Learn how to be a good steward of the Earth at a new program offered by the Horn Farm Center for Agricultural Education. The Land Steward Training Program will begin Tuesday, March 9, and will run on Tuesdays through June 29 at the center, 4945 Horn Road, York.

"Horn Farm has run training programs for several years now," said Alexis Campbell, executive director. "We started with farmer training, which evolved into regenerative farming training."

From there, the center expanded its programming with a wider focus. "We developed a whole system approach so that we were not just focusing on field and farm spaces, but on wooded areas as well," Campbell noted. "We hired a full-time woodland steward in 2018, and he developed a woodland training program."

The Land Steward program was a natural progression of the farm's training focus. "We're blending both the regenerative farming and woodland steward programs together and providing a hybrid program," Campbell stated. "We want people to have a baseline ecological knowledge, whether they are looking to be farming in the field or wooded areas."

The Land Steward Training Program is an entry-level program that's open to anyone with an interest in working with the land. "Our focus is on skill-building job readiness," Campbell said. "We'll be focused on deep ecological literacy." The goal of the program is to equip students with skills that can be applied to a variety of land-based industries, including small-scale food production, regenerative farming, agroforestry, land restoration work and ecological landscaping.

While the program will teach the basics of ecology, plant identification, horticulture and regenerative land management, it will also offer three practicums. Students may choose the regenerative farmer track, the woodland steward track or the whole landscapes track, which combines the two practicums.

"It's an intensive program, and we are looking to cater to people's interests while still giving them a holistic experience," Campbell remarked. The program will be taught by Andrew Horn, the farm manager, and Wilson Alvarez, the woodland steward, and will combine classroom training with hands-on work on the farm.

Campbell encourages anyone with an interest in ecology to apply for the program. "It's a very simple application process, and it's not a commitment if you apply," she explained. Applications can be found by clicking on the Training tab on the Horn Farm's website, https://hornfarmcenter.org.

Although the course focuses on job skills and in-depth lessons, Campbell emphasized that anyone with an interest in the subject matter is invited to apply.

"You don't need to be a professional to attend this course," she noted. "If you just want to get more skills for how to restore ecosystems and how to make a positive impact on the environment, this is a great opportunity to do that. It's a way to get out there and learn something new."

For more information on the program, readers may contact Campbell at 717-757-6441 or email executivedirector@hornfarmcenter.org.