Rumors about a mythical "pizza farm" have lately circulated among Twin Cities food-types like tales of the Easter Bunny circulate among pre-schoolers. The story went like this: Somewhere there was an organic farm, within driving distance, where you could get a pizza made entirely of things grown on that very farm. Tomatoes. Arugula. Basil. But, come on—sausage? Cheese? Flour? When I first heard of the pizza farm, it hardly seemed likely. Goes to show me. I'm here to report that yes, Virginia, there is a pizza farm.
It's called Smith Gardens Farm, and it's down in central Wisconsin Mississippi bluff territory, in a town called Cochrane. It's run by husband and wife Jeremy and Heather Smith, who fell in love while he was working on a medicinal herb farm and she was working at the local food co-op in Ashland, Oregon. They got married, and when he came back to her hometown of Alma, Wisconsin, he fell in love with the gorgeous landscape of soaring bluffs and the wide Mississippi. One thing led to another, and soon enough they had an utterly old-fashioned mixed-use sustainable farm where they raised vegetables, a few pigs, a herd of dairy goats, and, eventually, their little boy, Ashland, now two years old. In the interest of building community and showing people where their food came from, they built a huge, brick igloo-style pizza oven, and now every Thursday night, and the first Saturday of every month, they throw open the farm to all comers and make pizza. And this isn't just any wood-fired pizza—it's about the most local American pizza you can get. The flour comes from Great River Organic Milling, a traditional stone-grinding mill that's so close to the Smith's farm that Jennifer Smith usually fetches 50-lb bags of flour by taking Ashland along and bringing everything home in a little wagon. The sausage comes from the few pigs that the Smiths raise. The vegetables and herbs, of course, come straight from the farm—this time of year asparagus and ramp pizzas are popular. The cheese, mostly organic, comes from local Wisconsin cheesemakers. The only things that come from more than a few miles away are the kalamata olives, olive oil, salt, pepper, and artichokes. Well, and sometimes the bands: On the Saturday nights the Smiths host live bands, some of whom drive the four or so hours from Minneapolis and St. Paul to perform under the stars. (I'm guessing this is how the rumors started.) Jeremy Smith told me that these local-as-rain pizzas have become the stuff of legend. "We tell people to bring a picnic blanket," said Smith, "but we've had people going a lot farther than that. This one group pulled out two six-foot tables, chairs, tablecloths, wineglasses, and a couple of candelabras. I was like, 'Yeah! This is why we do this.'" Smith Gardens Farm Jeremy & Heather Smith S2257 Yaeger Valley Road Cochrane, WI 54622 (608)626-2122
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