Farm: The Cheesery at Koons Farm was licensed in 2008. Located on 92 acres overlooking Messalonskee Lake in Sidney, Maine, the property has been farmed for more than 200 years. A herd of about 30 Alpine goats and about two dozen Katahdin sheep graze on the 30 acres of pasture and hay fields, protected by a guard llama, Dalai. In addition to selling hand-crafted cheeses and yoghurt, the farm sells hay and, when available, fresh lamb.
Located on Route 23 (Pond Road), Koons Farm is four miles north of Maine Route 27 and eight miles south of Oakland. For detailed directions search 795 Pond Road, Sidney, Maine.

Cheesery: The cheesery at Koons Farm is in a timber-framed structure completed 2008 with help from family,friends, and Farms for the Future LINK. Licensed by the Maine Department of Agriculture, the cheesery contains a small milking parlor, a cheesemaking room with a 40-gallon kettle and a 100-gallon vat, and an aging room. Cheesemaker Jean Koons produces small, artisanal batches of cheese and yoghurt year-round for sale at area farmer’s markets and local farmstands, health-food stores, and local restaurants.

The Farmers: Jean Koons, a native of Cricklewood, New Zealand, has studied cheesemaking on three continents. She worked for the first artisanal cheese producer in New Zealand, Evansdale Cheese. She is a founding member of the Maine Cheese Guild. Peter is a native of Kennebec County and manages the heavy labor and does whatever else Jean tells him to. Together the Koonses farmed sheep, cows and goats on Pigeon Flat near Dunedin, on the South Island of New Zealand. They returned to the family farm in Sidney with their stroppy children to Maine in 2001.