Horn Farm Center for Agricultural Education

Happenings

Horn Farm Happenings – April 26, 2024

Get Ready to Garden Next Saturday!

We’re one week away from the Horn Farm’s 12th annual Plant Sale, taking place on Saturday, May 4th from 9am to 3pm! 

This one-day sale and community event is offered in partnership with Horn Farm Center and Kilgore Family Farm and features a wide variety of organically-grown vegetable, herb, and flower starts for your home garden.

Other unique plant and community vendors will include:

And back by popular demand, patrons will enjoy musical entertainment by Nodding Onion, an experimental band that uses sound waves from plants to create unique natural soundscapes on which the musicians will improvise.

Make a plan to visit the Horn Farm Plant Sale to get your garden started this year!

The 12th annual Horn Farm Plant Sale is sponsored by:

Learn More about the Horn Farm Plant Sale

   

Community in Action

What better way to celebrate Earth Day weekend than with over 50 volunteers helping regenerate the land?This past Sunday, we hosted groups from The Stone Independent School, York College Center for Community Engagement, and Paradise Evangelical Lutheran Church for a true riparian buffer marathon. Our intrepid volunteers planted over 100 trees and laid over 5 TONS of rocks around tree tubes as part of ongoing maintenance across the buffer.

Throughout April, we’ve been so grateful for folks (or better, *treeple*) from the Stone Independent School and independent volunteers for helping make ten acres of tending possible. With the added help from YCP and other folks this Sunday, we made it the extra mile! Thank you to our volunteers!

Monday, April 29th is our final tending day of the month. Learn more and sign up to volunteer for the Horn Farm Center’s riparian buffer work.

Eat, Drink, & Give Local for the River

Stop by upstairs at John Wright Restaurant any time between 5PM-9PM on Friday, May 3, to support 9 local organizations that protect and care for York’s streams and rivers. Learn about the unique and collaborative efforts of these organizations to make our community a healthier place to live, work, visit, and play.

There will be a cash bar with appetizers provided. There is no cost to attend this event, but we hope it will get you excited to support the following participating organizations through Give Local York:

  • Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay
  • Chesapeake Bay Foundation
  • Farm & Natural Lands Trust of York County
  • Horn Farm Center for Agricultural Education
  • Lancaster Conservancy
  • Lower Susquehanna Riverkeeper
  • Master Watershed Steward Program
  • Susquehanna National Heritage Area
  • Watershed Alliance of York

The party will be held in the River Room on the second floor of John Wright Restaurant. Enter the restaurant on Front Street via the ramp. Parking is available at John Wright and on side streets.

Although there is no cost to attend this event, we do ask that you RSVP through Eventbrite so we know how many people will be attending.

Special thank you to our host and presenting sponsor, John Wright Restaurant!

Click here to register for Party for the River – FREE!

Give Local York on May 2-3

This year at the Horn Farm Center, we are seeing in 20/20 vision. 

Looking back over the Horn Farm Center’s 20-year history, we can’t help but look forward to what the next 20 will bring. We hope you’ll join us and help to Perennialize Horn Farm as we continue to foster love for the land and build a bright, blossoming, sustainable future.

We will always need a place where we can reconnect with the land, ourselves, and one another. Your support ensures we can make that happen at the Horn Farm.

This year, you can double your impact on May 2-3 during Give Local York with over $20,000 in matching funds – thanks to our annual sponsors and the Horn Farm Center Board of Directors.

Contributions will be matched online starting on May 2nd at 9:00pm. We will accept donations for 24 hours – until 9:00pm the next day, May 3rd, on the Horn Farm Center’s Give Local York page.

Relax, Rejuvenate & Support Horn Farm

We’d like to thank 1881 Salt Sanctuary in York for featuring us this month!

This month, 2% of all retail sales at 1881 Salt Sanctuary are going to support Horn Farm Center! Learn more about 1881 Salt Sanctuary’s services, events, gift store, and more at their website linked below.

You Make an Impact

How does supporting the Horn Farm Center make a difference? Check out our 2023 Annual Report & 20 Year Perennial Report

THANK YOU to the organizations, businesses, and individuals who supported our work and mission in 2023 and supported the Horn Farm Center through our 20+ years.

Click here to read the Report

Horn Farm Happenings – April 6, 2024

Happy 20th Birthday Horn Farm Center!

Two decades ago today, the Horn Farm Center for Agricultural Education was incorporated as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and we have been providing educational experiences rooted in the land ever since.

A lot goes into building a nonprofit from the ground-up. Our predecessors were undaunted – dedicated to the vision of an educational center to celebrate and preserve our agricultural and cultural connections to the landscape. We’re grateful for their devotion, imagination, and advocacy that helped make the Horn Farm Center a reality.

Speaking of imagination, check out some of the earliest HFC logo drafts, drawn by founding member and local artist Barbara Rooney to capture HFC’s first brand.

Help us celebrate 20 years by learning our story and exploring ways to become involved with our mission today: hornfarmcenter.org/our-story/

There are many ways to get engaged – from classes and workshops, to volunteering, to donating to support our mission. We wouldn’t be the Horn Farm Center without you – our community! 

Banner Image: a concept map for a “living history education farm and agriculture museum” at the Horn Farm.

   

Kimchi & Power Tools

What do kimchi and power tools have in common? Apparently, they were the stars of the show this past weekend at the Horn Farm Center!Folks came from near and far to learn distinct, versatile skills for locally-based living. From preserving seasonal foods to building from scratch, Saturday’s Intro to Power Tools and Fermenting Kimchi workshops showcased how we can use the foods and materials available right here at home in abundant and creative ways.

With gratitude for our community of learners, educators, and supporters, we’re looking forward to many more classes this spring at the Horn Farm Center!

So what did our class participants learn this weekend?

In Intro to Power Tools, the Pole Barn became a woodshop as teams learned the basics of measuring, drilling, sawing, and more: all useful skills for DIY home renos, fix-up jobs, and small carpentry projects involving reused or locally-sourced materials. Participants explored not just the techniques and mechanics of power tools, but the value of tool- and skill-sharing with neighbors in building more resilient, thrifty communities.

Just down the hill in the Summer Kitchen, participants concocted their own unique blends of spice, sweetness, sourness, and umami with hands-on kimchi-making sessions. The workshop covered both traditional preparations and personalized spins on this probiotic powerhouse, and everyone left with their own jars of kimchi ready to ferment at home. Folks even enjoyed samplings of various kimchi styles and vegan kimchi pizza!

Organically-Grown at Horn Farm

We’re one month away from the Horn Farm’s 12th annual Plant Sale, taking place on Saturday, May 4th from 9am to 3pm!

What will you find if you stop by our Plant Sale? Horn Farm Center staff, interns, and our partner growers are assembling a wide array of vegetable, herb, and flower starts alongside native plants like herbaceous perennials, grasses, vines, shrubs, and trees. Make a plan to visit the 12th annual Plant Sale for all of your gardening and landscaping needs.

Want to lend a hand while purchasing your plants? Consider volunteering!

The 12th annual Horn Farm Plant Sale is sponsored by:

Click here for more info about the Horn Farm Plant Sale

Get Ready to Give Local: May 2-3, 2024

Mark your calendars for Give Local York. This year, York County’s biggest day of giving will run from 9pm-9pm on May 2nd and May 3rd.  

The real success of Give Local York will not be how much money we raise but the tremendous impact those dollars will have when nonprofits across York County put them to work.

Join the movement by supporting the Horn Farm Center on May 2-3, 2024!

Riparian Buffer Volunteers Needed!

Want to learn more about riparian buffers, agroforestry, land stewardship, and managing trees? Join us for our spring riparian buffer workdays to gain hands-on experience working with riparian buffer plantings.

During our Spring 2024 riparian buffer workdays, volunteers will plant new tree saplings, check and right tree tubes, manage introduced species, and fortify tree tube bases with rocks to prevent vole damage. Special activities may include live staking and planting native ground-layer plants.

We hope you will join us for a volunteer work day this spring!

Click here to learn more. 

Get Moving at the Horn Farm Center!

Ready to get moving this spring? Informed by various tasks we might do in the garden, around our house, or just while living life, this workshop series explores natural movement, breathwork, specific body part exercises, dynamic movements and restorative stretches.

The main goal of this program series is to begin to develop a new “movement lens” and to build physical resilience by moving, breathing, and observing.

Classes take place on Thursdays in May from 5:00pm to 6:15pm:

Join us starting May 9th for this one-of-a-kind class as we explore natural movement, breathwork, specific body part exercises, functional/dynamic movements, and restorative stretches.

Register for Practical Movement

 

Horn Farm Happenings – March 22, 2024

20th Anniversary “Throwback” Programs

Throughout 2024, we’re offering new and renewed programs that harken back to a popular community event from our past: Homesteading Education Day.

Embracing local resources and living in tune with nature takes a lot of forms. For many, it begins with reclaiming skills that empower us to use food and materials more resourcefully, keeping our impacts as local as possible.

Food preservation, homemade fertilizer, and fix-up jobs using shared tools are all ways we can work toward better health for our communities and environment.

Check out our spring Homesteading series below and register at the event links:

 

Learning & Growing at Horn Farm

As the weather warms, our greenhouse internship is in full swing! Interns have been busy with a variety of plant propagation methods, using seeds, root divisions, and stem cuttings to get hundreds of plants ready for our 12th annual Plant Sale on Saturday, May 4th (9am-3pm).

~Here’s a glimpse of last week’s work with elderberry~

Like many plants adapted to wet and disturbance-prone habitats (think streambanks and floodplains), elderberries are well-suited for rooting and growing from cuttings. With mindful branch selection from mature plants, interns pruned the elderberry patch for easy maneuvering and collected hundreds of living rods to propagate in the greenhouse.

With their showy summer blossoms and bold autumn berries, elderberries support countless insects and birds. They’re also a boon for stem-nesting bees in the winter. We too can partake in the harvest, benefitting from the berry’s incredible vitamin stores and immune-boosting properties with fresh elderberry syrup through the cold season.

Elderberry is one of the many plants that will be on offer at the Horn Farm’s spring Plant Sale! Join us on Saturday, May 4th from 9am to 3pm to welcome the growing season!

Horn Farm History: Annual Plant Sale

Back in 2013, the inaugural Plant Sale accompanied the debut of our first greenhouse, where we host the event today. Both community donations and volunteers were instrumental in making this project possible. In fact, the greenhouse was built entirely with the help of Horn Farm volunteers! The three-month build breathed new life onto the vacant foundation of the farm’s historic bank barn, which burned down in 2005.

The greenhouse has since supported the former Incubator Farms Project and Farmer Training Program, renting farmers, educational programming, and even the farmhouse fire recovery–serving as temporary classroom space for our current training programs during the winter. Now, three greenhouse interns, renting farmers, and our farm manager are hard at work greening the space once again with thousands of chemical-free plant starts for local gardeners and growers this May.

The 12th annual Horn Farm Plant Sale is sponsored by:

Click here for more info about the Horn Farm Plant Sale

Supporting Our Mission & Work

With a deep commitment to fostering financial well-being within our community, Sides Wealth Advisory Group is dedicated to supporting the regenerative mission of the Horn Farm Center!

Sides Wealth is one of York’s leading advisory firms, with business roots tracing back more than 20 years. They offer a wide variety of wealth management services and work with clients through all phases of life, including long-term planning, investment management, employer-sponsored retirement plans, and life insurance.

The Horn Farm Center partners with local businesses who believe in our mission to foster ecological learning through land stewardship, community partnership and hands-on experiences. We thank Sides Wealth Advisory Group for their partnership and support as an annual business sponsor this year. 

Does your business want to make an impact by supporting the Horn Farm Center this year? Click the link below for more information.

Kilgore Three Generations

Kilgore Family Farm CSA

Want to fill your plate with local flavor this year? Become a member of the Kilgore Family Farm CSA at the Horn Farm Center! 

Kilgore Family Farm’s produce is grown organically at the Horn Farm – which means NO use of synthetic fertilizer, pesticides, or herbicides!

From June to October, CSA members receive a weekly box of seasonal, organically-grown produce. Here’s what you can expect:

  • Spring: lettuces, spinach, kale, swiss chard, spring onions, beets, herbs
  • Summer: kale, swiss chard, tomatoes, sweet and hot peppers, beets, summer squash, watermelon, cataloupe, onions, herbs, and more!
  • Fall: garlic, beets, turnips, winter squash, potatoes, sweet potatoes, kale, swiss chard, spinach

If you are interested in joining the Kilgore Family Farm CSA this year, please reach out to Jeremy Kilgore at kilgorefamilyfarm@yahoo.com. 

Click here to learn more. 

Small Change. Big Difference.

Did you know that you can choose to “round up for charity” when you shop at Lemon Street Market in downtown Lancaster? During the months of March & April, all donations will go to support the Horn Farm Center!

Customers can also choose to increase their at-the-register donation by adding to their round up value.

Lemon Street Market is a full-service grocery store located just off the corner of Mulberry and Lemon Street in Lancaster City. The store focuses on sustainable and healthy living, with many local, organic, vegan, and gluten-free options.

A big thanks to Lemon Street Market for supporting the Horn Farm Center!

Click here to Learn More

Foraging: More than Finding Wild Foods

Through foraging, we can rekindle our ancient relationship with the land and root ourselves more deeply in a sense of home. We can learn about the seasons, needs, and lessons of local ecosystems while enjoying, tending, and sharing their gifts.

This May and June, the Horn Farm Center is offering an 8-week Forager Training Program led by experienced foraging educator Jon Darby.

From “weeds” to trees, this course will provide foundational knowledge for those interested in beginning (or deepening) their path towards building a relationship with the land, incorporating wild plants into their everyday life, and gaining the knowledge to confidently share with others.

Included among the program topics are:

  • Plant observation and ID,
  • Basic botany,
  • Harvesting, processing, cooking, and tasting,
  • Medicinal and alternative uses,
  • Safety and ethics, and more!

The Forager Training Program begins on Thursday, May 2nd, with classes being held on consecutive Thursday evenings until June 20th. See the program webpage for more details about the class schedule.

SPACES ARE VERY LIMITED, so register soon to join our most immersive foraging experience!

Register for 2024 Forager Training Program