2023 Training Programs are Open!

“The lessons that I learned from the Land Steward Training Program are innumerable, and it stirred up in me a yearning and a desire to have a deep, meaningful connection with the earth.” – Anthony Damiano

From the eco-curious to the aspiring land practitioner, our training programs have sown seeds of inspiration, learning, and purposeful change.

Applications are now open for our 2023 Training Programs:

Our signature Land Steward Training Program teaches the skills necessary to transform degraded landscapes into healthy, biodiverse, productive habitats. Whether you’re pursuing a career or simply exploring how to make an impact on the land, this program offers lessons in ecology, habitat restoration, and living in union with the land and each other.

The Ecological Gardener Training Program explores native plants, pollinators, lawn conversion methods, scaled designing, and seasonal management techniques that can be applied to commercial, schoolyard, and residential spaces. Completing this course will leave you with both confidence and creativity as you take action in this “buzzing” field.

In our Beekeeper Training Program participants will learn all aspects of keeping bees over the course of a two year program. At the end of year one, each participant will recieve a bee colony to be moved to their home property. During the second year, participants will learn more advanced techniques and troubleshooting while managing their own hive at home.

Each program fosters deepened connectivity with the land around us while providing hands-on practice to develop skills in your area of focus. Join us next year for a learning adventure at the Horn Farm Center!

Click here to learn more about Training Programs

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Greenhouse Internships: Now Accepting Applications

Interested in learning about nursery plant production and greenhouse management? We have two internship opportunities available next year that will provide hands-on learning and personalized job coaching with Farm Manager, Andrew Horn.

Throughout the course of the internship students will learn:

• Production planning and seeding schedules
• Seasonal greenhouse management
• Plant propagation techniques
• Materials & Methodology
• Plant Anatomy, taxonomy, physiology, chemistry, biology, genetics
• Irrigation – watering, water testing, understanding plant nutrition
• Plant Health Management – foliar sprays, root dips, seed coats
• Plant Sale Management – budgeting, pricing, product placement, retailing

  Learn More About 2023 Internships

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Community Gathering: Join Us by the Fire

Enjoy the company of fellow community members and the warmth of a bonfire at the Horn Farm on Sunday, December 4th between 3 and 5pm. All are welcome! We’re looking forward to celebrating the land, our community, and the ways they’ve come together throughout this year.

Snacks and refreshments will be provided. Feel free to bring your own chair, and be sure to dress warmly, as the event will take place outdoors. Of course, the fire is contingent on weather conditions. We’ll make sure to reach out in advance if plans need to change. 

As your “ticket” to this event, please bring a canned or preserved food item. We’ll be collecting donations for the York County Food Bank.

Click here to let us know you’re attending

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Winter Tree Identification Walk with Wilson

Winter is the best time to learn how to identify tree species. By observing bark and budding patterns, learn how to identify native and non-native trees in the wooded areas at the farm.

Join us on Sunday, December 4th at 1pm for a Guided Nature Walk focused on Tree Identification with Woodland Steward, Wilson Alvarez. 

Click here to Register for Tree ID Walk

Kitchen Classes: Making A Comeback

Just as the weather is cooling down, the Summer Kitchen at the Horn Farm Center is beginning to heat up!

Between the pandemic and the farmhouse fire, classes in our Summer Kitchen went dormant over the past few years. We’re excited to revive and re-introduce kitchen programs, beginning with a back-to-basics bread series taking place this winter!

Taught by longtime friend and volunteer, Ellen Gibb, this series of three bread-baking workshops will cover the basics of ingredients, techniques, and variations for distinct bread-making styles. We’ll also reflect on bread-baking as an exercise in reconnection: with ourselves, our history, our ingredients, and the land.

A special thanks to our friends at Shipley Energy for helping to weatherize the Summer Kitchen for year-round use with a new mini-split HVAC system and helping us get back on our feet after the farmhouse fire.

Register for individual classes or take the full series at a discounted charge. The first class of the series will be taking place on Wednesday, November 16th from 6 to 8pm at the Horn Farm Center’s cozy Summer Kitchen!

Click here to register for Bread Baking Basics. 

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Greenhouse Internships: Now Accepting Applications

Interested in learning about nursery plant production and greenhouse management? We have two internship opportunities available next year that will provide hands-on learning and personalized job coaching with Farm Manager, Andrew Horn.

Throughout the course of the internship students will learn:

• Production planning and seeding schedules
• Seasonal greenhouse management
• Plant propagation techniques
• Materials & Methodology
• Plant Anatomy, taxonomy, physiology, chemistry, biology, genetics
• Irrigation – watering, water testing, understanding plant nutrition
• Plant Health Management – foliar sprays, root dips, seed coats
• Plant Sale Management – budgeting, pricing, product placement, retailing

  Learn More About 2023 Internships

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Community Gathering: Join Us by the Fire

Enjoy the company of fellow community members and the warmth of a bonfire at the Horn Farm on Sunday, December 4th between 3 and 5pm. All are welcome! We’re looking forward to celebrating the land, our community, and the ways they’ve come together throughout this year.

Snacks and refreshments will be provided. Feel free to bring your own chair, and be sure to dress warmly, as the event will take place outdoors. Of course, the fire is contingent on weather conditions. We’ll make sure to reach out in advance if plans need to change. 

As your “ticket” to this event, please bring a canned or preserved food item. We’ll be collecting donations for the York County Food Bank.

Click here to let us know you’re attending

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Plant Identification with Jon Darby

Discover the diversity of Pennsylvania’s woodland species. Using bark and budding patterns, students will learn how to identify plants, trees, and shrubs in the wooded areas at the farm.

Come prepared for all weather, to get dirty, wet, and cold! This class is family and child friendly, but children must be accompanied by an adult.

Join us on Sunday, November 6th at 1pm for a Guided Nature Walk focused on Plant Identification with Jon Darby of Riverbend Foraging. 

Click here to Register for Plant Identification

Why We Do What We Do

There are a lot of justifications for the work we do and the skills we teach at the Horn Farm Center. One came through with alarming clarity on NPR’s Morning Edition last week.

According to the latest reporting from the World Wildlife Fund, the populations of most major animal groups on our planet have plummeted nearly 70% since 1970. From fish to mammals, birds to reptiles, these creatures are critical to the biodiversity that keeps ecosystems stable and the atmosphere livable.

It shouldn’t be surprising that this striking loss is attributed to human activities: habitat fracture, overdevelopment, unsustainable agriculture, and globalized consumption. Concerned scientists and environmentalists have not minced the fact that we’re living through an era of human-driven mass extinction.

This is why we spend every day doing what we do: demonstrating and teaching ways for people to produce, consume, and interact in greater harmony with the land. The gravity of the situation is overwhelming, but we know that solutions lie in committing ourselves to locally-focused, ecologically-sound lifeways and teaching these skills to future generations. We need to prioritize habitat repair, regenerative farming, and other forms of uncompromising earthcare if we want to ensure a livable future for all.

Learn more about the Horn Farm Center’s strategic goals to increase wildlife habitat through agroforestry and regenerative agriculture,  reduce our carbon footprint, and teach others to do the same by visiting our website.

We encourage you to listen to the full segment on NPR’s website and read WWF’s report at worldwildlife.org.

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Cheers to Our Community

This month, we had the pleasure of hosting many of our generous donors and community partners for an evening of connection and celebration.

Locally-crafted sweet potato mash, onion tarts, custard acorn squash, braised greens, hazelnut cookies, and pawpaw beer made for great company as we shared this year’s progress in transitioning to perennial agroforestry and growing our regenerative mission.

As a keynote to the program, Dale Hendricks–local tree-enthusiast and owner of Green Light Plants LLC–connected our vision to the pioneering work of John Hershey, who spent much of the early 20th century learning from native trees and cultivating a landscape where agriculture could work in harmony with natural systems. His work pushed the edge and recognized the land’s needs well before agroforestry and regenerative agriculture were termed. We can’t help but see our own shift towards perennial agroforestry on the farm as part of his legacy.

Very many thanks to all of our donors for the tremendous help you have given us this year in the wake of our farmhouse fire. With your support, we’ve taken strides not only toward a rebuild that befits our mission, but toward new and exciting projects that will capture the full scope of what we’re all about.

Another thanks to John Wright Restaurant, Farm to Freezer, Locally Seasoned, Collusion Brewery, and Sarah Cahill for transforming Horn Farm produce into culinary delights for the event.

From our human partners to our other-than-human collaborators, we look to our community with beaming hearts and so much gratitude!

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Thank You York College Students!

Thank you to the York College of Pennsylvania Spartan Serve Network for joining us at the farm last Friday to complete some important riparian buffer management! Student volunteers cleared a weedy patch near our tree plantings, mended damaged tree tubes, planted seedlings, and provided stellar golden-hour company.

As the season winds down, we’re looking forward to one last community volunteer opportunity in our 8 acre multifunctional riparian buffer. Register today to join us on Saturday, November 5th, 10am-12:30pm, for some late-season planting and tree check-ups.

If you’re new to volunteering with us, this is a great opportunity to learn more about our ongoing land restoration project in partnership with DCNR PennVest, GIANT and Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful’s Healing Planet Earth, the Stabler Foundation, and the Keystone 10 million trees campaign.

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Community Gardeners Take on the “Soil Your Undies” Challenge!

As we prepare for our  Soil Microbes 101  class on October 29th, we’ll let you in on a BRIEF experiment conducted by two of our community gardeners this summer!

As part of the Pennsylvania Soil Health Coalition‘s “Soil Your Undies” Challenge, enterprising gardeners Phyllis and Mark buried two fresh pairs of drawers in their garden plots to see just how hungry healthy soils can be. Bacteria, fungi, protozoa, and worms process soil nutrients by feeding on organic (carbon-containing) compounds, so adding cotton underwear to the mix, it turns out, can tell us a lot about how these populations are getting along!

Annihilated undies = a thriving soil food web, full of the microbes essential to garden and ecosystem health. After this experiment, our gardeners will amend the soil in Mark’s plot and see if any improvements occur.

Soil Microbes 101 with Suzanne Shea

Ever seen a nematode? A microarthropod? Halloween is almost here, so why not spend some time with the creepy crawlies that call our farm and garden soils home?

Next Saturday, discover the creepy crawlies that make our soils come to life. In this program, participants will explore the microbial life that makes up soil and how we can nurture it, producing healthier plants and happier land.

Participants will get to see microbes through the microscope while exploring the building blocks of soil science. Whether you’re a gardener, farmer, or aspiring food grower, fall is a great time to expand your knowledge and plan proactively for the growing season!

Join us on Saturday, October 29th for Soil Microbes 101 with Certified Soil Food Web Lab-Tech, Suzanne Shea.

Click here to Register for Soil Microbes 101