Music, Plants, Community…& More Plants!

Last weekend we kicked-off the gardening season with friends, art, music, fantastic weather and a whole lot of plants at the 11th Annual Horn Farm Plant Sale.

Community members mingled while shopping from a wide array of vegetables, medicinal and culinary herbs, potted flowers, flower starts, and native plants!

We also enjoyed a special talk on Sustainable Landscaping with Tony Campisi of Campisi Property Service.

A big thanks to Tony for sharing how even small actions can go a long way to transform our backyards into an ecologically diverse landscape!

Did you miss the Horn Farm Plant Sale this weekend? We’ve got left-over plants available for purchase now through Sunday, May 14th!

Everything from vegetables to herbs to hanging flowers, medicinal plants and more–just drop in!

All sales are cash or check only – but CASH IS PREFERRED. Please follow the payment instructions on the greenhouse door when you arrive. We welcome customers after working hours, but please refrain from coming after dark.

We thank this year’s vendors for making the 2023 Plant Sale a huge success:

• Calyx Native Nursery
• Green Barn Farm
• Ort Family Farm
• Virtue Local Art Market
• On My Grind Coffee
• Earthbound Artisan
• Future Forest Plants

We Did It….Together!

Last Friday, we shared how your support regenerates the land and educates our community. During our Give Local York campaign, we highlighted the impact of the regenerative practices that build soil, protect water, and support biodiversity at the Horn Farm Center – and you responded with overwhelming support!

In just 24 hours, 189 of our friends and supporters raised $35,495 to help us heal the land and teach others to do the same. And, since we reached our goal to raise $30,000 in 24-hours, board member Cindy Pizziketti donated a used utility vehicle (UTV) to the farm!

THANK YOU! We are humbled by the generosity of our community, the backbone of our work. A special thanks to our matching sponsors: Mark Silver, Holly Glaser, Cindy Pizziketti, the Horn Farm Center Board of Directors, and 7group.

Following a year of careful planning, we are moving boldly towards a new strategic direction, including rebuilding the farmhouse. Our goals are ambitious, but we know that, together with your support, we can accomplish all of these goals and more. 

Thank you for helping to regenerate the land and educate others to do the same by donating to the Horn Farm Center for Give Local York! Together we will bring restorative transformation to our local communities and ecosystems for the benefit of generations to come.

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Looking to garden this year but don’t have space at home? We have a small number of spaces still available in the Horn Farm Community Gardens. 

Each plot measures approximately 20 x 20 feet.

Click here to register.

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Only 3 Weeks Left to Claim Your Share!

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

Fill your plate with local flavor this year! Become a member of the Horn Farm CSA to support local, regenerative farmers and the Horn Farm Center’s land-healing mission.

Pick-ups are at the Farm Stand located at 4945 Horn Road on Wednesdays from 2:30-6:30pm. 
Full Share:  $825
Half Share: $440

Sign up-today to claim your share! Registrations close May 31st.  

Click here to register

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Join the Community Crew!

Restoring land and reviving ecosystems takes time and a big team. That’s why we are launching a new, dedicated volunteer program that offers more ways to engage with nature and regenerative land stewardship.

The Horn Farm Community Crew program offers hands-on volunteer training with Horn Farm staff. Volunteers will play a key role in specialized projects focused on ecological restoration and bolstering our wooded and wild areas.

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 / other perks.

Over time, we see this program as another way to cultivate a vibrant network of earth stewards dedicated to helping nature thrive! By learning and tending together at the Horn Farm Center, members can take the skills and experiences of land-based volunteering home and further spread the knowledge, determination, and confidence that our communities need to bring ourselves back into balance with nature.

Learn more about this new initiative by visiting the link below and signing up for our first training day on Sunday, May 21st!

Sign up to join the crew!

“These programs have made me feel more connected to the area where I live, which in turn makes me want to foster a healthy environment and community with my own land.”

– 2023 Program Participant

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So much of our lives are distanced from nature. Our culture, for better or worse, has evolved to keep us indoors. An expanding body of scientific evidence suggests that our nature-deficit lifestyles contribute to myriad challenges including diminished use of senses, attention difficulties, and higher rates of emotional and physical illnesses.

At the same time, we are facing numerous environmental crises in our lifetimes:

• World Wildlife Fund’s Living Planet Index reported that populations of most major animal groups on our planet have plummeted nearly 70% since 1970.
• Meanwhile, climate change is threatening the stability of life on our planet. Agriculture alone contributes to more than 17 billion metric tons of greenhouse emissions each year.
• And, our land use practices continue to degrade our soils and pollute our waterways.

So, what does it mean to regenerate the land?

Regenerative means going beyond “doing no harm” by taking an active role to steward the land and restore natural cycles.

Our practices demonstrate how to produce food while prioritizing the health of our ecosystems, paying close attention to soil, water, and biodiversity. 

At the Horn Farm Center, our land stewardship practices are focused on:

Building Soil Health
Regenerative agriculture is all about soil. Practices like composting, no-till, and cover cropping help to build organic matter, infiltrate water, and protect soil life. Healthy, living soils cycle carbon from the atmosphere and support life here on Earth!

 

Protecting Water
Using low-energy and natural technologies such as check dams, zuni bowls, and riparian buffers, we are doing our part to prevent soil erosion, support native aquatic species, and reduce mineral and sediment loads in our waterways — from Kreutz Creek to the Susquehanna River, and beyond.

 

Increasing Biodiversity
In 2018, we conducted a species survey that identified only 32 different species of trees and shrubs on the property, including non-natives. Since then, we have added over 40 native species on about 30 acres of the farm. Bolstering plant diversity builds habitat and increases diversity in soil microorganisms, beneficial insects, and other species of wildlife.

 

These regenerative practices are making a difference – and so do you when you support our work. When you donate to the Horn Farm Center, your contributions REGENERATE the health of the land & EDUCATE others to do the same.

This year, you can double your impact on May 4-5th during Give Local York. Thanks to several generous donors, online contributions on May 4-5th will be matched dollar for dollar up to $10,000.

The excitement starts online on May 4th at 9:00pm. We will accept donations for 24 hours – until 9:00pm the next day, May 5th, on the Horn Farm Center’s Give Local York page.

Join our efforts to Regenerate & Educate by contributing financially to the Horn Farm Center, either by check, online at hornfarmcenter.org/donate/, or during Give Local York on May 4-5th.

Also, we are rebuilding! If you’d like to learn more about our progress on the farmhouse and to donate directly to the rebuild project, please visit rebuildhornfarm.com or note “Building Fund” on your check.

Sincerely,

Alexis Campbell, Executive Director

Training for a Regenerative Future

For the past 11 weeks, our Land Steward and Ecological Gardener trainees have been hard at work learning how we can partner with nature to foster greater environmental health and resiliency.

Here’s what Land Steward trainee Kelly D has to say of the experience so far:

“This program has become the highlight of my week! I was in need of a life reset, passionate about the environment but I was shallow on knowledge and skills. This class has been just what I needed…I have gained so much knowledge as well as a confidence within the landscape. From learning how to use new tools and debating what to do with non-native plants, to tasting the plants right at our feet, every class is so rewarding. I appreciate the camaraderie that has formed among classmates as we share a passion and collaborate on major projects that demand hard physical labor. It has been such a privilege to participate!”

Land Stewards have spent the last two months learning observational skills and low-impact methods for repairing and re-wilding natural spaces, taking their inspiration from animal teachers like the beaver as well as human cultures rooted in relationship with the earth. Alongside weekly classroom topics, the crew has built erosion controls like check dams and Zuni bowls, planted a biodiverse mini-forest, spread native seeds, blazed trails, and put aggressive species to restorative use – not to mention assembling the Horn Farm’s largest trail bridge using materials gifted by our forests!

Meanwhile, Ecological Gardeners have also taken to the trail, studying native plant communities in semi-wild meadows to spring ephemeral-rich forests! From these field observations, trainees gleaned botanical insights on what species are best suited to bolster restoration spaces at the Horn Farm, focusing on building important wildlife habitat. Students explored native plant allies that are exceptional at outcompeting tenacious plants like stilt grass and lesser celandine. In addition, ecological gardeners have sheet mulched a native edible food forest that they are designing to scale as an educational demonstration site. Each week, ecological gardeners are eager to share how their training experiences have inspired them to act in rebuilding biodiversity at home and at their workplaces!

Interested in joining our training programs in 2024? Let us know by adding your name to the waitlist here and be the first to know when registrations go live!

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“I’ll be giving local to the Horn Farm Center because I believe in its mission to educate folks in practical and creative earth care. With our planet and its human and nonhuman creatures under stress, Horn Farm is exploring ways we can all make a positive difference for our shared future. Helping address the roots of our modern ecological crises is one of the wisest investments we can make.”–  David Dietz

Help Regenerate & Educate on May 4-5th

It’s almost time to give where you live on May 4-5th for Give Local York! Our goal is to raise $30,000 to heal the land and teach others to do the same.

You can help make it happen when you donate online from 9pm-9pm on May 4-5th. This year, you can TRIPLE your impact. Here’s how:

• 9:00pm-5:00am: Mark Silver & Holly Glaser’s $1000 Building Soil Match
• 5:01am-1:00pm: HFC Board of Directors’ $4000 Protecting Water Match
• 1:01pm-9:00pm: 7group’s $5000 Supporting Biodiversity Match

Help make an impact on our land and in our community. Donate to Regenerate & Educate at the Horn Farm Center for Give Local York! 

Click here for more information. 

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2022 was a year of mindful planning and regenerative growth. We didn’t do it alone. Let’s take a look back and celebrate what we accomplished together.

Thank you to the organizations, businesses, and individuals who supported our work and mission in 2022.

Click here to Read the 2022 Annual Report

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Claim Your Share: Horn Farm CSA

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

Fill your plate with local flavor this year! Become a member of the Horn Farm CSA to support local, regenerative farmers and the Horn Farm Center’s land-healing mission.

Pick-ups are at the Farm Stand located at 4945 Horn Road on Wednesdays from 2:30-6:30pm. 
Full Share:  $825
Half Share: $440

Sign up-today to claim your share! Registrations close May 31st.  

Click here to register

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One Week Until the 11th Annual Plant Sale!

Our greenhouse is overflowing with happy, healthy, organically-grown plants that are ready to be tucked into your garden beds!

((Actually, the cold crops are ready to be planted but most of the summer season plants will need to be hardened-off before they are planted.))

Stop by the Horn Farm Center between 9am and 3pm on Saturday, May 6th for a wide selection of annual vegetables, medicinal and culinary herbs, potted flowers and flower starts, and native plants – from herbaceous perennials to grasses and trees!

This year’s sale features additional farm vendors such as Calyx Native Nursery, Green Barn Farm, and Ort Family Farm, alongside creations from Virtue Local Art Market, refreshments from On My Grind Coffee, live music from Nodding Onion (a project of Tim Seifarth of Earthbound Artisan), and a special talk on Sustainable Landscaping in the barn at 12PM by Tony Campisi of Campisi Property Service.

Horn Farm’s 11th annual Plant Sale on May 6th is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts.

Click here for more information