Love Tree Farms

We ordered the 3 meat pizza and the Savory pizza, which was $ 30 and $ 25 respectively. The service was slow and unwelcoming. Even though there was only one order in line in front of us, it still took more than an hour to get our food. The place isn’t fancy; you have to bring your own dining utensils, beverages & seating. Plus, you have to haul away your own garbage… all of which seems chintzy for $ 55. Adding in 3 hour drive to get to and from this place, it was not worth it.

I have to agree with Kimberley’s review– these folks have a bad attitude toward their customers, and it gets worse when you try to find out much their cheeses cost at the various farmer’s markets around Minneapolis-​St. Paul where they sell. They will not tell you the price per pound, no matter how you ask, and the reason is… if you weigh the little 10-​dollar package when you get home, you’ll find you paid about $ 40 a pound. Most people, if they knew that in advance, would not pay that much– even for organic cheese.
Stick with your local coop for organic cheese: much more reasonable prices, and much nicer folks.

Great Pizza… just not sure it was worth the wait. I would say that if you have time to stop at Love Tree, do it! Otherwise, take a pass on it. I would suggest that they clean up their overall attitude when things are busy – I think they would have happier customers if they did!

It’s Sunday, so obviously you want to partake in LoveTree Farms’ Pizza by the Pond. When I heard there was another farm that offered pizzas with fresh, homegrown and homemade ingredients, I was totally game. Pizza Farm is cool and all, but like, EVERYONE and their mom knows about it.
LoveTree Farm is about 1.5 hours from the Twin Cities, but the drive past Taylors Fall is beautiful. When you’re on County Road Z, don’t miss the LoveTree’s pink sign. There will be ample parking right next to the pasture, with some cows looking disinterestedly at you. Amble down to the Shire-​like Grotto, which is built into the earth. It sits on a swell of land that slopes into the Pond, hence the name Pizza by the Pond.
Their wood-​fired pizzas range from $ 25-​$ 30 and all of them are topped with cheese made right at the farm. Three of us shared one pizza, half Savory and half Cheese Me Please with added chorizo. This was $ 25, $ 30 with tip. It was way less crowded, there were maybe five or six other hanging out to eat pizza.
The Savory was topped with thick slices of ham, fresh basil, slices of pear and portobella mushrooms, and herbed goat cheese. The herb goat cheese really added a nice dimension to the pizza. The Cheese Me Please was supposed to have three cheeses, tomatoes and basil, but I only detected goat cheese. Nevertheless, it was pretty tasty with the chorizo on top. The chorizo itself was more like a sausage, with notes of fennel. They had sprinkled sea salt on the crust, too.
If you love good cheese, you will not be disappointed. The pizzas had generous dollops of cheese. It was rich, so I suggest bringing some salad or fruit to round out your meal. I also recommend citronella candles to ward off bugs.
You’re allowed to walk around the farm and gawk at the animals. LoveTree has a group of Guardian Dogs — some mastiff/​Tatra/​Maremma mixes — that are a bit barky, but if you pop a squat and let them sniff you out, then you guys can be friends. Some are still wary though, but leave them alone and they will leave you alone. Also as a note to those with sensitive noses; it is a farm and smells like one.
LoveTree is cash-​only and you have to bring everything — napkins, plates, drinks, etc — and carry the trash out, but those are pretty minor points when you get to eat pizza made with fresh ingredients and ultra-​local cheese on hand-​kneaded dough. We were the last ones to arrive and it was a pleasure to sit and eat outside in the cooling air, with a runty farm dog waiting patiently for you to drop a morsel, as the sky began to darken and the stars coming into view.

Back when I was a baby cheesemonger in the 90s, I went to the American Cheese Society’s annual conference in Vermont and had the opportunity to spend time with Dave and Mary Falk, two of my favorite cheesemakers in the US at the time. Tough as nails and outspoken, Mary impressed me with her passion for sustainable agriculture and cheesemaking.
Dave and Mary operate a 130 acre farm with another 70 acres for wildlife. They organically raise sheep for milk and for meat, and make some of the most mellow, rustic, and delicious sheeps milk cheese in the US. Trouble is, they don’t sell it much outside the farmer’s market in St. Paul, Minnesota. It turns up from time to time in specialty stores able to convince Mary to send them some via mail order, but since 2001, that’s become increasingly rare.
Mary’s raw milk Trade Lake Cedar, made from her own sheeps milk, and raw milk Gabrielson Lake, made from the milk of a local herd of Jersey cows, are two of my personal favorites, although some of her seasonal cheese is terrific, too. TLC and Gabrielson are aromatic, buttery, complex cheeses with just the right amount of cave-​aged earthiness.
If you can’t get to St. Paul, Mary will send quarter, half, and full wheels to retail customers (that’s you!). For a small slice of heaven, it is definitely worth it.