Open Creamery Day In Maine AKA The Power Of Cheese

I don't know about you but cheese is one of my favorite foods hands down waddling away. Now add to that how cute goats can be and I am thinking open creamery day is right up my alley.

Turns out that the Sunday of Columbus Day weekend or Indigenous Peoples Day weekend depending on how you roll is always Open Creamery Day and a chance for animal and cheese lovers alike to get together and sample what our local farmers have to offer. What a great time for a drive too with foliage starting to burst into color all over the state. Many of the farms open for visitors offer award winning artisan cheeses in up to 150 different varieties. During the Maine Cheese Guild’s annual Open Creamery Day you can visit many of Maine’s cheese makers in their creameries, meet the animals, and learn the stories behind Maine’s farms.

Some of the farms close by us in the Bangor area include:

• Abraham’s Creamery, 1000 Elm Street Newport, ME 04953 Inviting guests to come join our festivities on October 8th from 10- 3!  There will be sampling of artisanal cheese, cabrito, whey-fed pork and amazing yogurts. Enjoy a hand-tossed pizza with farmstead cheese and meats, while visiting our pastures. Our Alpine, Saanens and Oberhaslis will welcome you as they play around. Come meet the cheesemaker, artist, shepherds, yogurt expert and of course, our herd of 72 fun-loving goats! You may even get a kiss from one of our bucks:)) Special guest Pebblestone Farm Bakery and a few other local food vendors will be here, as well! The farm stand will be open.
• Balfour Farm LLC , At The Farm House 461 Webb Road Pittsfield                  Balfour Farm is a certified organic dairy producing raw milk aged cheeses and pasteurized fresh cheeses and cultured dairy products. Our small herd of Normande cattle produce rich milk that is ideal for cheesemaking. We also have a flock of laying hens, organic chickens and poultry, and a herd of pigs for pork production .In our farm store and cafe, The Farm House, we will have cheese tasting and the cafe will be open for service 8am to 4 pm. We will have a cheese filled breakfast and lunch menu, baked goods and soup available. *** Farm tours will be given at 11 am, 1pm and 3 pm.
• Appleton Creamery Caitlin & Bradley Hunter  780 Gurney Town Road, Appleton, **11 am to 4 pm** Visit the goats and sample the award-winning cheese at Appleton Creamery in Appleton, and enjoy the whole goat experience. Cheese is handcrafted daily using traditional methods with milk from our herd of Alpine goats, and local cow dairies. Joining us this year for GOATAPALOOZA will be Sisters Soap with goat milk soap, Dragonfly Cove Farm goat meat products, and Back Forty Breads. Local spinner Penelope Olson will be spinning goat fiber. The pizza oven will be cooking!
• ME Water Buffalo Co. Farmstead Creamery  232 Old County Road  Appleton Our last on-farm event! If you haven't made it out to see the water buffalo yet, NOW is your chance!!! Join us on wagon rides out to the pasture to see the water buffalo up close. Water buffalo calves to pet. Goats to feed. There will also be water buffalo cheese, yogurt, gelato & meat available at the farm store. If that's not enough, this time of year we are blessed with beautiful foliage as well as additional area creameries opening up their farms for tours, cheeses & animal snuggling.
• Seal Cove Farm 17 Milky Way Lamoine, ** 11 am -5 pm** Samples tours and pizza from our wood fired oven!
• State of Maine Cheese Artisan Cheesemaker, Cheese Retailer  461 Commercial St. (Route1) Rockport, ME 04856 Creamery tours, samples, "ask the cheeesemaker" and retail store

Further south? See the complete list here.