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Visitors sample fresh peaches, learn about farm animals, ride a horse, pick their own strawberries and experience the harvest of raspberries to peaches to honey.

Suncrest Gardens 

At Suncrest Gardens in Cochrane, Wisconsin, you can picnic in the summer on gyro pizza and homemade lemon curd cheesecake cup. Its 16 acres in the northwest corner of the state is a working farm, with pizza ingredients produced on site.

Last summer, more than 8,000 pizzas were served.

Owner Heather Secrist grew up on a dairy farm near Cochrane, where the freezer and cupboards were full of farm-produced food.

“When you move away, suddenly the food choices become a whole different reality,” Secrist said, “I was naturally drawn to wanting that connection with food and land again in my life. It pursued me down a path of growing food not only for myself, but for the community. It feels so good and wholesome.”

She founded Suncrest Gardens with her family in 2003 as a community supported agriculture (CSA) site. They added the pizza in 2005, shifting to consider what they could produce on the farm, to put on their pizzas.

“It’s been a really fun journey,” Secrist said.

Today, everything from hog sausage and Canadian bacon to chicken and ham and vegetables are all produced on-site.

Onions, tomatoes, garlic and peppers are roasted and preserved to use year-round.

“Raising the animal to have a happy life out on the pasture and have access to sunshine and fresh water comes back in full circle,” in quality food that goes back into the pizza, Secrist said.

Peppers “typically aren’t available till almost August. The preservation builds different layers and depths of flavors,” she added. “The flavors are just so much more appreciated and intense when you eat local that way.”

Suncrest Gardens also offers appetizers, desserts and even cocktails made from different fruits and herbs grown on the farm. The menu includes cheese curds, pickled smoked eggs, angel food cake and ice cream, and also local wines and beer.

“It’s gone from pizza on the farm to a full-fledged table restaurant,” Secrist said. “It’s really fun. We can be creative; we try to find ways to use those seasonal ingredients.”

When a customer requests asparagus in August, outside of its growing season, that becomes a learning opportunity, Secrist said.

It’s “an opportunity for people to better understand where their food comes from, when they are actually out on the farm… where the farm literally is your table and a good portion of the foods are grown right here, I think it means a whole lot more,” Secrist said.

Collaborating is key, Secrist says. Suncrest Gardens, for instance, doesn’t grow strawberries but picks strawberries at a local farm for its recipes.

“It’s not solely what we always grow, we collaborate with other local growers and bring in those flavors as well,” Secrist said.

Live hens and sheep wander the grounds and the farmhouse offers two lodging experiences for families, one that can accommodate up to five guests and one that can accommodate up to eight guests.

Overnight guests “enjoy pizza nights (with) live music basically in their backyard and get a real taste and experience of the farm,” Secrist said. “They have a quiet time during the day and a little built-in entertainment at night.”

Secrist has several employees who have worked at the farm for more than a decade, alongside about 25 part-time workers.

“I think it says a lot about the passion and value that they find and connect with on the farm, for staying that long,” she said.

After two decades in operation, Suncrest Gardens is seeing families working and visiting, who have generational ties.

“The kids have grown up and somehow even gotten married and now they're having the next generation,” Secrist said. “It's really beautiful to see all the connections that have grown.”

Suncrest Gardens’ 2024 pizza farm season runs from May 3 through Oct. 5, from 4-8 p.m. Fridays and 3-8 p.m. Saturdays. No reservations are required. Pizza is served rain or shine, with limited seating in the barn. Outdoor live music is included Memorial Day weekend through October, from 6-9 p.m on Fridays and 5-8 p.m. on Saturdays. More information is on Suncrest Gardens’ Facebook page, by calling (608) 626-2122 or by emailing heather@suncrestgardensfarm.com.

Rainbow Ridge Farms

At Rainbow Ridge Farms in Onalaska, children are greeted by goats and chickens eager for summer daycamp play.

For ten weeks every summer, daycamp attendees connect with food, nature and farm life. Children help care for sheep, chickens, goats and pigs while learning about gardening, cooking, crafting and having time to play outside.

Rainbow Ridge Farms, N5732 Hauser Road, in Onalaska, is also a bed and breakfast, whose guests are welcome to milk goats, work in the garden and collect eggs to eat during their stay.

Owners Donna Murphy and Cindy Hoehne characterize their farm as a quiet place for families, where kids can be kids. After previously living in Washington D.C., Murphy and Hoehne sought a more peaceful, quiet life.

“We’re accidental farmers,” Murphy chuckled.

Their original vision was to open a bed and breakfast.

“But then someday gave us two goats,” Murphy said.

Then three more.

“I just fell in love with goats,” Murphy said. “They just sort of multiplied and then somebody gave us chickens. We just discovered how much children love animals, and how little farm experience people get. Most people don’t know where their food comes from.”

They wanted to give that experience to their guests.

Today Murphy and Hoehne are both innkeepers and camp directors.

“These kids don’t want to go to sports camp or music camp, they want to come out here and play with the animals, be in the creek and get absolutely filthy. If they’re covered in dirt by the end of the day, I’ve done my job,” Murphy said.

Daycamp activities are planned, “but we also have a philosophy, if you can dream it, you can do it,” Murphy said. Once, daycampers came up with an idea to paint a “boring” shed.

“They drew up pictures and it’s now painted with flowers and bugs. It’s a totally different building than it was,” Murphy said.

Guests can watch baby goats being born. Baby goat due dates are online or available by calling (608) 783-8181.

“Our goats love people. Our animals love to be around people. Everything is just really laid back, sort of like how nature is. It just flows,” Murphy said.

Rainbow Ridge Farms is handicapped accessible.

Its overnight lodging consists of a house with four guestrooms, two on each level.

Goat yoga is offered at 6 p.m. on Tuesdays in the summer, beginning Memorial Day Weekend. The $20 cost includes a mat that is sanitized for each user, and chairs are available for chair yoga.

“The little goats just run around and bounce off of people, sleep with them and just pretty much be goats,” Murphy said.

And the farm has bees. It teaches bee-keeping to community members who express an interest and incorporates it into summer daycamp. During Bee Week at summer camp, children peek inside a live hive and learn about its operations.

Other Wisconsin farm experiences

Mapleton Barn is a child friendly, dog friendly, full bar and outdoor seating pizza farm at W359N9370 Brown St., Oconomowoc. Its 2024 pizza farm dates are May 16, 23, 30; June 6, 13, 27; July 11 and 18; August 1, 8, 15, 22, 29; and September 5 and 12. Online reservations are required. There is live music on some nights, and friendly dogs on leashes are allowed. Bring blankets and chairs for outdoor seating. Call (630) 712-2547 for more information.

Stoney Acres is an organic pizza farm at 45728 Baldwin Creek Road, in Athens. It is open in 2024 from March 29 to Nov. 9. It offers a beer garden, organic wine, pizza nights and adds live music every weekend from May through September. Pets are not allowed. Carry-in drinks are not allowed, other foods including snacks and desserts are allowed. Pizza is served rain or shine, with indoor seating for 170 people. For more information visit the Stoney Acres Facebook page, call (715) 432-6285 or email stoneyacrescsa@gmail.com.

Farm to Fork Pizza is a lodging pizza farm at S193 County Road BB, in Mondovi. Its 2024 season starts May 16. Pizzas are served Thursdays and Saturdays from 5 to 9 p.m., followed by open mic at 6 p.m. Overnight lodging options include camping (bring your own tent), or renting a 1-bedroom rustic cabin, a 2-bedroom nature nook or a 5-bedroom lodge. Call (715) 926-8265 for more information.

Hidden Timber Soul Sanctuary, E18970 Country Road N, in Fall Creek, is a goat and alpaca experience in western Wisconsin. Call (309) 351-3963 for more information.

Wegmueller Farm, W4358 Montgomery Road, in Monroe, provides horse experiences and a chance to sleep at a dairy farm. Call (608) 325-7356 for more information.