Horn Farm Center for Agricultural Education Receives Grant for Stream-side Planting Project!

Riparian, or streamside, plant buffers are an effective way of reducing soil erosion and runoff of sediment, nutrients, and other potential pollutants. Agricultural runoff is largely responsible for much of the pollution in our regional waterways. To address this issue, the Horn Farm Center for Agricultural Education designed a riparian corridor restoration project. The Horn Farm was recently awarded over $24,000 towards the implementation of this design through Stream ReLeaf, a program jointly organized by Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. This project will have numerous economic, educational, and ecological benefits for the community.
Horn Farm Center will be able to demonstrate various productive uses of a multifunctional buffer. The stream corridor itself will be cleared of invasives and planted with natives, including black walnut, sycamore, and red maple. The funds will help Horn Farm Center establish an orchard of pawpaw and persimmon alongside rows of mixed berry varieties for fruit production. Silvopastures, which combine trees with grassy areas for grazing animals will be planted. Plants in the silvopastures will be selected to boost honey production for local beekeepers. A section of mixed species for woody floral production will supply the burgeoning local floral market.
The awarded funds will also contribute greatly to The Horn Farm Center’s education offerings. The Center currently offers a variety of programs, including educational workshops, educational internships, and onsite support in the form of an incubator farm. The multifunctional riparian buffer will allow for the expansion of the farm’s educational offerings, with newly created spaces for research and teaching about agroforestry and perennial farming.
As a leader in regenerative agriculture, the Horn Farm Center focuses on land management practices that not only “do no harm” but actively seek to revitalize the soil and surrounding environment. Buffer plantings are proven to reduce sediment and runoff from farming. Buffers also improve water infiltration which will help keep valuable water on the farm. With funding from the Stream ReLeaf Program, the Center will be able to reintroduce more than 35 species of native plants to 6.1 acres of degraded stream-side woodland ecosystem. In addition to improving ecological health on the farm, this project will positively affect the health of waterways downstream, namely, Kreutz Creek, the Susquehanna River and eventually the Chesapeake Bay.
2077 trees and shrubs are scheduled for planting this fall and in the spring of 2019. The Horn Farm Center is seeking additional funds and volunteers for this ongoing ecological stewardship project. Please contact Community Outreach and Development Specialist, Kristi Allen at outreach@hornfarmcenter or 717.757.6441 if you would like to get involved.

Celebrate the bounty of the season! Meet your local farmers!
Join us Tuesday, August 21 – 6 pm – 8:30 pm for our annual Seasonal Eat & Meet at John Wright restaurant.

Gather with your friends, family, and co-workers to meet and mingle with our farmers and producers who are passionate about supporting local farm businesses. Enjoy a delicious meal of seasonal local foods prepared by the chefs of John Wright Restaurant!

Proceeds will benefit the Horn Farm Center for Agricultural Education.
Get your tickets now! Seasonal Eat & Meet

CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) Shares
Here is what we plan to include in this week’s CSA shares:
Cabbage
Beets – Chioggia/Red Ace
Summer squash
Collards
Cucumbers
Sweet Peppers
Hot peppers
Onions
Enjoy!

Upcoming events and volunteer opportunities:
July 31 – Tuesday Evening Farm Work Crew
July 31 – Knife Skills for the Home Cook
August 4 – First Saturday Volunteer Work Day
August 11 – Volunteer needed to represent the Horn Farm at the Rudy Park Open House
August 11 – Insect Identification and Management
August 21 – Seasonal Eat & Meet
September 1 – Wildlands Skills: Advanced Camouflage, Stalking, Movement
September 15 – Wildlands Skills: Basketry, Coppicing, Netting
September 22 – Wildlands Skills: Hunting, Fishing, Trapping
September 29 – Wildlands Skills: Primitive Butchering and Cooking
October 6, 7, 13, 14 – Bowmaking
October 27 – Wilderness Skills Overnight Immersion

See you at the farm!

It’s back! This is your chance to purchase fresh, organically grown Horn Farm produce.

Welcome to our online farm stand! Place your order by THURSDAY each week for pick up at the farm on Saturday. (Orders placed after Thursday will be considered part of the following week’s orders). These orders must be paid via debit/credit card at the time of checkout.
You will find your order in our wooden corn barn (smaller of our two barns) for self-serve pickup on SATURDAY between 9 a.m. and 12 Noon.
Happy shopping and eating! Thanks for your support!

The development of the Horn Farm online farm stand was made possible through a grant from the York County Community Foundation’s Agricultural & Land Preservation Fund.

For every 1700 insect species, only one interferes with human activities. Most insects help us in our endeavors! How many of these insects can you identify?
Join us for our Insect Identification and Management class on Saturday, August 11. Learning to identify the common insects in your garden is an essential skill. Only then can you begin to recognize and support the beneficial insects that are making your job easier and mitigate and prevent the damage from their less helpful counterparts. We will cover the three major kinds of pest management, how to diagnose a pest problem, and recommended organic treatments. This workshop will be primarily classroom based and we’ll examine some live examples and do a field walk if possible. Register today!

Not a CSA member? There’s still time to join at a prorated rate. Our vegetable CSA is in full swing and crops are doing so well that we are able to offer a limited number of additional spaces for a mid-season sign-up. These shares will begin on July 28 (Saturday) or July 31 (Tuesday). We’ve prorated the cost to take into account the later start date. Get more information and sign up here: Horn Farm Mid-season CSA

Celebrate the bounty of the season! Meet your local farmers!
Join us Tuesday, August 21 – 6 pm – 8:30 pm for our annual Seasonal Eat & Meet at John Wright restaurant.

Gather with your friends, family, and co-workers to meet and mingle with our farmers and producers who are passionate about supporting local farm businesses. Enjoy a delicious meal of seasonal local foods prepared by the chefs of John Wright Restaurant!

Proceeds will benefit the Horn Farm Center for Agricultural Education.
Get your tickets now! Seasonal Eat & Meet

CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) Shares
Here is what we plan to include in this week’s CSA shares:
Beets (Chioggia or Red Ace)
Summer squash
Kale
Collards
Swiss chard
Cucumbers
Sweet Peppers
Hot peppers
Onions
Parsley
Enjoy!

Upcoming events and volunteer opportunities:
July 21 – Monthly Farm Tour
July 23 – Tuesday Evening Farm Work Crew
July 26 – Preserving Herbs
July 31 – Tuesday Evening Farm Work Crew
July 31 – Knife Skills for the Home Cook
August 4 – First Saturday Volunteer Work Day
August 11 – Volunteer needed to represent the Horn Farm at the Rudy Park Open House
August 11 – Insect Identification and Management (new date!)
August 21 – Seasonal Eat & Meet
October 6, 7, 13, 14 – Bowmaking (new dates!)

See you at the farm!

On Fridays we harvest for the CSA shares that get picked up Saturday morning. The hot, sunny days have led to abundant harvests. 
We’ve only had a third of an inch of rain in the last three weeks, so we rely on irrigation. We pump water from a pond on the farm that is fed by a spring and the rain that falls on both barn roofs. This is the first week we will be harvesting peppers. We grow many varieties of sweet and hot peppers. They come in a variety of flavors, shapes, sizes, and colors. Over the course of the season, CSA share holders will find peppers in shades of yellow, green, red, orange, brown, and purple in their shares! Here Andrew shares which peppers are harvested at which color before the interns begin harvesting. Once the vegetables are harvested, they get rinsed at the wash station. This removes soil and debris but also removes what we call ‘field heat’. Cooling the produce quickly helps it stay fresh longer.

Not a CSA member? There’s still time to join at a prorated rate. Our vegetable CSA is in full swing and crops are doing so well that we are able to offer a limited number of additional spaces for a mid-season sign-up. These shares will begin on July 28 (Saturday) or July 31 (Tuesday). We’ve prorated the cost to take into account the later start date. Get more information and sign up here: Horn Farm Mid-season CSA

Celebrate the bounty of the season! Meet your local farmers!
Join us Tuesday, August 21 – 6 pm – 8:30 pm for our annual Seasonal Eat & Meet at John Wright restaurant.

Gather with your friends, family, and co-workers to meet and mingle with our farmers and producers who are passionate about supporting local farm businesses. Enjoy a delicious meal of seasonal local foods prepared by the chefs of John Wright Restaurant!

Proceeds will benefit the Horn Farm Center for Agricultural Education.
Get your tickets now! Seasonal Eat & Meet

What we watched this week: Regeneration of the Land: A Producer’s Perspective. The United States is in crisis. The health of our soil resource has declined to such a point that it is not only negatively affecting farm and ranch profitability, but it is also having a devastating impact on everything from our water quality to our communities and even to our health. North Dakota rancher Gabe Brown walks us through a common sense solution to this crisis. Check it out!

CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) Shares
Here is what we plan to include in this week’s CSA shares:
Beets
Summer squash
Kale
Collards
Swiss chard
Cucumbers
Sweet Peppers
Hot peppers
Garlic
Garlic scapes (use as you would garlic)
Parsley
Enjoy!

Upcoming events and volunteer opprtunities:
July 17 – Tuesday Evening Farm Work Crew
July 21 – Monthly Farm Tour
July 23 – Tuesday Evening Farm Work Crew
July 24 – Preserving Herbs
July 31 – Tuesday Evening Farm Work Crew
July 31 – Knife Skills for the Home Cook
August 4 – First Saturday Volunteer Work Day
August 11 – Volunteer needed to represent the Horn Farm at the Rudy Park Open House
August 11 – Insect Identification and Management (new date!)
August 21 – Seasonal Eat & Meet
October 6, 7, 13, 14 – Bowmaking (new dates!)

See you at the farm!