SIDNEY -- Three kids -- Beetlejuice, Bonehead and Benta -- curled up in the grassy yard. A dozen more yearlings in an adjacent field munched on tender green grass.

An umbrella-shaded table shouldered plates and bowls of crackers and cheese: cheese with dill, cheese with herbes de Provence, cheese soaking in tomato and pepper seasonings, in oil with floating basil and pine nuts, and soft goat and cow bries.

The view extended across a half mile of field and orange, russet and dark green treetops to the blue water of Messalonskee Lake.

A more bucolic setting than that of the Kennebec Cheesery would be hard to find.

The Pond Road farm lacked perhaps one item on the bright Sunday afternoon -- some wine native to New Zealand, where the farmers, Jean and Peter Koons, lived for almost 25 years.

Now they're back on the Koons family farm, where Jean Koons tends Alpine goats and blends cheese while Peter provides the heavy labor, when he's not teaching geophysics at the University of Maine.

The Kennebec Cheesery opened its doors to the public Sunday for Open Creamery Day. It was one of about a dozen farms statewide to introduce people to the basics of cheesemaking. It was sponsored by the Maine Cheese Guild.

The Koons farm was swamped with visitors, with the parents doing most of the cheese tasting and the children taking turns petting the goats and investigating the large orange pumpkins and green gourds remaining in the garden.

"I love the pepper cheese," said Glenda Smart of Medford. She and Sonia Jones of Milo had three favorite cheeses.

"We didn't try the other two yet," Jones said as they waiting for their palates to clear before continuing their sampling.

The farm got so busy that Cathy Morrow of Sidney filled in at the cheese table while Jean Koons showed off her cheesemaking room and Peter Koons helped several children feed a bottle to Beetlejuice.

"My major job is professional cheese-taster," Morrow joked. "Any time Jean's working on a new cheese, I try it."

Wilson and Kate Sanborn of Woodlands Farm in Sidney stopped by for their first visit to the cheesery that converts milk from their organically fed cows into cheese and yogurt.

Jean Koons sells her cheese and yogurt at the cheesery and at the farmers markets in Waterville and Skowhegan.

Darrolyn Worcester of Belgrade and Jennifer Spaulding of Waterville strolled around the property as their husbands took the children to visit the larger goats in the barn. "They're extremely excited about the animals," Spaulding said.

Asparna Rajesh, formerly of Calcutta, India, watched her children pet the kids and then explore the garden. The family had come from Massachusetts to spend Saturday at Oktoberfest in Southwest Harbor. They spent Sunday at the cheesery.

"He's a very nice goat," she said, petting Beetlejuice.

Rosemarie Boardman of Boston bought a round of goat cheese dipped in dill and two covered in herbes de Provence -- lavender, thyme, basil, sage, etc.

The cheeses were chosen by her children, Van (the herb variety) and Sophie (the dill).

The Boardmans were visiting relatives in Oakland and heading next to an apple orchard to do some picking.

Betty Adams -- 621-5631

badams@centralmaine.com