Edible Ecosystems Emerging: Forest Garden Design with Dave Jacke
Imagine designing edible landscapes that are abundant, ecological, and resilient! Whether in your backyard or as part of your professional practice, mastering the art and science of food forest design will deepen your connection to the land and expand your regenerative design skills.
Last year, we partnered with friend, author, and renowned ecological designer Dave Jacke for an informative and inspiring Coppice Agroforestry course. This year in October, we’re thrilled to welcome him back for a 9-day Forest Garden Design Intensive at the Horn Farm Center.
During this immersive learning experience, participants will dive deeply into forest-inspired edible ecosystems, combining hands-on design projects, site walks, lectures, and exercises. You’ll explore how forest architecture, social structure, underground soil economies, and natural succession inform the creation of thriving, productive food forests.
Projects span from urban and suburban homesteads to farm-scale systems. Along the way, you’ll tackle management strategies, economic considerations, and the mindset shifts needed to co-create truly regenerative “humanatural” landscapes.
You’ll leave inspired, skilled, and empowered to design abundant food forests for yourself, your community, or your clients. Please join us for this landmark learning experience!
If you’re interested in learning more about forest gardens ahead of the intensive, we welcome you to attend an upcoming webinar with Dave Jacke, Soil Ecology & Self Renewing Fertility, on March 31st at 6pm.
Forest Garden Design Intensive
This winter, the Horn Farm’s learning landscape has been the snowiest classroom around! Even in the cold, our community has been busy learning and growing.
Sprouting Restoration Skills
Twelve dedicated land stewards completed three snow-packed days of hands-on learning to earn their Ecological Restoration Certificates with Waxwing EcoWorks. Participants strengthened their skills in site analysis, restoration planning, native seed mix design, and stewarding the land with care and intention.
Educational Hikes
Our first free Walk the Seasons class of the year invited participants to tune into the mid-winter landscape. From bark identification to spotting overwintering insects and early signs of spring, even the coldest days offered discovery and wonder.
Celebrating the Conifers
Our Foraging Focus class, Signs of the Pines, explored the beauty and uses of winter conifers. Participants practiced tree ID, sampled foraged teas, learned cultural histories of junipers and pines, and crafted aromatic needle bundles to take home.
Regenerative Growing Begins
This month, we also welcomed four students and two interns to the Horn Farm for the start of the Regenerative Grower Training Program and the spring planting season! Together, RGTP students and greenhouse interns will experience first-hand how to grow resilient, productive plants and food systems.
Gather, Tend, & Enjoy Wild Foods
We all come from ancestors who foraged. Gathering, tending, and enjoying wild foods roots us in our human lineage. By tracing these threads, we can enrich our health, grow our ecological understanding, and deepen our connection with the gifts of the land.
The Horn Farm Center’s Forager Training Program aims to do just that. Registrations are now open to join this 10-week immersion in the foraging lifestyle, taking place on Tuesday evenings beginning May 5th!
This program moves from soil to plate, covering safety, ecology, plant ID, responsibile harvesting, preparation, and more. For 2026, we’re thrilled to offer NEW experiences, including field trips and visits from guest instructors!
Join us to wander, wonder, and wildcraft this spring. Register soon – only 6 more spaces are available!
Forager Training Program
Live Stake Sale Begins March 9th
Looking for a simple, powerful way to restore land? Horn Farm Center’s annual Live Stake Sale begins on March 9th!
Live stakes, or dormant cuttings from certain species of trees and shrubs, are one of the most accessible and effective tools for stabilizing soil, repairing streambanks, reducing erosion, and creating habitat. Planted directly into the ground, they root quickly and begin regenerating landscapes from the ground up.
Locally harvested and ready for planting, live stakes can be used for backyard projects, large-scale restoration work, and everything in between.
Want to learn more about live stakes? Check out our upcoming live stake program.
Livestake Catalog
Board of Supervisors Vote on March 5th
This week, on behalf of the Horn Farm Center, our attorney submitted Proposed Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law, which are comprehensive documents that outline our position as an opposing party to Conditional-Use Application Z-2025-11. This document details our position that the applicant has failed to meet the legal burden required for conditional use approval to build a warehouse next door.
After the Hellam Township Board of Supervisors review submissions from both parties, a public vote will be held on Thursday, March 5th at 6pm.
The Horn Farm Center will be in attendance, and we would be grateful to have you there with us. Thank you for your continued support and care for our community — your presence at the meeting would mean a great deal.