Transform How You See Invasive Plants!

When it comes to invasive plants, Alyssa Dennis of Eclipta Herbal asks an intriguing question: “Why not harvest our way toward biodiversity?”

On Saturday, June 3rd at the Horn Farm Center, we’ll  spend a day among the plants exploring this question. Join us from 10am to 5pm for Invasive Apothecary: A Healing Perspective of Invasive Plants–a workshop spanning the creative and medicinal possibilities of some of our most infamous non-native plant species.

We’ll dive deep into alternative pathways for confronting the threats facing native biodiversity, underscoring how relationships–not animosity–should guide our care for struggling local environments.

Participants will depart with ID tips for key non-native plants, ideas for creative re-uses, and invasive plant medicine tincture.

If you’re interested in this workshop and want to learn more, check out the Instagram LIVE Q&A  we hosted with Alyssa this past Monday! The interview begins about 2 minutes into the video, covering topics like herbalism, place-based learning, and creative relationships with invasive plants.

Click here to learn more and register

Save the Date and Sign Up to Help!

Spring has sprung and the pawpaw trees are flowering, which means we’re just four months away from the 2023 York County Pawpaw Festival, presented by the Horn Farm Center and Explore York PA.

Join us on September 23rd and 24th, 2023 from 10am to 3pm to celebrate native plants, natural lands, local vendors, and, of course, the ancient fruit that flavors our region each fall. We’re looking forward to our 19th year of taking “have it made here” to a whole new level!

Visit our Pawpaw Festival webpage for the latest information on the festival. A few changes are in store for this year, including ONLINE PRE-SALES and presentations from guest speakers, so stay tuned for updates in the coming weeks.

If you’re planning to lodge overnight, book your stay quick and easy using our travel link.

And don’t forget to consider volunteering to help make the Pawpaw Fest a success! We are looking for volunteers to help with many aspects of the event, including set-up/clean-up, parking, overseeing the registration table and kids’ activities, pawpaw sales, engaging visitors, and more.

We’ll see you when the pawpaws ripen at the Horn Farm Center!

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Only One Week 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

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