“I have always been passionate about the beauty around me, but since taking a training program at the Horn Farm Center, I have found a new relationship with nature. I have a greater connection, awareness and focus due to better knowledge of how things work in the big picture.
This knowledge is empowering because I feel like I can make a difference in the world and certainly on my own property. Bringing this awareness to the world can be life changing.”
– Kathy, 2023 trainee
2024 Training Programs: Apply Now!
Applications are now open for the 2024 Land Steward and Ecological Gardener Training Programs at the Horn Farm Center! Running concurrently from February to May, 2024, these 16-week immersions dig deep into the skills and awareness we need to become versatile, compassionate, and activated caretakers of the natural world.Are you ready to take root in our growing community of earth stewards? No prior experience is required to start your journey.
Participants who train with us come from diverse walks of life: students and environmental educators; property owners and renters; rural, suburban, and city dwellers; career-starters and career-pivoters; volunteers and professionals; parents and grandparents.
As a Land Steward trainee, you’ll learn how to restore broken ecosystems, rebuild lost habitat, mitigate climate change, and rekindle a sense of place in nature.
As an Ecological Gardener trainee, you’ll gather the knowledge and skills for designing, building, and stewarding biodiverse native habitats that support the health of wildlife and humans.
All students will walk away with ecological knowledge and practical skills – ready to heal, protect, and advocate for the natural spaces we need to cherish now more than ever. Join our community of earth stewards by applying today!
More Than Just Pawpaws: Program Line-Up
The Horn Farm Center is foremost a place to learn from the land.
At the 2023 York County Pawpaw Festival, we’re leaning into our educational mission: offering more ways than ever to explore our natural world, ways we can protect it, and, of course, the peculiar pawpaw that has a role to play.
Check out the calendar of FREE educational programs taking place during the festival! Many programs have been made possible thanks to our generous and knowledgeable community vendors!
Interested? You can sign-up for each program at the Horn Farm Information tent during the festival.
Last Chance for Premium Tickets!
Don’t forget: PREMIUM PASS ticket sales will close at 5PM EST next Friday, September 8th.
Don’t miss your chance to make the most of your festival experience by including a one-of-a-kind biodiversity tee, designed by local artist Joanna Tice, to your ticket order!
All festival info, including the ticket link, program schedule, vendor list, and more are available by clicking the link below.
The 2023 Pawpaw Festival is presented by the Horn Farm Center and Explore York.
Click here to learn more & purchase tickets!
Join the Crew
Restoring land and reviving ecosystems takes time and a team. That’s why the Horn Farm Center’s new volunteer program offers more ways to engage with nature and regenerative land stewardship.
The Horn Farm Community Crew program provides hands-on volunteer training with Horn Farm staff.
Perks of membership include ongoing training and education with experienced staff, a free t-shirt, volunteer social events, and the ability to log hours spent volunteering to redeem free class vouchers and other perks.
Interested in becoming a member of the crew? Join us Sunday, September 10th for our Final Training Day of 2023!
Click here to learn more.
Sponsor Highlight: John Wright Restaurant
Located on the scenic Susquehanna River in Wrightsville, John Wright Restaurant does their best to source the freshest ingredients possible. They take pride in the quality of their food by purchasing from local farmers – including the Horn Farm! Their personal relationships with local farmers ensures that their products are not processed or pre-made. John Wright Restaurant also provides a unique dining experience with exceptional service.
In addition to serving flavorful, locally-sourced cuisine, John Wright Restaurant supports the mission and work of the Horn Farm Center. And this year, they are sponsoring the York County Pawpaw Festival! We thank our friends at John Wright Restaurant for helping to make this year’s event a success.
John Wright Restaurant is the perfect setting for an intimate date night, family celebration, or just getting lost in the view.
Sponsor Highlight: Hayman Studio
You may have noticed that the 2023 York County Pawpaw Festival has a new look!
That’s because our sponsor, Hayman Studio, is helping us reach new audiences with their world-class design services.
The Hayman 
Studio design team worked collaboratively with the Horn Farm Center to understand our needs and the true spirit of the event to craft a unique and creative design for the Pawpaw Festival. We couldn’t be more pleased with the outcome!
Hayman Studio developed a new logo, promotional designs, and tagline, capturing the diverse and expanding offerings that you will find at the Festival. The new tagline – Wild & Uncommon – expresses our goal to celebrate the food, art, and nature that is unique to the Lower Susquehanna River region. This idea is further expressed in the Pawpaw Festival artwork.
With over 70 years of experience, Hayman Studio is built on a foundation of forward thinking and innovative technology – right here in York, PA.
Whether you need traditional or digital advertising, web site design, copy development, animation, photos, videos, or any combination of capabilities, Hayman Studio’s full-service creative team has solutions for everything from marketing and advertising to training and documentation.
Learning the Language of Plants
How do plants communicate with us? What can we gather about their nutritional, medicinal, and ecological values through observing shapes, scents, tastes, and more?
Discover the secret language of plants through intuitive observation during a day-long workshop led by special guest instructor and herbalist, Alyssa Dennis of Eclipta Herbal.
As a way to fully engage the topic of plant language, we will focus on Goldenrod, which grows in abundance at Horn Farm. After exploring the plant’s ideal habitat and growth cycle, we will harvest and prepare a Goldenrod herbal tincture for each participant to bring home.
Dig deep into the multi-sensory wisdom of plant language with a day of foraging, medicinal tincture-making, and hands-on learning!
Get Back to the “Wild”
Are you ready to reconnect to the land and develop essential survival skills? Horn Farm Center’s “Wild Lands” programs explore primitive skills and invite us to connect more closely with both nature and our human ancestry.
This fall, we are offering our Wild Lands series in two formats:
- Weekly Workshop Series: 5 full-day workshops starting on October 1st and ending on October 29th.. These classes take place each Sunday in October from 9AM to 4PM. Register for individual days or the entire weekly session.
- 4-Day Intensive: Runs Sunday, October 1st through Wednesday, October 4th from 9AM to 4PM. This format provides a more immersive deep dive into primitive survival skills.
Students will gain hands-on experience with basic, pre-industrial, woodland-style survival skills. This includes gathering wild foods, building debris-huts, animal tracking, fire-making techniques such as hand-drill and bow drill, making basic hunting implements such as a survival bow and simple traps, and much more!
Whichever format works best for you – join us for our fall Wild Lands programs starting October 1st at the Horn Farm Center!