sponsors for supporting regenerative agriculture and education at the Horn Farm Center:

  • Explore York
  • Hayman Studio
  • UPMC
  • 7group
  • Natural Awakenings – Lancaster/Berks & South Central
  • John Wright Restaurant
  • Rutters Children’s Charities
  • Richards Energy
  • Atlas Rubber Stamp & Printing
  • Holla Spirits

More Than Just Pawpaws: 2023 Vendors

From small farmers and unique plant nurseries to culinary crafters and skilled artisans, the vendors at the Pawpaw Festival embody York County’s maker spirit.

Discover the wild and uncommon flavor of our region at the Pawpaw Festival, thanks to the following vendors

Food & Food Trucks

  • Character Coffee
  • 2Delicious – Gyro Fusion
  • Stoney’s Burgers and Fries
  • Brotherly Love Scratch Kitchen
  • Locally Seasoned
  • Historic Wrightsville
  • Safe and Sweet

Plant Vendors

  • Ort Family Farm
  • Gino’s Nursery
  • Swallowtail Forest Farm
  • Calyx Native Nursery
  • Heartwood Nursery
  • Future Forest Plants

Food Products & Goods

  • 4 Herb & 7 Spices Ago
  • Simply Ghee
  • Holla Vodka
  • Kilgore Family Farm
  • Burning Hell Hot Sauce

Goods, Arts & Crafts

  • Nomadic Inspirations with Hexbotanicals
  • Virtue Local Art Market
  • Seek The Light Creations LLC
  • Heart and Hands Homemade
  • Wildwood Lavender Farm
  • The Gardener of the Owl Valley
  • BeeBees All Natural
  • Alpacas of York
  • Nodding Onion

Community Vendors

  • West Shore Wildlife Center
  • Watershed Alliance of York
  • Lancaster Conservancy
  • York Audubon Chapter
  • York County Solid Waste Authority
  • Native Roots Farm Foundation
  • Pawpaw Project
  • The Junior League of York
  • Kreutz Creek Library
  • Native Habitat Team: Penn State Cooperative Extension

Cash & Credit Cards will be accepted dependent upon individual vendors. No ATM on site. CASH IS RECOMMENDED.

Click here to learn more & purchase tickets!


Parking & Traffic Volunteers Needed!

As the Pawpaw Festival weekend draws closer, we’re looking for a few more folks to help manage entry and exit at the event.

Volunteer shifts are divided into 3-hour segments, allowing volunteers to provide support while having the chance to enjoy the festival before or after their shift!

Take advantage of FREE Pawpaw Festival admission and other perks by sparing some time to help this year’s event run smoothly.

Sign up to support our road block and parking crews!


Sponsor Highlight: Natural Awakenings

Each month Natural Awakenings magazines across the country take a practical look at the latest natural approaches to nutrition, fitness, creative expression, personal growth and sustainable living.

In Lancaster, Berks, and South Central. PA, Natural Awakenings offers global news and views while highlighting healing arts practitioners and resources in our area – mapping out alternate routes to a healthier, happier, longer life.

As a champion of healthy, sustainable living, Natural Awakenings is expanding their impact by sponsoring the 2023 York County Pawpaw Festival. We thank Natural Awakenings – Lancaster/Berks and South Central – for supporting our work and mission at the Horn Farm Center.


Sponsor Highlight: UPMC

In Central PA, UPMC has 7 hospitals, more than 12,000 employees, and 260 primary care and specialty practices, including UPMC Hillman Cancer Center, UPMC Heart and Vascular Institute, UPMC Magee-Womens, and UPMC Express Care.

UPMC is inventing new models of patient-centered, cost-effective, accountable health care. And, UPMC is broadening their impact by supporting regenerative agriculture and education at the Horn Farm Center. We thank UPMC for supporting our mission by sponsoring the 2023 Pawpaw Festival!


Bow Making 4-Day Intensive 

Over four consecutive Sundays in November, we’ll take to the forest for an intensive workshop on crafting your own, fully-functional bow and arrows using primitive materials. All four classes will take place from 9am to 4pm at the Horn Farm Center.

Our time together will span all elements of the bow making process including: stave selection, initial shaping, curing, crafting arrows, tillering and string construction, advanced tillering, and shooting.

Students will learn how to craft a hunting-quality wooden bow suited to their own height and strength along with a handful of arrows. Due to the fact that potentially dangerous tools will be utilized, tool safety will be taught and strictly followed for the well-being of all participants. Additionally, students will be given their own tool set, covered in the class cost, for ease of instruction.

PLEASE NOTE: participants must be able to hike one mile into uneven, wild forest terrain and work using fine motor skills and small hand tools for an extended period of time.

Bow making is a process of longevity and though it requires strenuous work, honing the skills of bow craftsmanship can be very rewarding. Whether you’re a hunter, woodworker, or explorer, we hope you can join us for this intense and fulfilling experience!


Get Back to the “Wild”

Are you ready to reconnect to the land and develop essential survival skills? Horn Farm Center’s “Wild Lands” program explores primitive skills and invites us to connect more closely with both nature and our human ancestry.

Join us for our Fall Wild Lands serieswhich runs Sundays from October 1st through October 29th during 5 full-day workshops from 9AM-4PM. You can register for individual workshops or the entire series!

Gain hands-on experience with basic, pre-industrial, woodland-style survival skills. This includes gathering wild foods, building debris-huts, animal tracking, fire-making techniques, making basic hunting implements, and much more!

Horn Farm Happenings – September 01, 2023

“I have always been passionate about the beauty around me, but since taking a training program at the Horn Farm Center, I have found a new relationship with nature. I have a greater connection, awareness and focus due to better knowledge of how things work in the big picture.

This knowledge is empowering because I feel like I can make a difference in the world and certainly on my own property. Bringing this awareness to the world can be life changing.”

– Kathy, 2023 trainee

2024 Training Programs: Apply Now!

Applications are now open for the 2024 Land Steward and Ecological Gardener Training Programs at the Horn Farm Center! Running concurrently from February to May, 2024, these 16-week immersions dig deep into the skills and awareness we need to become versatile, compassionate, and activated caretakers of the natural world.Are you ready to take root in our growing community of earth stewards? No prior experience is required to start your journey.

Participants who train with us come from diverse walks of life: students and environmental educators; property owners and renters; rural, suburban, and city dwellers; career-starters and career-pivoters; volunteers and professionals; parents and grandparents.

As a Land Steward trainee, you’ll learn how to restore broken ecosystems, rebuild lost habitat, mitigate climate change, and rekindle a sense of place in nature.

As an Ecological Gardener trainee, you’ll gather the knowledge and skills for designing, building, and stewarding biodiverse native habitats that support the health of wildlife and humans.

All students will walk away with ecological knowledge and practical skills – ready to heal, protect, and advocate for the natural spaces we need to cherish now more than ever. Join our community of earth stewards by applying today!


More Than Just Pawpaws: Program Line-Up

The Horn Farm Center is foremost a place to learn from the land.

At the 2023 York County Pawpaw Festival, we’re leaning into our educational mission: offering more ways than ever to explore our natural world, ways we can protect it, and, of course, the peculiar pawpaw that has a role to play.

Check out the calendar of FREE educational programs taking place during the festival! Many programs have been made possible thanks to our generous and knowledgeable community vendors!

Interested? You can sign-up for each program at the Horn Farm Information tent during the festival.


Last Chance for Premium Tickets!

Don’t forget: PREMIUM PASS ticket sales will close at 5PM EST next Friday, September 8th.

Don’t miss your chance to make the most of your festival experience by including a one-of-a-kind biodiversity tee, designed by local artist Joanna Tice, to your ticket order!

All festival info, including the ticket link, program schedule, vendor list, and more are available by clicking the link below.

The 2023 Pawpaw Festival is presented by the Horn Farm Center and Explore York.

Click here to learn more & purchase tickets!


Join the Crew

Restoring land and reviving ecosystems takes time and a team. That’s why the Horn Farm Center’s new volunteer program offers more ways to engage with nature and regenerative land stewardship.

The Horn Farm Community Crew program provides hands-on volunteer training with Horn Farm staff.

Perks of membership include ongoing training and education with experienced staff, a free t-shirt, volunteer social events, and the ability to log hours spent volunteering to redeem free class vouchers and other perks.

Interested in becoming a member of the crew? Join us Sunday, September 10th for our Final Training Day of 2023! 

Click here to learn more.


Sponsor Highlight: John Wright Restaurant

Located on the scenic Susquehanna River in Wrightsville, John Wright Restaurant does their best to source the freshest ingredients possible. They take pride in the quality of their food by purchasing from local farmers – including the Horn Farm! Their personal relationships with local farmers ensures that their products are not processed or pre-made. John Wright Restaurant also provides a unique dining experience with exceptional service.

In addition to serving flavorful, locally-sourced cuisine, John Wright Restaurant supports the mission and work of the Horn Farm Center. And this year, they are sponsoring the York County Pawpaw Festival! We thank our friends at John Wright Restaurant for helping to make this year’s event a success.

John Wright Restaurant is the perfect setting for an intimate date night, family celebration, or just getting lost in the view.


Sponsor Highlight: Hayman Studio

You may have noticed that the 2023 York County Pawpaw Festival has a new look!

That’s because our sponsor, Hayman Studio, is helping us reach new audiences with their world-class design services.

The Hayman Studio design team worked collaboratively with the Horn Farm Center to understand our needs and the true spirit of the event to craft a unique and creative design for the Pawpaw Festival. We couldn’t be more pleased with the outcome!

Hayman Studio developed a new logo, promotional designs, and tagline, capturing the diverse and expanding offerings that you will find at the Festival. The new tagline – Wild & Uncommon – expresses our goal to celebrate the food, art, and nature that is unique to the Lower Susquehanna River region. This idea is further expressed in the Pawpaw Festival artwork.

With over 70 years of experience, Hayman Studio is built on a foundation of forward thinking and innovative technology – right here in York, PA.

Whether you need traditional or digital advertising, web site design, copy development, animation, photos, videos, or any combination of capabilities, Hayman Studio’s full-service creative team has solutions for everything from marketing and advertising to training and documentation.


Learning the Language of Plants

How do plants communicate with us? What can we gather about their nutritional, medicinal, and ecological values through observing shapes, scents, tastes, and more?

Discover the secret language of plants through intuitive observation during a day-long workshop led by special guest instructor and herbalist, Alyssa Dennis of Eclipta Herbal.

As a way to fully engage the topic of plant language, we will focus on Goldenrod, which grows in abundance at Horn Farm. After exploring the plant’s ideal habitat and growth cycle, we will harvest and prepare a Goldenrod herbal tincture for each participant to bring home.

Dig deep into the multi-sensory wisdom of plant language with a day of foraging, medicinal tincture-making, and hands-on learning!

Join us on September 16th from 10AM- 5PM for Plant Language: Kin-centric Ecology within Herbalism at the Horn Farm Center.

Get Back to the “Wild”

Are you ready to reconnect to the land and develop essential survival skills? Horn Farm Center’s “Wild Lands” programs explore primitive skills and invite us to connect more closely with both nature and our human ancestry.

This fall, we are offering our Wild Lands series in two formats:

  • Weekly Workshop Series: 5 full-day workshops starting on October 1st and ending on October 29th.. These classes take place each Sunday in October from 9AM to 4PM. Register for individual days or the entire weekly session.
  • 4-Day Intensive: Runs Sunday, October 1st through Wednesday, October 4th from 9AM to 4PM. This format provides a more immersive deep dive into primitive survival skills.

Students will gain hands-on experience with basic, pre-industrial, woodland-style survival skills. This includes gathering wild foods, building debris-huts, animal tracking, fire-making techniques such as hand-drill and bow drill, making basic hunting implements such as a survival bow and simple traps, and much more!

Whichever format works best for you – join us for our fall Wild Lands programs starting October 1st at the Horn Farm Center!

Horn Farm Happenings – August 18, 2023

Planting Seeds of Resilience

Read the latest installment of the Horn Farm Ecosystem blog!

“What would happen if, instead of planting individual trees, we approximated a forest? What if success hinged not on human tending but on trees tending, urging, and animating each other?”

Since 2018, mini-forests following the Miyawaki method have been taking shape at the Horn Farm Center. Today, over a dozen plots across our restoration landscape are flourishing with 30+ native canopy, understory, and shrub species, reviving biodiversity at an extraordinary pace.

So what is the Miyawaki method? How has it informed alternative approaches to ecosystem renewal at the Horn Farm? And why is it so promising as a process for restoring biodiversity while reawakening our sense of place on the landscape?

The latest installment of the Horn Farm Ecosystem blog series digs deep into the Miyawaki method, tracing its origins, necessity, process, and outcomes while inviting you to experience the “big tiny” forests we’re bringing to life!


Get Your Free Ticket to Pawpaw Fest!

Tickets are now on sale for the 2023 York County Pawpaw Festival, held on September 23rd and 24th at the Horn Farm Center!

So how do you get a free ticket? Sign up to volunteer! From admission to activities to parking and pawpaw purchases, we’re seeking volunteer support to help make our celebration of York County’s wild and uncommon a success!

As a volunteer, you’ll benefit from free admission to BOTH festival days, lunch, and a goodie bag. FULL DAY volunteers will also enjoy PRIORITY ACCESS to purchase pawpaws before doors open to regular attendees!

Consider joining our volunteer team to help us enhance this truly local and unique experience!

The 2023 Pawpaw Festival is presented by the Horn Farm Center and Explore York.

Sign up to volunteer


The Horn Farm Board of Directors volunteer to serve as the governing body of the organization. They establish the mission and purpose, ensure adequate resources, and provide oversight.

Horn Farm Center is seeking new board members for 2024, especially those with a background in finance, accounting, law, technology, or fundraising.

The major responsibilities of  board members include:

  • Establish and advise leadership
  • Oversee governance policies of the organization-not the day-to-day operations
  • Provide financial management including adoption and oversight of the annual budget
  • Promote the organization to external audiences
  • Conduct fundraising and outreach
Board members serve three year terms and should expect to attend meetings which are held on the third Monday of every month at 6pm. The time commitment is 1-3 hours per month. For more information and to express your interest, email our Executive Director at executivedirector@hornfarmcenter.org

What Homesteading Skills Do You Want to Learn?

From 2013-2016, Horn Farm Center hosted a popular educational program called Homestead Education Day. This day-long event included demonstrations, talks, and workshops focused on teaching common and forgotten homesteading skills.

In celebration of our 20th Anniversary next year, we are hosting a “throwback” Homestead Education Day on Saturday, June 22, 2024.

As we prepare to revitalize this program, we want to hear from you!

Let us know what homesteading skills you would like to learn at the 2024 Homestead Education Day by filling out the survey linked below.

Click here to take the survey.


Sponsor Highlight: 7group

7group is a long-time supporter of the Horn Farm Center! From Give Local York and Pawpaw Festival to our facilities and rebuilding efforts, 7group has been a partner in accomplishing our mission. This year, 7group is ensuring that you can explore regenerative programming at Horn Farm Center by sponsoring the York County Pawpaw Festival!

7group began more than 20 years ago to help to change how American builders, designers, architects, and owners understood the built environment as sustainable. When they worked on creating the U.S. Green Building Council LEED certification program, they knew that it was the first step towards true sustainability, but not the last.

Together with their clients and colleagues, 7group has been imagining a different way to understand how humans, their built environment, and the natural world around us all live and breathe with each other.


Learning the Language of Plants

How do plants communicate with us? What can we gather about their nutritional, medicinal, and ecological values through observing shapes, scents, tastes, and more?

Discover the secret language of plants through intuitive observation during a day-long workshop led by special guest instructor and herbalist, Alyssa Dennis of Eclipta Herbal.

As a way to fully engage the topic of plant language, we will focus on Goldenrod, which grows in abundance at Horn Farm. After exploring the plant’s ideal habitat and growth cycle, we will harvest and prepare a Goldenrod herbal tincture for each participant to bring home.

Dig deep into the multi-sensory wisdom of plant language with a day of foraging, medicinal tincture-making, and hands-on learning!

Join us on September 16th from 10AM- 5PM for Plant Language: Kin-centric Ecology within Herbalism at the Horn Farm Center.

Fall Container Gardening for Pollinators

Did you know migratory birds and butterflies fly 100+ miles per day? Making that journey requires a lot of fuel and stamina! But what can we do to ensure that our avian and insect friends get to their destination safely?

Join Pollinator Steward, Heather Andrews, at the Horn Farm Center to learn about the migrating creatures and how we can create our own sun or shade planting this fall to help them sustain their long flights.

Learn how to create a pollinator garden using just 3 plants for sun or shade that will be attractive to migratory butterflies or hummingbirds. We will create 2 demonstration pots- and you will select plants to take home to create your own!

Join us on September 9th at 10-11:30am for Fall Container Gardening for Pollinators with Pollinator Steward Heather Andrews at the Horn Farm Center.