Horn Farm Happenings – January 24, 2025

Winter Willow Harvest

With the temperatures in the single digits last week, we decided to reschedule our winter willow harvest days at the Horn Farm. That means there are several more opportunities to join us – to learn about willow coppicing and to participate in this annual winter tradition!Upcoming Winter Willow Harvest Days:

Learn about producing willow for basketry by coppicing, sorting, and bundling willow branches. Discover the unique attributes of this regenerative crop that helps to cycle carbon and protect our waterways.

If you’re looking to become more involved with land-based volunteering this year, consider joining our next round of Community Crew Training Days, taking place on Sunday, February 2nd and Saturday, March 8th! This volunteer membership program brings together ecological education and consistent volunteer opportunities across the Horn Farm Center’s landscape.=

Learn More & Register

New & Familiar Faces at the Horn Farm

As we get ready for another abundant season of learning and growing, the Horn Farm Center is thrilled to welcome Tamara Shertzer to our ecosystem! In her role as Production and Marketing Coordinator, Tam will help ensure the success of our regenerative agriculture demonstration spaces while engaging our community through education and new product development.

Also, returning to the Horn Farm team this year, our good friend Jonathan Darby brings over 15 years of experience to his role as Farm & Agroforestry Manager. Jon is passionate about educating people about the intersection of farming and ecology, growing tomorrow’s farmers, and building community resilience in uncertain times.

Meet the Horn Farm Team

“Horn Farm’s mission of re-connecting folks with the land has always felt in alignment with my own personal philosophies. In my new role as a part of this incredible team, I am most looking forward to continuing to learn daily, and dispersing the seeds of knowledge I collect along the way into the hands of our community. I feel immense gratitude to be working with an organization that recognizes that humans aren’t separate from nature; that we can find ways to work with nature that are mutually beneficial, and healing.”

– Tamara Shertzer, Production & Marketing Coordinator at Horn Farm Center

Last Chance to Apply: 2025 Ecological Gardener Training Program

A hands-on experience in building biodiversity awaits! The Horn Farm Center’s 4th annual Ecological Gardener Training Program begins on Sunday, February 9th.

In partnership with ecological landscaper and educator Elyse Jurgen of Waxwing EcoWorks Co., the Ecological Gardener Training Program guides participants through 16 weekly sessions exploring native plants, basic ecology, and how to create resilient habitat gardens that support the shared wellbeing of wildlife and people.

Thanks to the Pennsylvania Chapter of the Sierra Club, scholarships and customizable payment plans are available!

Whether you’re interested in promoting environmental health at home or in your community, gaining critical skills for sustainable landscaping and stewardship, or connecting more deeply with the local ecology, don’t miss this opportunity to dig deep into the ways we can heal the land where we live!

Registration closes on Monday, January 27th at 12PM. Apply today! No prior knowledge or experience is required to join.

Learn More & Apply

Share Your Input & Help Us Grow

Last Saturday, we gathered with about 30 friends – people like you, who care deeply about the future of the Horn Farm Center. And, we learned so much!

From ideas about how to reach more people in our community to recommendations for our farmhouse building capital campaign, we had incredibly energizing and productive conversations!

Sound interesting? There is one more opportunity for you to participate!

Join us on Thursday, February 6th from 6-8pm at the Center for Community Engagement (59 E Market St, York, PA 17401) for our next “listening session.” Enjoy an exciting update on the farmhouse building project and share your feedback and insights with us.

Click Here for More Information & to RSVP

Take a Chance to Win: Chicken Coop Raffle

Now until our 13th annual Spring Plant Sale on Saturday, May 3rd, 2025 you can take a chance to win a small OverEZ chicken coop by participating in our winter Chicken Coop Raffle. Don’t miss the opportunity to win big for your flock while supporting Horn Farm Center’s land-healing mission.

$1200 Value
Handmade in Lancaster, PA
Houses Up to 5 Chickens
Moisture Resistant
Safe Against Predators
Easy to Assemble

Raffle tickets are now on sale for $10.00 each or five for $40.00.

Call 717-757-6441 or email education@hornfarmcenter.org to purchase your tickets. All proceeds support educational programs and regenerative land stewardship at the Horn Farm Center.

A big thanks to OverEZ Chicken Coops for donating several chicken coops to the Horn Farm Center to support our efforts to incorporate animals into our production and demonstration systems at the farm!

Learn More About the Raffle

Horn Farm Garlic Available

Looking to spice up your meals this winter? Horn Farm’s organically-grown garlic is now available for purchase online!

Horn Farm Center’s organically-grown garlic is an unnamed Hardneck Porcelain variety. Having been saved and replanted at the Horn Farm Center for close to a decade, the source variety may be lost to time, but the result is a variety boasting beautiful, large cloves, that are easy to peel and have a nice robust, spicy character.

From our farm to your favorite recipe – or suitable for planting – this garlic is well adapted to our region. Enjoy!

Shop for Garlic & Other Treats

Horn Farm Happenings – January 10, 2025

Building Biodiversity at Home

“In designing spaces for ecological health, we’re not just setting aside parcels of nature: we’re allowing ourselves to be part of the healing.”

Through hands-on learning experiences like the Ecological Gardener Training Program with Waxwing EcoWorks, the Horn Farm Center empowers community members with the knowledge, confidence, and compassion to support the wellbeing of our local ecosystems – and ourselves in the process!

This fall, we visited the home of one of our 2024 Eco-Gardener graduates, Susie. Over the past several months, she’s been tirelessly at work turning what she learned in the Ecological Gardener Training program into tangible action on the land.

Check out our latest blog to see backyard biodiversity coming to fruition!

READ: A Small Space for All

Thanks to the Sierra Club Pennsylvania Chapter, scholarship funds are available for the 2025 Ecological Gardener Training Program.

If you are interested in the program but are concerned about financial accessibility, we encourage you to fill out the “Scholarship Eligibility” section of the program interest form!

We’re excited to enter our fourth year inspiring impactful earth stewardship in the spaces we live, work, and play. Whether you’re a homeowner, community organizer, landscape professional, student, or simply a citizen of the earth hoping to make a change, now is the time to join our movement of compassionate, confident community land stewards!

Registrations for the 2025 Ecological Gardener Training Program close on Monday, January 27th, and classes begin in February.

Learn More & Register

Last Chance to Register: Beekeeper Training

Our Beekeeper Training Program starts on Wednesday, January 22nd. Don’t miss your chance to gain hands-on training with a professional apiarist!

The Beekeeper Training Program covers hive management across the seasons, giving you an in-depth experience working with live colonies at the Horn Farm Center. And with the option to take your own bees home at the end of the program, you’ll wrap up a year of learning with just the tools you need to continue your journey!

Learn alongside a community of budding beekeepers! This program is made for those with a busy schedule – held once a month from January-October.

Click here to Register

We Need Your Advise Next Week

The Horn Farm’s new education center will be a gathering space for more transformative programming than ever before – and we are so close to making it a reality! But we need your help to get there. What we need is your advice!

Please join us for a special ‘listening session’ next week to learn about the farmhouse project. Share your thoughts in small group discussions on reaching more people and deepening our impact.

There are two opportunities to join the conversation:

Thursday, January 16th at 6:00pm-8:00pm
Center for Community Engagement
59 E Market St, York, PA 17401

Saturday, January 18th at 11:00am-1:00pm
Hellam Township Municipal Building
35 Walnut Springs Rd, York, PA 17406

The Saturday session is almost full so we recommend that you join the Thursday night session OR sign-up on Saturday’s waiting list. If we garner enough interest, more sessions may be planned. A heartfelt THANK YOU in advance for sharing your time and valuable input with us. We hope to see you soon!

Click Here for More Information & to RSVP

Bootstrap Farmer is Supporting Ecological Education at the Horn Farm

Sponsoring businesses like Bootstrap Farmer are planting seeds for exciting educational offerings at the Horn Farm Center! Thanks to a generous donation, students in our first-ever Grow Your Own Microgreens class will be able to take home their own microgreen starter kits!

Bootstrap Farmer is a perfect resource for quality gardening and greenhouse supplies manufactured in the US. With an array of seed-starting and microgreen equipment, tools for the greenhouse and garden, and informational resources for growers big and small, Bootstrap Farmer empowers gardening success at both home and commercial scales. Check out all their offerings at bootstrapfarmer.com/

Learn More About Sponsorship

Work & Learn on MLK Day of Service

Even with freezing temperatures and snow on the ground, Horn Farm Center’s team remains committed to nurturing the land. We encourage you to join us – to get outdoors, stay active, and learn by helping on the farm.

Winter Willow Harvest:

Monday, January 20th : 1pm- 4pm (MLK Day of Service)
Wednesday, January 22nd : 1pm-4pm

Learn about producing willow for basketry by coppicing, sorting, and bundling willow branches as part of our annual winter harvest. Discover the unique attributes of this regenerative crop that helps to cycle carbon and protect our waterways.

Register to Volunteer

Horn Farm Happenings – December 27, 2024

Cheers to 20 Years & Many More to Come

What a year to commemorate our 20th anniversary!

From our grassroots beginnings, the Horn Farm Center has grown into a special space for learning, connection, and dreaming into a regenerative future.

Reflecting on 2024, we can’t help but feel gratitude for the people who have made and continue to make our work possible. All of this year’s accomplishments are the culmination of 20 years of community perseverance, love for the land, and boundless imagination.

There are many highlights to recount this year, but these are some of our favorites:

WINTER: In the beginning of 2024, we hosted over 40 farmers, restorationists, and community members for our first-ever Agroforestry Work & Learn, with a focus on locally-sourced willow basketry, live stakes, and ecological agriculture.

SPRING: We brought new and diversified classes to our community, including carpentry workshops, a variety of kitchen and fermentation sessions, and our first annual Forager Training Program.

SUMMER: We celebrated the peak of the growing season with friends and supporters during our special anniversary Summer Solstice Celebration, complete with a potluck meal, live music, and beautiful pollinator gardens to explore thanks to our Ecological Gardener Training Program.

FALL: For the first time ever, we introduced Wild & Uncommon Weekend–our new expansion of the York County Pawpaw Festival. With the help of local partners and businesses, we celebrated our region’s diverse ecosystem of food, art, and natural wonders, including the pawpaw fruit that inspired the Pawpaw Festival 20 years ago!

Baskets of thanks for all who helped to write our story this year! Whether you participated in a class, volunteered on the land, provided a donation, or met us for the first time, we’re deeply grateful for you!

Our mission to regenerate the land, restore connection, and provide transformative learning experiences continues in 2025. We hope you can join us in love for our community and the earth that brings us all together.

Coming in 2025: Horn Farm’s New Education Center

Our biggest goal for 2025 is our greatest challenge yet! By this time next year, our new education center could be a reality – only with your support.

From donations to sponsorships to collective support efforts, there are many ways to help us achieve our goal to Rebuild Horn Farm.

Your support means more than just a building. With an accessible, versatile, energy-efficient classroom to serve our community, the new education center will be a gathering space for more transformative programming than ever before.

We still have several months and $184,000 to go to break ground on the new education center.

If you didn’t have a chance to donate, there still time give a tax-deductible contribution this year. If you can’t contribute financially there are other ways to support our efforts to build a new learning center and better serve our community.

Brick by brick, help us make a bigger impact than ever before – starting next year!

REBUILDHORNFARM.COM

Get Outside & Learn with Us Next Year!

Throughout the winter months, Horn Farm Center’s team remains committed to nurturing the land. We encourage you to join us; enjoy the outdoors, stay active, and learn by helping on the farm.

Winter Willow Harvest: Kick-off the new year with a day of service and learning at the Horn Farm Center!

Monday, January 20th : 1pm- 4pm (MLK Day of Service)
Wednesday, January 22nd : 1pm-4pm

Learn about producing willow for basketry by coppicing, sorting, and bundling willow branches as part of our annual winter harvest. Discover the unique attributes of this regenerative agroforestry crop that helps to cycle carbon and protect our waterways.