Horn Farm Center for Agricultural Education

Horn Farm Happenings – May 10, 2024

Celebrate with Horn Farm Center!

As part of our 20th anniversary this year, the Horn Farm Center is offering a free community gathering and potluck on Saturday, June 22nd.

Let’s celebrate the start of the summer season together! Join us at the Horn Farm Center for our “throwback” Summer Solstice Celebration, complete with musical entertainment, storytelling, family-friendly activities, free farm tours, and fresh-baked snacks from our historic Squirrel Tail Oven.

Stay tuned for updates as additional offerings make their way to this special community gathering – part of Explore York’s Annual Maker’s Spirit Event. We hope you can join the fun!

Learn More about the Summer Solstice

     

Thank You for Growing with Us!

Even with drizzle and chill last weekend, the Horn Farm Center’s annual Plant Sale was the place to be! Thank you to all who came out and purchased plants with us!

We enjoyed the warm company of both new and familiar faces in our greenhouse–all folks ready to dig into spring gardening. By purchasing plants from the Horn Farm Center, you supported not just our farm partners, but educational programs and ecological restoration across our community landscape. Thank you for buying local and uplifting our regenerative mission!

Don’t forget: leftover plants are available for self-serve pickup now through Saturday, May 11th. Simply stop in our greenhouse any time during the day and see what’s left. CASH PREFERRED, though we’re accepting checks and PayPal as well.

We’re grateful to our community vendors for braving the weather and bringing so much variety to this year’s Plant Sale!:

Thank you, as well, to our annual sponsors who helped make this Plant Sale possible!
Wishing everyone all the best for a nourishing and fruitful growing season!

You Make a Difference

To all of our supporters for Give Local York, THANK YOU! 

In just 24-hours, 192 donors, 7 matching sponsors, and Horn Farm Center’s Board of Directors raised $40,863.12 to help Perennialize Horn Farm for future generations.

We will always need a space to reconnect with the land, ourselves, and each other. Your donations serve as a financial investment in our mission and future. Just as importantly, it also recognizes our interdependence.

Regenerative land stewardship and ecological learning take a whole community, and we’re grateful to know that our community–like perennial roots–stems far and wide. If you want to see our mission in action, consider joining us for an upcoming class or event. Or, if you didn’t have a chance to support us during Give Local York, you can donate anytime online.

Thank you for valuing our work and ensuring that the Horn Farm Center can serve our community for generations to come. 

We hope to see you soon at the Horn Farm Center!

A special thanks to our 2024 matching sponsors who support our work and mission throughout the year!

How does supporting the Horn Farm Center make a difference? Check out our 2023 Annual Report & 20 Year Perennial Report!

Click here to read the Report

Move, Connect, & Embody

Humans navigate the world differently than our animal kingdom kin. We sit often – at our desks, in our cars, in our homes – and our time outdoors can be limited. Cultivating personal wellness practices can help us connect with ourselves, one another, and natural world.

Horn Farm Center’s new Wellness Workshops are designed for holistic wellbeing. As gardeners, land stewards, and outdoor enthusiasts, bringing more attention to our movement and mind can provide lifelong benefit.

Practical Movement Classes: Aimed at developing a new “movement lens” and building physical resilience by moving, breathing, and observing, this series explores natural movement, breathwork, specific body part exercises, dynamic movements and restorative stretches.

Sunset Yoga: Held once a month at the Horn Farm Center, these classes feature different yoga styles with Firefly Hollow Wellness Center.

Breathe the Biome – Guided Mediation:  Disconnect from the daily stress of life and tune inward during this facilitator-led Guided Meditation class in a natural setting on the Horn Farm! An outdoor meditation practice is sometimes referred to as the Japanese practice of “shin-yin” or “forest bathing” while others may simply just deem it “reconnecting to nature.”

Join us at the Horn Farm Center for our new Wellness Workshops!

Click here to learn more.

Horn Farm Happenings – April 26, 2024

Get Ready to Garden Next Saturday!

We’re one week away from the Horn Farm’s 12th annual Plant Sale, taking place on Saturday, May 4th from 9am to 3pm! 

This one-day sale and community event is offered in partnership with Horn Farm Center and Kilgore Family Farm and features a wide variety of organically-grown vegetable, herb, and flower starts for your home garden.

Other unique plant and community vendors will include:

And back by popular demand, patrons will enjoy musical entertainment by Nodding Onion, an experimental band that uses sound waves from plants to create unique natural soundscapes on which the musicians will improvise.

Make a plan to visit the Horn Farm Plant Sale to get your garden started this year!

The 12th annual Horn Farm Plant Sale is sponsored by:

Learn More about the Horn Farm Plant Sale

   

Community in Action

What better way to celebrate Earth Day weekend than with over 50 volunteers helping regenerate the land?This past Sunday, we hosted groups from The Stone Independent School, York College Center for Community Engagement, and Paradise Evangelical Lutheran Church for a true riparian buffer marathon. Our intrepid volunteers planted over 100 trees and laid over 5 TONS of rocks around tree tubes as part of ongoing maintenance across the buffer.

Throughout April, we’ve been so grateful for folks (or better, *treeple*) from the Stone Independent School and independent volunteers for helping make ten acres of tending possible. With the added help from YCP and other folks this Sunday, we made it the extra mile! Thank you to our volunteers!

Monday, April 29th is our final tending day of the month. Learn more and sign up to volunteer for the Horn Farm Center’s riparian buffer work.

Eat, Drink, & Give Local for the River

Stop by upstairs at John Wright Restaurant any time between 5PM-9PM on Friday, May 3, to support 9 local organizations that protect and care for York’s streams and rivers. Learn about the unique and collaborative efforts of these organizations to make our community a healthier place to live, work, visit, and play.

There will be a cash bar with appetizers provided. There is no cost to attend this event, but we hope it will get you excited to support the following participating organizations through Give Local York:

  • Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay
  • Chesapeake Bay Foundation
  • Farm & Natural Lands Trust of York County
  • Horn Farm Center for Agricultural Education
  • Lancaster Conservancy
  • Lower Susquehanna Riverkeeper
  • Master Watershed Steward Program
  • Susquehanna National Heritage Area
  • Watershed Alliance of York

The party will be held in the River Room on the second floor of John Wright Restaurant. Enter the restaurant on Front Street via the ramp. Parking is available at John Wright and on side streets.

Although there is no cost to attend this event, we do ask that you RSVP through Eventbrite so we know how many people will be attending.

Special thank you to our host and presenting sponsor, John Wright Restaurant!

Click here to register for Party for the River – FREE!

Give Local York on May 2-3

This year at the Horn Farm Center, we are seeing in 20/20 vision. 

Looking back over the Horn Farm Center’s 20-year history, we can’t help but look forward to what the next 20 will bring. We hope you’ll join us and help to Perennialize Horn Farm as we continue to foster love for the land and build a bright, blossoming, sustainable future.

We will always need a place where we can reconnect with the land, ourselves, and one another. Your support ensures we can make that happen at the Horn Farm.

This year, you can double your impact on May 2-3 during Give Local York with over $20,000 in matching funds – thanks to our annual sponsors and the Horn Farm Center Board of Directors.

Contributions will be matched online starting on May 2nd at 9:00pm. We will accept donations for 24 hours – until 9:00pm the next day, May 3rd, on the Horn Farm Center’s Give Local York page.

Relax, Rejuvenate & Support Horn Farm

We’d like to thank 1881 Salt Sanctuary in York for featuring us this month!

This month, 2% of all retail sales at 1881 Salt Sanctuary are going to support Horn Farm Center! Learn more about 1881 Salt Sanctuary’s services, events, gift store, and more at their website linked below.

You Make an Impact

How does supporting the Horn Farm Center make a difference? Check out our 2023 Annual Report & 20 Year Perennial Report

THANK YOU to the organizations, businesses, and individuals who supported our work and mission in 2023 and supported the Horn Farm Center through our 20+ years.

Click here to read the Report

Horn Farm Happenings – April 6, 2024

Happy 20th Birthday Horn Farm Center!

Two decades ago today, the Horn Farm Center for Agricultural Education was incorporated as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and we have been providing educational experiences rooted in the land ever since.

A lot goes into building a nonprofit from the ground-up. Our predecessors were undaunted – dedicated to the vision of an educational center to celebrate and preserve our agricultural and cultural connections to the landscape. We’re grateful for their devotion, imagination, and advocacy that helped make the Horn Farm Center a reality.

Speaking of imagination, check out some of the earliest HFC logo drafts, drawn by founding member and local artist Barbara Rooney to capture HFC’s first brand.

Help us celebrate 20 years by learning our story and exploring ways to become involved with our mission today: hornfarmcenter.org/our-story/

There are many ways to get engaged – from classes and workshops, to volunteering, to donating to support our mission. We wouldn’t be the Horn Farm Center without you – our community! 

Banner Image: a concept map for a “living history education farm and agriculture museum” at the Horn Farm.

   

Kimchi & Power Tools

What do kimchi and power tools have in common? Apparently, they were the stars of the show this past weekend at the Horn Farm Center!Folks came from near and far to learn distinct, versatile skills for locally-based living. From preserving seasonal foods to building from scratch, Saturday’s Intro to Power Tools and Fermenting Kimchi workshops showcased how we can use the foods and materials available right here at home in abundant and creative ways.

With gratitude for our community of learners, educators, and supporters, we’re looking forward to many more classes this spring at the Horn Farm Center!

So what did our class participants learn this weekend?

In Intro to Power Tools, the Pole Barn became a woodshop as teams learned the basics of measuring, drilling, sawing, and more: all useful skills for DIY home renos, fix-up jobs, and small carpentry projects involving reused or locally-sourced materials. Participants explored not just the techniques and mechanics of power tools, but the value of tool- and skill-sharing with neighbors in building more resilient, thrifty communities.

Just down the hill in the Summer Kitchen, participants concocted their own unique blends of spice, sweetness, sourness, and umami with hands-on kimchi-making sessions. The workshop covered both traditional preparations and personalized spins on this probiotic powerhouse, and everyone left with their own jars of kimchi ready to ferment at home. Folks even enjoyed samplings of various kimchi styles and vegan kimchi pizza!

Organically-Grown at Horn Farm

We’re one month away from the Horn Farm’s 12th annual Plant Sale, taking place on Saturday, May 4th from 9am to 3pm!

What will you find if you stop by our Plant Sale? Horn Farm Center staff, interns, and our partner growers are assembling a wide array of vegetable, herb, and flower starts alongside native plants like herbaceous perennials, grasses, vines, shrubs, and trees. Make a plan to visit the 12th annual Plant Sale for all of your gardening and landscaping needs.

Want to lend a hand while purchasing your plants? Consider volunteering!

The 12th annual Horn Farm Plant Sale is sponsored by:

Click here for more info about the Horn Farm Plant Sale

Get Ready to Give Local: May 2-3, 2024

Mark your calendars for Give Local York. This year, York County’s biggest day of giving will run from 9pm-9pm on May 2nd and May 3rd.  

The real success of Give Local York will not be how much money we raise but the tremendous impact those dollars will have when nonprofits across York County put them to work.

Join the movement by supporting the Horn Farm Center on May 2-3, 2024!

Riparian Buffer Volunteers Needed!

Want to learn more about riparian buffers, agroforestry, land stewardship, and managing trees? Join us for our spring riparian buffer workdays to gain hands-on experience working with riparian buffer plantings.

During our Spring 2024 riparian buffer workdays, volunteers will plant new tree saplings, check and right tree tubes, manage introduced species, and fortify tree tube bases with rocks to prevent vole damage. Special activities may include live staking and planting native ground-layer plants.

We hope you will join us for a volunteer work day this spring!

Click here to learn more. 

Get Moving at the Horn Farm Center!

Ready to get moving this spring? Informed by various tasks we might do in the garden, around our house, or just while living life, this workshop series explores natural movement, breathwork, specific body part exercises, dynamic movements and restorative stretches.

The main goal of this program series is to begin to develop a new “movement lens” and to build physical resilience by moving, breathing, and observing.

Classes take place on Thursdays in May from 5:00pm to 6:15pm:

Join us starting May 9th for this one-of-a-kind class as we explore natural movement, breathwork, specific body part exercises, functional/dynamic movements, and restorative stretches.

Register for Practical Movement