For the past year I have been hearing about Pleasant Grove, a newer Pizza Farm in Waseca, MN. On my way home from Madison, I detoured slightly out of the way so that I could check it out. You have to take some unpaved roads to get there and they’ve put out a few wooden signs to help direct you in case you are doubting yourself, but you still might doubt yourself. Once I pulled into the driveway, I could see a couple rows of other dusty cars, the large pizza making building, and people set up on the lawn listening to the live music. The lawn was spacious and flat and an easy walk from the parking area, especially in contrast to the previous night’s Pizza Adventure that required a bit of a hike to get to Cress Spring Bakery. I was immediately impressed with the picturesque scene.
The surrounding prairie and woods made a beautiful backdrop. A donkey, two alpaca, and a goat greeted visitors from their pasture adjacent to the parking area. The comfortable temperature also helped make the farm extremely welcoming on that particular evening. I set up my blanket and chairs and the children playing soccer and throwing a football were able to play their games without interference, which doesn’t often happen at some of the more crowded venues.
My friend was on her way to meet me and after evaluating our hunger levels and the approximate wait time, I decided to order before she arrived and make my best guess. The Pizza Farmer’s mother took my order and talked me through the ordering process. I was wavering between the Buster an olive oil based pie with mushrooms, sausage, basil, and cheese, and the Weekly Feature, a beautiful creation with potato, sweet potato, corn, cheese, and andouille sausage. Pleasant Grove is another place that doesn’t do half and half pizzas, and the mother was able to give positives about each choice, so my solution was to just go ahead and order two. I learned a bit about the farm while she talked me 
through my decision. She told me that the farm is more of a hobby farm although the garden in the corner of the lawn provides much of the tomato sauce and the basil and other herbs used and most of the ingredients are locally sourced from neighboring farms. She also said that the homemade red sauce is so delicious she sometimes wants to drink it straight out of the cup. Since both the pizzas that we ordered were olive oil based, my friend special requested a cup of the red sauce for us to taste and we basically ended up drinking it. Mom knows best, right?
My friend and I enjoyed a beer as we waited, listening to the folk singer on stage cover Bob Dylan, and discussing the opening days of the Minnesota State Fair. Our pizza arrived cut Minnesota style (round pizza, square pieces) and we got through about half of each one. Aside from the fact that we were drinking some New Glarus that I picked up in Wisconsin, I would say that our evening was quite Minnesotan and I would definitely enjoy another trip to Pleasant Grove Pizza Farm.
