Pizza Farm #2

 Waseca, MN

Pleasant Grove Pizza Farm

Today we drove south for an hour to Waseca, MN to visit the Pleasant Grove Pizza Farm and color in Waseca County, MN.  This pizza farm is more rustic than this one.  You have to bring your own seating, utensils, and trash bag as well as drive for a few miles on a dirt road.  We arrived just after opening on a Friday and we were the first ones there.  It is getting late in the pizza farm season but the weather is still nice so it was surprising no one was there.  They felt the need to explain to us that by this time last week there were already 40 people.  

We entered the barn and ordered our pizza and our dessert pizza and then made our way to the bar, which was outside and waited for the person that took our order to get to the bar to take our order there.  It was a small operation but run very well.

They had a great menu of pizzas available to choose from.

We got the Minnesota Mess.

It's Fall Y'all!

The barn was decked out for fall.  They were having a ticketed event tonight with a string quartet.

Donna was drawn to the map of visitors.

The bar was right outside and they had some local beers on tap.

As well as wine, ciders, and sodas.

We set up our camping chairs and waited for them to ring the "Pizza is ready" bell.

The farm has a shy Llama and a friendly goat so no pets were allowed.

We set up in the shade and waited.

We each had an Oktoberfest beer and they came in Solo Cups.

While we were waiting for our pizzas a lady asked Donna if she was a nurse and Donna said no.  A few minutes later she asked if Donna was a Doctor.  Donna again said no.  Donna was carrying her Evergreen Health Tote Bag so we figured this is why she asked.  A bit later we found out there was a medical emergency, a person prepping for the party that evening had possibly cut off the tip of their finger and they were trying to stabilize them for the long trip to the hospital.  We were in the middle of no where.  She then asked if we wanted to buy a pizza farm.  She was clearly having a rough day.

This was our dessert pizza.  Blueberry with a lemon custard sauce.  It was very good.

Our Minnesota Mess was also good.  We felt there was too much topping for the thickness of the crust but it was still very good.

While eating we got to talk to some locals as well as the owners.  We got to talk to the lady that was dealing with the medical crisis and she was more calm so hopefully everything was working out for her.

After our pizzas we headed over to Half Pint Brewing.  Is was just down the dirt road.  It was hopping on a Friday evening and the beer was delicious.  Donna and I split a flight and then got a few cans to go.  

They had a surprisingly large selection for what we believed to be a small operation

They partnered with The Pizza Farm.  You could buy their beer at the farm and have pizzas delivered from the farm to the brewery.

This is our flight and you can see some local honey we bought in the background.

We also bought some local beef sticks.

I played "guy with a cigar" with my meat stick.

The MN map is filling in nicely too.  By the end of November we should be at over 1000 counties.

That's it for today.  If you missed, Let Us Go Twins!, check it out.  

Wisconsin Pizza Farm

 Nelson, WI

Stone Barn Pizza

Back when we were thinking about moving to Minneapolis, Donna was researching things and reading the local newspaper and found out about Pizza Farms.  A Pizza Farm is a normal farm that sells pizzas during the summer made from local ingredients.  These pizza farms come in all ranges from rustic where you eat pizza on your own chair or blanket with your own utensils and pack out your own trash to more fancy where it actually feels like a restaurant.  Stone Barn Pizza is on the fancier end.  You park in a grass field, walk up to a barn and place your order and then sit at one of their picnic tables, or tables in the barn or out in the field and wait for a very friendly person to bring you your pizza or pizzas and beverages.  

The entrance just off a nicely paved county road was obvious.

You can see our van and Donna getting Francis out of the car off in the distance.

This particular pizza farm will be open until late October weather permitting.

Donna and I had already decided on which pizzas we would get.

The staff was incredibly friendly and efficient.  I had some questions about the beers and they brought the bottles over for me to inspect.  There are also beers on tap.

They have merch too.

Francis loves his bed but prefers sun so we moved him to the sun shortly after this photo was taken.

We sat down with our New Glarus Beers that are only available in Wisconsin.

I got the New Glarus Octoberfest beer on tap.

We sat on their beautiful patio in the shade and waited for our pizzas.

We ordered a Greek with locally raised Lamb, sweet onions, artichoke hearts, feta cheese and olives with an olive oil base.  It was very good but not as good as...

The Supreme with Italian Sausage, pepperoni, sweet onions, green peppers, mushrooms, black olives, and green olives with a red sauce and mozzarella and provolone cheese.  This pizza was fantastic!

Somebody wanted a lot of toppings so they took a square from the center.

Francis could not contain himself.  Look at his little nails digging into my thigh.

The grounds were beautiful and everyone there seemed to be having a great time on this lovely Sunday.

We knew that each pizza was made for 2 or 3 people but we didn't drive almost 2 hours to not have leftovers.

We also saved room for ice cream from Madison WI.  Donna got the most colorful one and it was delicious.

We took our ice creams for a hike and showed them some birds and insects.  We saw some beautiful butterflies.

The farm's herb garden was looking good.

Donna found the goat feeder and had quarters on hand thanks to our pinball habit.

Ross, the white goat, got excited when he heard the goat feeder getting fed a quarter.

And went to the fence to meet Donna.

I had to stay 10 feet away because I was with Francis so this is the best I could do.  Norman, the black goat, activated as Donna approached with the goat food.

Donna ended up buying a few handfuls of goat feed so everyone could have some.

We ended up picking up 3 new counties in light purple.  We drove almost 200 miles round trip and we picked up a lot of new highway miles.

That's it for today.  If you missed, Minne Golf, check it out.  We played free mini golf downtown.