From their rich medicinal history to their vital roles in ecological cycles, fungi have captivated our curiosity and imagination since the earliest days of our human ancestry.

To embrace and explore this age-old relationship with the fungal world, the Horn Farm Center is partnering with educators from the Eastern Penn Mushroomers Club for a three-part series spotlighting the diversity, versatility, nuance, and significance of nature’s great recyclers.

We’ll enrich our relationships with fungi by exploring their uses and mycology, including cultivation, cooking, biology, land tending, and new frontiers of possibility. In addition, each class will involve a foray in search of fungal specimens at the Horn Farm, conditions permitting.

Join us starting on Saturday, June 8th from 1:30-4:30pm for Fungal Foundations: Spring Mycology Series at the Horn Farm Center!

We are pleased to announce the start of a new land restoration and watershed stewardship project at the Horn Farm Center!In January, Horn Farm Center was awarded $141,145 in grant funding from the PA Department of Environmental Protection’s Growing Greener Program to undertake a large-scale erosion control and restoration project – just north of our recently established 10 acre riparian buffer (funded by DCNR PennVest). The project will address major soil erosion and water runoff issues upstream on the Horn Farm property that impact the Kreutz Creek, Susquehanna River and Chesapeake Bay.

Our project goals include:

• Stabilizing and restoring 2,100 linear feet of steam beds and banks of 3 unnamed tributaries to Kreutz Creek that are severely eroded;
• Restoring and/or establishing 5 acres of forested riparian buffer;
• Creating 1 acre of riparian forested wetlands;
• And, installing 300 linear feet of a regenerative stormwater step pool conveyance system upstream to capture and infiltrate a portion of runoff during rain events.

The DEP Growing Greener grant will fund the design and permitting phases of the project, which we expect to complete by the end of 2025. Horn Farm Center has partnered with Skelly & Loy, a civil and environmental engineering firm to lead the design. The initial work of assessing the landscape began in April and will continue this summer.

A big thanks to the PA Department of Environmental Protection for valuing the health of our local watersheds and entrusting the Horn Farm Center to do our part. We are absolutely thrilled to further our efforts to build soil health, cultivate wildlife habitat and protect our waterways while continuing to develop new ways to educate our community at the Horn Farm Center.

Photo: Skelly & Loy capturing drone footage to map the project landscape.

Save the Date: Wild & Uncommon Weekend