In 2016, Betsy Dorbian was considering a career change. After 25 years as a massage therapist, Betsy was ready for something different. Having studied permaculture design in an academic setting, she felt she needed hands on skills. She applied to and was accepted into the Farm Internship program. Betsy ended her first season by saying that she’d ‘found her people and her place’ at the Horn Farm. She is returning for 2017 ready to make her dream of becoming a flower farmer come true. As a second year intern, Betsy will plan, grow, harvest, and market cut flowers.
Interested in making a career change of your own? Our Farm Internship is a part-time, hands-on training program for people with 0 to 2 years of farm or gardening experience. The program provides foundational knowledge and practical skills for those interested in small-scale, intensive, organic, permaculture-based production methods. Applications are now being accepted.

It’s time to get your CSA share! The Horn Farm is joining together with Kilgore Family Farm to provide your fresh vegetables for 2017 with our CSA. Pick up at the Horn Farm or at Seventh & George just off route 30 in North York. Early bird discount through January 31st. More information and sign up here.

Land Regeneration: Engineering Ecosystems and Restoring Humanity into Wildlands
Join us for this innovative two-day intensive on disturbance ecology and integrated disturbance-based land management. We will focus on the semi-wild landscapes that surround us and will explore ways to return to a more collaborative approach to land design. More information and registration here.

For 2017, we are offering more than 65 classes and workshops on a wide range of topics all chosen to connect you–our community, to local food. Classes through April are posted here.

As a not for profit organization, the Horn Farm Center relies on the generosity of people just like you. If you feel that the work we do at the Horn Farm is important to the well-being of our community, please donate today!

The Horn Farm is joining together with Kilgore Family Farm to provide your fresh vegetables for 2017 with our CSA. Pick up at the Horn Farm or at Seventh & George just off route 30 in North York. Early bird discount through January 31st. More info and sign up here.

Our Farm Internship is a part-time, hands-on training program for people with 0 to 2 years of farm or gardening experience. The program provides foundational knowledge and practical skills for those interested in small-scale, intensive, organic, permaculture-based production methods. Applications are now being accepted.

What does totalitarianism have to do with farming? Come find out! Explore the history of agriculture: sign up for Totalitarian Agriculture and Traditions of the Axial Age on February 16th from 6 to 8.

Did you know that in addition to educational classes, community gardens, and a farm incubator, the Horn Farm Center is also home to white-tail deer, Eastern Coyote, red fox, gray fox, and wild turkeys? All the choices we make about caring for our land are rooted in re-establishing healthy habitat for all creatures.

As a not for profit organization, the Horn Farm Center relies on the generosity of people just like you. If you feel that the work we do at the Horn Farm is important to the well-being of our community, please donate today!

What a year! We will be taking a two week break–closing the office from now until the end of the year. Before we do, I want to share with you some of the highlights of 2016. In a world filled with news of tragedy and destruction, we’ve been quietly building a foundation for our community’s future. Grants from WellSpan and the U.S. Department of Agriculture helped to underwrite the restoration of our summer kitchen. It took almost nine years and more than 2,400 volunteer hours to convert an 1830s building into a licensed kitchen. We celebrated on November 9 with a ribbon cutting ceremony pictured above. We think of our summer kitchen with its wood burning squirrel tail oven as the hearth of the farm. When we look at the word ‘hearth’, we find both the words ‘heart’ and ‘earth’ contained within it, and those two words sum up our values: love of the Earth and each other. Now that the kitchen has been restored, we can gather there for the preparation of food once more.  In the first month, we held workshops on Bread Baking Basics and Vegetable Fermentation. Up next is Bread Baking 201 in January. Many more classes and events are in the works for 2017. Look for details on our website and our Facebook page.

Other 2016 milestones:

• The York County Commissioners extended our lease of the Horn Farm property to 99 years!
• A conservation easement is being placed on the 189-acre Horn Farm property thus guaranteeing it will be a farm forever!
• We completed an assessment of the entire property and created a Land Use Management Plan.
• We built a second greenhouse.
• For the first time, we offered a Farming Internship, and we had the privilege of working with Andrew, Betsy, Joshua, and Miranda from April through October.

L to R: Andrew, Education Director Jon Darby, Joshua, Betsy, and Miranda

Remember to sign up for your 2017 CSA share before January 30th to get the discounted price.

Thank you to all of our amazing volunteers, friends of the Horn Farm, and to those who supported our work with their financial contributions. We wouldn’t be here without you! If you’d like to support our work, please donate now!