Happenings

Horn Farm Happenings – July 20

Horn Farm farm stand 2017It’s back! This is your chance to purchase fresh, organically grown Horn Farm produce.

Welcome to our online farm stand! Place your order by THURSDAY each week for pick up at the farm on Saturday. (Orders placed after Thursday will be considered part of the following week’s orders). These orders must be paid via debit/credit card at the time of checkout.
You will find your order in our wooden corn barn (smaller of our two barns) for self-serve pickup on SATURDAY between 9 a.m. and 12 Noon.
Happy shopping and eating! Thanks for your support!

The development of the Horn Farm online farm stand was made possible through a grant from the York County Community Foundation’s Agricultural & Land Preservation Fund.


For every 1700 insect species, only one interferes with human activities. Most insects help us in our endeavors! How many of these insects can you identify?
Join us for our Insect Identification and Management class on Saturday, August 11. Learning to identify the common insects in your garden is an essential skill. Only then can you begin to recognize and support the beneficial insects that are making your job easier and mitigate and prevent the damage from their less helpful counterparts. We will cover the three major kinds of pest management, how to diagnose a pest problem, and recommended organic treatments. This workshop will be primarily classroom based and we’ll examine some live examples and do a field walk if possible. Register today!


CSA pick up dayNot a CSA member? There’s still time to join at a prorated rate. Our vegetable CSA is in full swing and crops are doing so well that we are able to offer a limited number of additional spaces for a mid-season sign-up. These shares will begin on July 28 (Saturday) or July 31 (Tuesday). We’ve prorated the cost to take into account the later start date. Get more information and sign up here: Horn Farm Mid-season CSA


Celebrate the bounty of the season! Meet your local farmers!
Join us Tuesday, August 21 – 6 pm – 8:30 pm for our annual Seasonal Eat & Meet at John Wright restaurant.

Gather with your friends, family, and co-workers to meet and mingle with our farmers and producers who are passionate about supporting local farm businesses. Enjoy a delicious meal of seasonal local foods prepared by the chefs of John Wright Restaurant!

Proceeds will benefit the Horn Farm Center for Agricultural Education.
Get your tickets now! Seasonal Eat & Meet


CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) Shares
Here is what we plan to include in this week’s CSA shares:
Beets (Chioggia or Red Ace)
Summer squash
Kale
Collards
Swiss chard
Cucumbers
Sweet Peppers
Hot peppers
Onions
Parsley
Enjoy!


Upcoming events and volunteer opportunities:
July 21 – Monthly Farm Tour
July 23 – Tuesday Evening Farm Work Crew
July 26 – Preserving Herbs
July 31 – Tuesday Evening Farm Work Crew
July 31 – Knife Skills for the Home Cook
August 4 – First Saturday Volunteer Work Day
August 11 – Volunteer needed to represent the Horn Farm at the Rudy Park Open House
August 11 – Insect Identification and Management (new date!)
August 21 – Seasonal Eat & Meet
October 6, 7, 13, 14 – Bowmaking (new dates!)

See you at the farm!

Horn Farm Happenings – July 13

On Fridays we harvest for the CSA shares that get picked up Saturday morning. The hot, sunny days have led to abundant harvests. 
Laura harvesting cucumbers
We’ve only had a third of an inch of rain in the last three weeks, so we rely on irrigation. We pump water from a pond on the farm that is fed by a spring and the rain that falls on both barn roofs. Miranda watering the cut your own herb bedThis is the first week we will be harvesting peppers. We grow many varieties of sweet and hot peppers. They come in a variety of flavors, shapes, sizes, and colors. Over the course of the season, CSA share holders will find peppers in shades of yellow, green, red, orange, brown, and purple in their shares! Here Andrew shares which peppers are harvested at which color before the interns begin harvesting. Andrew giving a hot pepper harvesting lesson to the farm internsOnce the vegetables are harvested, they get rinsed at the wash station. This removes soil and debris but also removes what we call ‘field heat’. Cooling the produce quickly helps it stay fresh longer.kelsey at wash station

Not a CSA member? There’s still time to join at a prorated rate. Our vegetable CSA is in full swing and crops are doing so well that we are able to offer a limited number of additional spaces for a mid-season sign-up. These shares will begin on July 28 (Saturday) or July 31 (Tuesday). We’ve prorated the cost to take into account the later start date. Get more information and sign up here: Horn Farm Mid-season CSA


beetsCelebrate the bounty of the season! Meet your local farmers!
Join us Tuesday, August 21 – 6 pm – 8:30 pm for our annual Seasonal Eat & Meet at John Wright restaurant.

Gather with your friends, family, and co-workers to meet and mingle with our farmers and producers who are passionate about supporting local farm businesses. Enjoy a delicious meal of seasonal local foods prepared by the chefs of John Wright Restaurant!

Proceeds will benefit the Horn Farm Center for Agricultural Education.
Get your tickets now! Seasonal Eat & Meet


What we watched this week: Regeneration of the Land: A Producer’s Perspective. The United States is in crisis. The health of our soil resource has declined to such a point that it is not only negatively affecting farm and ranch profitability, but it is also having a devastating impact on everything from our water quality to our communities and even to our health. North Dakota rancher Gabe Brown walks us through a common sense solution to this crisis. Check it out!


CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) Shares
Here is what we plan to include in this week’s CSA shares:
Beets
Summer squash
Kale
Collards
Swiss chard
Cucumbers
Sweet Peppers
Hot peppers
Garlic
Garlic scapes (use as you would garlic)
Parsley
Enjoy!


Upcoming events and volunteer opprtunities:
July 17 – Tuesday Evening Farm Work Crew
July 21 – Monthly Farm Tour
July 23 – Tuesday Evening Farm Work Crew
July 24 – Preserving Herbs
July 31 – Tuesday Evening Farm Work Crew
July 31 – Knife Skills for the Home Cook
August 4 – First Saturday Volunteer Work Day
August 11 – Volunteer needed to represent the Horn Farm at the Rudy Park Open House
August 11 – Insect Identification and Management (new date!)
August 21 – Seasonal Eat & Meet
October 6, 7, 13, 14 – Bowmaking (new dates!)

See you at the farm!

Horn Farm Happenings – July 6

It sure was hot this week! Sunny days with temperatures approaching the 100 degree mark! Here’s a little bit about what’s going on. 

The impact of human activities such as deforestation, agricultural monocultures, and urbanization have (as their unplanned, secondary effect) lowered the ability of watersheds to retain waters and has caused a decline in soil moisture, a fall in groundwater levels, as well as a warming of the surface of the land. What was once a pristine, continuous forest canopy is now fragmented and degraded. The loss of healthy forests across the globe has had a direct effect on the extremes in weather we are now experiencing. It’s about more than just additional carbon dioxide in the atmosphere; it’s about the loss of the plants that keep the Earth’s systems in balance.

platanus occidentalisWhy do trees matter?

When solar energy reaches the Earth’s surface, that energy can be converted to heat, or that energy can be used by plants to power photosynthesis. Photosynthesis is the process by which a plant transforms carbon dioxide, water, and sunlight into carbohydrates, oxygen, and releases water vapor (evaporation). Plants also regulate their own temperature through a process called transpiration. Transpiration is the process by which moisture is carried through plants from roots to small pores on the underside of leaves, where it changes to vapor and is released to the atmosphere.

Transpiring plants, especially trees, are the perfect air conditioning system of the Earth. The tree is ‘fueled’ only by solar energy, is made of recyclable materials, requires minimal maintenance, and emits water vapor in response to the heat and humidity of the environment. Evaporating water is carried away and is released as condensation (fog, mist, rain) in cooler places. Unlike an air-conditioner which releases heat into nearby surroundings as it condenses moisture, a tree cools the environment as a byproduct of its activity. A tree is also quiet, absorbs noise and dust, provides food and habitat, is beautiful, and sequesters carbon. Wow! Recognizing the importance of trees, we’ve to reincorporate them into our farmscape beginning by restoring the health of the degraded woodlands on the Horn Farm. We started with the woodlands surrounding the farm fields of the farm business incubator and internship programs. This project is designed to provide ecological, economic, and educational yields. The replacement of overly abundant vining species with a greater diversity of useful plant species will provide food and other useful products while restoring ecosystem biohabitats, biodiversity, and resilience. Contact us to find out more!


Make your July transformative! Join wilderness expert Wilson Alvarez for an intensive primitive skill building experience! Over the course of two weekends, Wilson will lead participants through the process of bow making.Wilson Alvarez Bowmaking InstructorMaybe you’re someone passionate about learning techniques for survival and self reliant living.Maybe you’re an archer who loves hunting with a bow and arrow. Maybe you’re a woodworker who would love to learn a new skill. Whatever the reason, this is your chance to learn how to make hunting-quality, wooden bow and arrows from scratch with your own two hands. You will leave with your own finished bow! Wilson is a certified permaculture designer, inventor, gardener, skilled tracker, bowyer, nature-awareness instructor, and writer from Lancaster, Pennsylvania. For the past 13 years, he has studied and taught classes and workshops on bio-intensive agriculture, regenerative technology, foraging, hunting, trapping, tracking, and wilderness survival. For more information and registration: Bow Making


Just two acres of our farm keeps 43 families supplied with fresh produce!
CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) Shares

Here is what we plan to include in this week’s CSA shares:
Beets
Summer squash
Lettuce
Collards
Swiss chard
Scallions
Cabbage
Mustard greens
Garlic
Garlic scapes (use as you would garlic)
Apple mint
Chives
Enjoy!
Not a CSA member? There’s still time to join at a prorated rate. Click here for more information.


Upcoming events:
July 7 – First Saturday Volunteer Work Day
July 10 – Tuesday Evening Farm Work Crew
July 14, 15, 28, 29 – Bowmaking
July 17 – Tuesday Evening Farm Work Crew
July 21 – Monthly Farm Tour
July 23 – Tuesday Evening Farm Work Crew
July 24 – Preserving Herbs
July 31 – Tuesday Evening Farm Work Crew
July 31 – Knife Skills for the Home Cook
August 4 – First Saturday Volunteer Work Day
August 21 – Seasonal Eat & Meet

See you at the farm!