Our Community is Growing
At the end of last year we said farewell to two staff members, Jon Darby and Pam Moore, as well as four board members, Erin Shrader, Shayne Smith, Allen Clements, and Julia Paris. We thank all of our former staff and board members for their years of dedicated service to the Horn Farm Center and we continue to celebrate the impact they have made on our community through their work. Like all of the transitions we experienced in the last year, we are thankful not only for the lessons learned but also the opportunities these disturbances have provided to the organization. This year we welcome several new team members to the Horn Farm Center, including one staff person and four new members of the Board of Directors. Please meet and welcome our newest team members!
Meet Katrina Zervanos, Horn Farm Center’s New Executive Assistant
Born and raised in Harrisburg, PA, Katrina holds a B.S. in Actuarial Science with a minor in Computer Science from Lebanon Valley College. After gaining a few years of experience working in a corporate setting, she decided to explore her interest in permaculture design, herbalism, and regenerative agriculture through an internship at Urban Edge Farm and Susquehanna Apothecary in Lancaster, PA. Katrina found the Horn Farm Center in 2019 through a foraging class and thought it to be the perfect place to continue learning and growing after her internship. She is excited to use her skillset to support the Horn Farm Center and the community.
Click here to learn more about Horn Farm Center’s staff.
Meet Horn Farm Center’s Newest Board Members
Michael Barlett, Treasurer
Michael Barlett has had a lifelong interest in organic gardening and experimenting with different growing methods. Since his summer working on an organic farm outside of Pittsburgh, Pa Michael has worked hard to garden organically and broaden his understanding of how we interact with the world around us.
While pursuing his undergraduate degree in International Studies at Washington and Jefferson College Michael had the opportunity to spend a year in rural Japan where an entirely different way of living with the land allowed him to learn about how ancient and modern cultures lived side by side in rural communities.
Throughout his travels he has always taken time to learn about the rural communities and farming methods that locals use to adapt to their surroundings. Recently he has begun to experiment with breeding his own Dwarf Tomatoes to fit into his small garden and always trialing new varieties of fruits and vegetables.
Julia Parrish
Julia grew up on her family’s vineyard and winery in Lower Chanceford Township, York County. She first became interested in the land on their farm, helping in her grandparent’s garden and harvesting grapes. Julia attended Penn State University, College of Agricultural Sciences, where she served as an Ag Advocate, participated in NAMA (National Agricultural Marketing Association), and majored in Agricultural Business Management.
Upon graduation, Julia interned with Pennsylvania State Senator Mike Waugh, Chair of the Ag and Rural Affairs Committee before attending the Dickinson School of Law in Carlisle. During law school, Julia worked on campus at the Ag Law Center and at the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, Office of General Counsel. Upon graduation, Julia clerked in Ocean County, New Jersey before returning to York County. Julia was an associate at the Law Office of Marc Roberts in York before moving to her current office, Lancaster Law Group, LLC, where she practices estate planning, estate administration, and general civil matters. Julia is most proud of her children than she and her husband, Mark, are raising in Lower Windsor Township, where she serves on the Planning Commission.
Nathan Hardman
Nathan was raised in York, Pennsylvania. For as long as he can remember, his parents and grandparents have kept and tended to family gardens. As an avid lover of tomatoes and being outdoors in general, Nathan would often find himself in the garden tending to the tomatoes and other various fruits and vegetables and, of course, providing quality control.
After graduating from York Suburban High School, Nathan attended Messiah College where he earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Civil Engineering. Since then, he has been working at C.S. Davidson, Inc. as a civil engineer on various types of projects including: stream restoration, land development, stormwater management, and wastewater treatment. He is a graduate of Leadership York and is passionate about his local community.
Nathan has always had a drive to make the world a better place and believes that everyone should have access to healthy food options and that the production of food should be both beneficial to the recipient and the soil that it comes from. In his free time, Nathan likes to tend to his garden and house plants and spend time outdoors hiking, kayaking, and skiing.
Jonathan Darby
Jonathan is dedicated to educating people about the intersection of farming and ecology, to growing tomorrow’s farmers, and to building community resilience in uncertain times. Jonathan is a wild foods enthusiast and educator, former owner and operator of Sterling Farm, and has been active in the local farming community for the past ten years.
Jonathan has been involved at the Horn Farm since 2008 when he volunteered on the committee that conceived and created the Incubator Farm Project. Jonathan received his Permaculture Design Certification in 2011 from Susquehanna Permaculture and in 2014 completed his Permaculture Teacher Training through Dynamic Ecological Design. On January 1, 2016, Jonathan Darby was promoted to Education Director at the Horn Farm Center for Agricultural Education. In January 2021, after retiring his role as Education Director and pursuing his other local business ventures, Jonathan made the decision to continue to serve the Horn Farm in a new role as a member of the Board of Directors.
Click here for more information about the Horn Farm Center Board of Directors.
In this time of great uncertainty, there’s a fundamental truth that gives us hope—that together we can do extraordinary things!
The Horn Farm Center is supported by a community of dedicated volunteers, partner farmers, CSA members, community gardeners, program participants, local businesses, and long-time supporters. Here are some of the ways that you are making an impact:
- In 2019-2020, we trained 7 new land stewards through the Horn Farm Center’s signature Regenerative Farmer Training Program.
- In 2019, our educators provided approximately 650 class participants with immersive educational experiences on the farm!
- The Horn Farm CSA continues to feed an average of 40 families each year and partners with 5 local farmers – making the Horn Farm farm stand a community hub for nutritious food!
- As of this year, all of our farmers have transitioned to employ only organic and regenerative farming practices on the 186 acres of the Horn Farm.