First-time patrons of Geyer’s Oven Bread and Pizza meander through the picturesque farm in wonderment. Their gaze takes in the large stone ovens and the seemingly endless flowers, curious, as if discovering a magical new land. But it isn’t really magic, and it isn’t a dream. It’s Iowa.
To be more exact, it’s Anna and Dave Geyer’s farm near Oxford.
The Geyer's farm, at 1251 Rohret Rd SW, becomes a community gathering place every other Thursday from 5 to 8 p.m. Visitors are encouraged to bring lawn chairs or blankets and enjoy all-you-can-eat pizza in the garden. For $10, those in attendance get more than their money’s worth in food, ambiance and experience.
The farm’s main draw is its impressive stone oven, which the Geyer's built themselves. On a friend’s suggestion, Anna decided to build an oven on the farm and enlisted the help of Overcrafters’ Nick Scott to learn how. After a few years of working on it in their free time, they had constructed an outdoor masonry oven out of discarded limestone from the foundation of an old house. Dave, who is a metal worker, fabricated a seam roof, and the oven was completed in 2005.
For the first five years, Anna said, they catered parties and events on request. Her ultimate hope, though, was to create a space for the public to come together.
Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle.
“My desire was for people to have a place to gather,” Anna said. “I think the community is at its strongest when there are healthy relationships in that community.”
Now, twice a month during warm weather, patrons can enjoy good pizza with good company in a wonderful atmosphere. Attendance ranges from 50 to 350, with each event bringing regulars and newcomers alike. People come from nearby towns like Iowa City, Kalona and Amana, and the farm has seen many out-of-state and international guests as well. Visitors from Australia, Europe and the Middle East all have enjoyed pizza at Geyer’s Oven.
Adding to the atmosphere is the idyllic garden. The farm is also the site of Anna cut flower business, Anna’s Cutting Garden. The ingredients found in the pizzas, both vegetables and beef, come from the farm as well.
“My goal is to be able to grow everything that I serve on the pizza,” Anna said. In the meantime, any ingredients that don’t come from the Geyers’ farm, like pork and chicken, come from local producers. Before each event, Anna takes inventory of the ingredients she has available and cooks pizzas according to what’s fresh and in season. For the last pizza night in July, Anna said, she planned to use freshly harvested zucchini and kale to make a quiche pizza. She tries to always have pepperoni and sausage pizza on hand, as well as at least three vegetarian combinations. She enjoys the process of creating something new out of the vegetables available.
The pizzas are prepped in the house, in the dough room and the assembly room. The Geyer's children, now in 9th and 10th grade, are a big help. A few of their friends from school have offered their assistance as well, so that the ever-growing business has enough workers to keep the events running smoothly.
The outdoor oven also serves the Geyer family in another way. The morning after a pizza night, for instance, Anna bakes bread with the residual heat. By the time Sunday rolls around, the oven is the right temperature to slow cook a roast and potatoes over an afternoon.
Anna has always wanted to be a farmer, she said, and never thought she’d be running a business. But they’ve turned out to be a perfect fit. The pizza nights offer the reward of meeting locals and seeing them enjoy the food and atmosphere. The cut flower business began after the Geyers’ children were born. Anna decided it wasn’t feasible to be using heavy farm equipment, and instead began working with cut flowers.
“I love working outside and I love working in the dirt,” she said.
The Geyers love providing a venue for people to come together and support local producers. Their farm is seven miles away from the farm where Anna grew up, and where her parents still reside.
“I’ve often wondered what it is that draws people,” Anna said. “It’s my world, and after a while, it can seem sort of ordinary, you know?”