Horn Farm Happenings – August 7, 2023
Telling the Story of Horn Farm
The Horn Farm is a mosaic of stories, going back centuries to present day. The history of this place is as complex and meaningful as the work that occurs on the land today.Providing a comprehensive picture of our story isn’t easy, especially since the Horn Farm Center is many things to many people. From community gardeners, renting farmers, and CSA members to our program participants, volunteers, and event attendees, each individual who engages with the Farm writes their own narrative in our community storybook.
Complimenting our human perspective is the land itself. Each field, woodland, meadow, and pathway of the Horn Farm’s 186-acre property tells a story of what was, what is, and what will be. So much has changed over time but the land paints the clearest picture of what’s been accomplished and what work still needs to be done.
This summer, Communications Intern, Mel Beans took on the herculean task of weaving together Horn Farm’s story through words, images, and geographic locations. Using ArcGIS StoryMaps as her communication tool, Mel crafted a virtual tour of the farm that shares the unique history, programs, projects, features, and even future goals for the farm.
We plan to continue to update this StoryMap as the organization and our work on the land continues to evolve. Mel did a fantastic job of capturing Horn Farm’s Story and we hope you will take the time to enjoy it!
“When I began my internship at the Horn Farm Center, I quickly realized that there is a lot to learn about the center’s diverse work and 186 acres. The farmland, woods, and meadows of Horn Farm tell a long and constantly transforming story. There was a need for an easily accessible resource that provided a comprehensive overview of all that goes on at the farm as you explore the land.
Creating this virtual tour became a way for me to tell the story of the Horn Farm Center. It is the culmination of my two-month long internship here that captures both the diversity of the actions and opportunities taking place at Horn Farm, as well as their cohesiveness—rooted in community, education, and in living in reciprocity with nature.
Through compiling and synthesizing information gathered from key contributors to the Center, internal archives, local news articles, social media pages, and the Horn Farm Center’s website, I got to deepen my understanding of the organization’s work and its positive impact on our community and the environment. I’m excited for people to use this new resource as an introduction to the Horn Farm Center or as a way to deepen their familiarity with this important organization and its work!”
– 2023 PSSI Summer Communications Intern, Mel Beans
Pawpaw Fest: Tickets Now on Sale!
The 2023 York County Pawpaw Festival at the Horn Farm Center is on September 23rd and 24th, and TICKET SALES have just gone live!
Enjoy guaranteed admission and perks by reserving your tickets online today:
- Premium Pass: includes admission to one day of the Pawpaw Festival, a t-shirt designed by local artist Joanna Tice, and entry into a door prize drawing for Horn Farm Center class vouchers.
- General Pass: includes admission to one day of the Pawpaw Festival.
Over the next two months we will highlight the many new and exciting features enhancing this year’s event! For starters, we have a one-of-a-kind lineup of educational talks and tours AND a growing list of vendors offering food, products, crafts, and artwork from the heart of York County.
Visit our website for full festival details, and sign-up to volunteer!
The 2023 Pawpaw Festival is presented by the Horn Farm Center and Explore York.
Click here to purchase tickets!
Squirrels, beavers, and mastodons-in-training took over the Horn Farm!
This week, students in our Becoming the Animal youth series learned all that it takes to shape the landscape like animals do every day!
Our squirrel day enTAILed lessons about squirrel’s diet and habitat, followed by a visit to the outdoor classroom to journal, draw, spot the squirrel-friendly trees, and build a squirrel nest! Of course, our spotlight on squirrels wouldn’t be complete without planting trees ourselves, since squirrels are pros at dispersing the seeds of the forest!
The next day we moved from the woods to the wetlands for beaver day, learning about what makes a healthy watershed and watching the creepy crawlies of a healthy waterway in action! We tromped back to the outdoor classroom to feel beaver fur, draw beaver dams, and build our own using beaver-approved materials. Overall, we learned just how incredible beavers can be at engineering their ecosystems and supporting other animals!
We finished the week with a lost, but not forgotten, animal friend – mastodon! We learned how this smaller, hairier cousin of the elephant was well adapted for North America and helped to shape our landscape in ways that we no longer see today. Students also explored plants that co-evolved with mastodon and still thrive in our wetlands and forests. We completed our animal training by learning how to safely use tools to be an ecosystem engineer and steward – just like mastodons once were!
It’s been a perfect week for our young naturalists to Become the Animal!
What Skills Do You Want to Learn?
Homestead Education Day
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.
The Joy of Foraging
Foraging is the act of finding and gathering wild foods. By engaging in this age-old practice, we can provide ourselves with healthy and abundant food, become more self-reliant, and connect on a much deeper level to the landscape in which we live.
Discover the joy of foraging this fall at the Horn Farm Center! Gather with others to learn and connect while exploring all that our landscape has to offer.
- August Foraging Walk: August 13th, 10AM-12PM
- September Foraging Walk: September 3rd, 10AM-12PM
- Making Natural Cordage: September 3rd, 1PM-3PM
- Plant Language: September 16th, 10AM-5PM
- Foraging Wild Teas: October 1st, 10AM-12PM
- Fall Foraging Foundations: October 21-22, 9AM-3PM
- Foraging for Roots: November 5th, 10AM-12PM
But while the ecological benefits of riparian buffer planting are promising, it’s important for us to avoid positioning ourselves as sidelined observers of these benefits. We are, of course, not just nature sentimentalists: we are embedded in and dependent on the land that we are restoring.
