Angelica Hollstadt, with garden-grown organic garlic and home made pizza sauce.

How Does a Garden Grow
Following the fruition of Angelica's Garden

It's nice to be reminded that people still follow through with their dreams. Aspirations are so rarely fulfilled as responsibilities and bills stack up and attentions are redirected and pulled in opposite directions. Angelica Hollstadt has realized her dream of living off the land and producing healthy foods, and she happily shares it with co-op shoppers around the twin cities in the form of canned veggies and homemade pizzas.

But Angelica would never take all the credit for moving out to the sticks and making a go of farming and canning vegetables for direct market sale. "I'm really reverting back to my childhood, " says Angelica. "My family ate off the land, they weren't hippies, they just lived cheap. My mom canned everything."

After her natural upbringing around Reedsburg, Wisconsin, Angelica attended college at the University of Minnesota. It was in school where she discovered the food co-ops (via North Country Co-op) and developed a desire for farming the land.

"I studied German and International Relations in college." says Angelica. "I had spent a year in Germany my senior year of high school and decided I wanted to be a diplomat or something. Sad thing is, they never let you know that there aren't any jobs after you graduate." Realizing the difficult market for International Relations graduates, Angelica took a few agriculture classes at the end of her schooling. With her double major folded into her back pocket, Angelica decided to make a go of farming.

Angelica began her new career interning at Natural Harvest, a CSA farm around Stillwater, Minnesota. Hollstadt got the idea of producing value-added products for direct market using vegetables she grew herself. She rented a couple of acres from Red Cardinal Farm, a former Wedge Co-op supplier, and started making her modest entrepreneurial ideas a reality

"No one in their right mind would get into this racket to make money," explains Angelica, "I just focused on value-added so that I'd always have something to sell. My first product was zucchini relish."

As fate would have it, just as her bourgeoning farmer career took shape Angelica met her husband Mike at Halftime Rec in St. Paul. "You know, I don't even think we've gone back there since we met," she says. The union construction worker and St. Paul native lacked a farming background, but had more than enough interest in Angelica. By 2001, the couple found the perfect land to start their own family farm in Hugo, Wisconsin.

"I wasn't sure initially," says Mike. "The commute is about an hour and a half one way, but I do really like it here."

Once established with her own farm, Angelica was able to spread out a bit. Currently, she grows three acres of vegetables the other 40 acres are in hay. During the growing season all of Angelica's products are straight off her farm to the extent possible. Many know her by her wonderful canned sauerkraut and pickled beets "like mom made", but her namesake is by far her fresh pizza offerings.

"I started the pizza when I had some extra produce one year," says Angelica. "Whatever I cannot grow myself I source locally, if possible, and organic." Her commitment to local economics doesn't stop with the toppings. The signature par-baked pizza crusts are "cranked out" of a wood fire oven by Alma, an Amish woman that lives about 25 miles away. "This is product from this land. They're farmstead products, except I don't make my own cheese," confesses Angelica. The rBGH-free cheese she uses is actually produced in small batches in Chippewa Valley, Wisconsin.

Usually, pizza may not be the first thing written on people's shopping list, that is, until they've actually tried one of Angelica's. Whether it's due to the hand-made crusts, seasonal veggies or premium ingredients, there is a growing celebrity status for this four-acre farmer's pizzas. "When people see that fresh spinach piled up there, it knocks their socks off," says Palmer, the resident Wedge demo-demon. "People just loved em'. I sold out in 5 hours and it was a 6 hour demo!"

Angelica considered expanding her horizons once the direct marketing took off and the couple had their first son, Walt. "I took a break for a little while to re-tool," she says. "I was going to go frozen [with the pizzas]. I considered branching out and selling out. I realized that what I'm all about is doing fresh products and staying in the co-ops. It's who I am."

While the many co-op shoppers around the Twin Cities praise Angelica's dedication to following her farmer calling, her neighbors aren't so convinced.

"Most of the neighbors are generally positive about what I'm doing, but realistically there's a lot of negativity too." Says Angelica. "One guy said 'you could use a little round-up for all those weeds up there.' Another said land should only be used for soybeans, corn, or someone's lawn. They don't believe it can work, they don't believe organic can be substantive. They just don't remember 40 - 50 years ago when everyone used little to no pesticides," she adds.

While Angelica and Mike may disagree with some of their neighboring conventional farms, life on the land is treating them well and they are happy to share their experience with anyone willing to appreciate a little taste of natural food. With a little better sales every year, plans for new product lines, getting certified organic, and another baby on the way, Angelica's Garden just seems to keep on growing, yet the pizzas remain unsurpassed.

Watch Angelica discuss her new steam cooker!

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