Rain or Shine

Dry, dry, dry. Fire danger high. Don’t burn anything. Alberta’s on fire. Minnesota’s on fire. It’s May, and I’m already running the garden irrigation.

Then the rain came…and came…and came. It was still raining on Saturday, the first of this season’s Pizza Farm Days. We had been bustling all week to prepare—cooking sausage, shredding cheese, mowing the grass, setting up tables, splitting the oak for the wood-fired pizza oven.

Fortunately, the oven is covered by a roof, which also protects Kara’s prepping area, where she forms the dough, spreads the topping, then pops the pizza into the 900-degree concrete dome glowing with orange embers. Within three minutes (and some spinning to keep the cooking even), the sizzling pizza is finished and re-emerges for cutting and serving. Drizzling or not, she can keep on cooking, ringing the dinner triangle to let us know when the next order is ready for pickup.

The rain broke in time for the 3:00 pm guided farm tour. We visited the delighted ducks, talked about the history of the farm, peeked in at the lambs in the barn, waved at the Kunekune pigs, checked out the apple blossoms, and laughed with the turkeys. But not long after our return to Farmstead Creamery, the rain was setting in again.

Typically, we host our performers for the Locally Grown Summer Music Series out at the pergola next to the pizza oven. But the top on the pergola is more of a shade maker than a rain protector, and who wants to sit outside to listen in the rain? People were calling left and right, “Is the show canceled?”

But no, it’s not canceled! Inside the Creamery there is a corner stage, which we use for our Harvest Dinner and Concert Series in the wintertime. So I cleared off the merchandise just in time for Sean and Ian Okamoto’s arrival for setup and sound check.

More phone calls. “The show goes on,” I keep replying. “We’re setting up inside right now.”

On the back porch, we prepared our extra folding chairs, in case more indoor seating was necessary. Thunder rumbled, then the sun would shine, then more rain.

I was just about to give Sean and Ian their introduction when the cars rolled in and the front door opened. Within a few minutes, the place was filling up. The music hummed with classics old and new, people were chatting everywhere, others ordering pizzas, wine, or beer. Over half the fresh batch of gelato in the case was scooped and gone by evening.

The whole place was a buzz, like a bustling bistro. Somehow, we managed to have enough seating for everyone—a table opening just in time for the next crowd to sit. Mom was busy making salads, our apprentice Sam was running pizzas up and down the stairs, and Steve was bussing tables and cooking additional pizza topping.

By closing, the rain was still pouring, we were exhausted, but everyone had a good time. Folks were reconnecting that hadn’t seen each other since last autumn, fans of the Okamotos were singing along with their favorite songs, kids enjoyed our new tractor tire sandbox between the rain drops, and everyone was chatting and smiling. Rain or shine, we had successfully pulled off our first Pizza Farm Day!

Will it rain this Saturday too? Either way, we’ll be ready, so don’t worry about whether the show’s on at Farmstead Creamery. The season has begun, and we’ll keep on rolling through the end of September! See you down on the farm sometime.

 

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Come to the farm and enjoy curbside pickup at our Farmstead Creamery

We will bring your order out to you at our curbside pickup counter in front of Farmstead Creamery Wednesday through Saturday, 10am-6pm. Just let us know in your order notes what day and when you would like to pickup your order and we will “See you down on the farm !”

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