This Month on the Farm

We just went from 0 to 60...well, 55, while observing all traffic laws and road signs. 

June has brought us back to life, not only in the ice cream truck but also at the farm, and with it has come a good refresher of our driver's ed rules and an application of new guidelines throughout our entire work life. But mostly, it's just been so fun to be back!

Since our first visits to Mineral Point and Lancaster, we have been out and about with the ice cream truck! From Platteville to Bloomington, from Dodgeville to Dickeyville, we have been able to bring our ice cream directly to you in your community, and have been blown away with your support and love. We are in the business of happiness, and ice cream has been the cherry on top of this purpose - the smiling faces, the excited kiddos, the sticky faces. We could not have enjoyed this month more. 

We have also seen businesses in your community do amazing things to give back to the people they appreciate most. Ritchie Implement sponsored cones for their community in each of their locations, as did Highland State Bank, Don's Tire, and Fillback Family of Dealerships in Highland; People's State Bank in Lancaster; and Community First Bank in Livingston. Many organizations brought ice cream directly to their employees to thank them for their hard work, including Grant Regional Health Center, Amcor, and Morningside. Our visit to the nightshift at Grant Regional was our first ice cream emergency - as we got to park right in the ambulance bay to serve up cold treats to the hard-working night workers. We were so happy to be a part of these wonderful people's plans to show their appreciation for you through our new favorite language: one scoop or two? 

After almost a full month in the new truck, we are so excited to see what the rest of the summer will bring. We hope to see you next! If you want to know where to find us, our full schedule is on our website. And if you'd like us to visit for your next event, employee appreciation, or celebration, you can request the truck here!

We were also so excited to celebrate the marriage of two wonderful couples this month! After weeks of the barn sitting empty and serving as Kyle's workshop, the transformation it went through to come back to wedding glory was quite a lot of hard work, but it was such a wonderful payout. 

The pandemic did change things quite a lot, both for our couples and for us. The barn set up had to be altered to space seating appropriately and we made many changes to our beverage and food services to accommodate better social distancing and reduce touch points. All these changes made for a very crowded kitchen, as we needed almost double the normal number of staff, and we all had to learn new skills very quickly. Despite a few stress points, the staff was happy to be back to weddings.

Our two couples were so incredibly brave to navigate these uncertain times. Even with all going on in the world, they were determined to keep their original wedding dates, and they worked with us with open minds to keep problem solving throughout all the changes, throughout all the uncertainty, and throughout all the stress to make sure they saw the vision of their wedding day - although altered from their original plans - come to fruition. We were so happy to be able to help them celebrate their happy day, and we honestly feel that our appreciation for them cannot be understated. Many congrats to these newlyweds!

We also fit in some field work and some time outdoors this month. Kyle and the crew put pumpkins in the ground, and they are growing up and getting ready for an amazing fall season. 

Our short but sweet strawberry season lasted only a slice of June, but we had great picking while it lasted. ​

The month ended with quite the bang and a lotta rain. While one of our couples was decorating for their wedding, a monster storm blew in and dropped over an inch of rain in only a few minutes (I think three inches total), which resulted in some serious flooding at the farm. While we ooh'd and aww'd over the new Vesperman Farms whitewater rafting experience, the water did some serious damage to our gravel roadway and scared all the barn cats up the hay pile. We have to give a good shoutout to our amazing couple, who after agonizing over COVID problems, had to then experience major flooding at AND a close encounter with a skunk during their wedding weekend. But I'll tell you more about that another time - it's a story that can only happen at Vesperman Farms. The next day, we fixed up the roadway and all the damage, the farm was back to ship shape by noon, and there was only beautiful white fluffy clouds for the wedding. 

This June had a lot packed into it: strawberry picking, planting, cutting out this year's maze design, mowing lawn, traveling with the ice cream truck, making hundreds of gallons of ice cream (so much ice cream!), mowing lawn, getting ready for the weddings, mowing lawn, and fixing all the water damage. It was, as Kyle puts it, one of the longest and shortest months he's ever had. But, honestly, we wouldn't have it any other way. The farm thrives in this crazy environment we've built for ourselves. And even though we're all a little short on sleep, we have a new appreciation for our crazy schedules, our wonderful customers, and our amazing staff. We've missed this very much over those quiet weeks during shutdown, and we could not be happier to be safely - and sweetly - back to the farm.