Horn Farm Happenings – February 2

Horn Farm Interns 2016

 

Are you ready to take your gardening skills to the next level? The Horn Farm Center’s Farming 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 vegetable and permaculture-based production methods. This program will be valuable and suitable for anyone interested in exploring a future in small-scale vegetable production as well as anyone interested in learning growing skills for the purpose of homesteading, gardening, and feeding themselves and their community. Find out more at:  https://hornfarmcenter.org/internship2018/ or by contacting Education Director, Jon Darby, at educationdirector@hornfarmcenter.org or (717) 332-8710.


We first came across this video in 2016. We are sharing it this week to highlight the positive ecological changes that regenerative agriculture creates. Though the examples in this 15 minute film are in South America, the principles and practices can be applied in any climate because they are based on the patterns found in nature. Enjoy Life in Syntropy!


Speaking of regenerative agriculture, Horn Farm Center Executive Director Alyson Earl recently completed a year long study of regenerative agriculture. She was chosen as a 2017 York County Community Foundation York Federal Fellows grant recipient. Her goal was to equip herself with the skills and knowledge needed to lead the Horn Farm Center’s quest to address the problems created by human activity such as deforestation and industrial farming – with its bare and broken soils, vast fields of single crops, and reliance on chemical fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides. These practices have killed the web of organisms which keep the soil, and us, alive. Currently, 40% of agricultural soil is classified as ‘degraded’ or ‘seriously degraded’. To solve these problems, we need to identify and create regenerative agricultural systems for present and future generations. So, off she went– to Vermont for a 10-day ecological/permaculture design intensive, to Pottstown for an Agroforestry workshop, to the Rodale Institute for a Soil Biology course, to Spiral Path Farm for a Soil Health Conference, to Massachusetts for a Soil Health & Nutrition Conference. Along the way, she visited several economically successful farms in New Jersey and Pennsylvania that implement regenerative agricultural practices. It was a transformative year for Alyson–both personally and professionally, and she is deeply grateful to the YCCF York Federal Fellows program for having given her the opportunity to develop her knowledge and skills in order to better serve the community of which she is a part.


We still have room for you in our Vegetable CSA and Betsy’s Flower CSA. Sign up today for your weekly or biweekly share of vegetables or cut flowers!


Upcoming events:
February 20: Bread Baking 201 (waitlist)
March 24: Bread Baking Full Day Workshop
2018 Foraging Intensive
Bowmaking
Wild Lands Immersion – Primitive Skills

See you at the Farm!