David Brunner and Rhonda Butler, owners of Asgaard Farm & Dairy (Photo — Naj Wikoff)

Kids love kids; baby goats that is. Goat kids are very cute, soft to the touch and playful. They nibble on anything and everything.

Asgaard Farm & Dairy in AuSable Forks, the premier maker of goat cheese in the Champlain Valley, held its second open house (Kidding Day) last week drawing hundreds of people to see and hold baby goats, and while there taste and hopefully purchase some of their exceptional cheese and other fine produce.

Asgaard Farm, once home to the brilliant illustrator, writer and political activist Rockwell Kent, is stunning. Often painted by Kent, the white buildings set along the edge of wide-open fields, surrounded by low hills and the Whiteface massive in the background is one of the great iconic vistas of the region. In Kent’s time, Asgaard operated as a dairy. Today while a small herd remains and the milk produced used to make fine hard cheeses, and the farm does sell eggs, meat and other produce, their expanding reputation is for their line of goat cheeses.

When owners David Brunner and Rhonda Butler bought the farm 1988, making goat cheese was not part of their plans, but rather an outcome of their daughter seeing and wanting a baby goat.

“Our daughter and David got us started,” said Rhonda. “They got it into their heads that pet goats would be nice to have on the farm. They went out, located the Welbein Farm in Peru, and got two little kids from them. I wasn’t too enthusiastic, but they came back with baby goats still in the bottle-feeding stage. We took care of them, they bonded to us, and we fell in love with them. They are very social, fun and very rewarding.”

Volunteer Emmy Zielinski (Photo — Naj Wikoff)

“Once they were of age, we bred the goats, and that resulted in more goats,” she continued. “Then we started milking the goats, and the next question was what do you do with the milk. We started experimenting in the kitchen with cheese, and it was surprisingly good. We thought, ‘Oh my gosh, this is really good,’ and that got us thinking about turning the farm back into a working farm.”

“We were initially thinking about cows as there was originally Jersey cows on this farm when Kent owned it, but decided to make goat cheese as our anchor business,” said David.

“We said, ‘Why don’t we make goat cheese?’ There’s not another farm around making it,” said Rhonda. “We like it. We like the animals, so we decided to make it.”

They converted the main barn from housing cows to goats, and got serious about learning how to make and market goat cheese creating a unique niche as most of the other emerging farms were focusing on organic vegetables. Today their products are featured by an expanding number of restaurants and available at most local natural food stores and many farmer’s markets as well as directly at the farm store on weekends.

“I was 10 when we got the first goats,” said their daughter Joanna. “I can’t say I was the inspiration but I did pick out the two original goats. You could say I grew up with them, now I come back and help out on my summer vacations. I love the goats and I love the kidding season. Lots of babies, lot’s of excitement. It’s fun.”

Caitlin Aherne, marketing/CSA manager and maker of goat milk soap (Photo — Naj Wikoff)

“He’s soft,” said Hannah, a young girl holding a baby goat. “I want a pet one.”

“Do your parents know that?” I asked.

“Yes!” said Hannah.

“I know she’d love to take home a goat, but where we live does not allow livestock,” said Beth Trembly. “Our kids are in 4-H so they love animals. We live in Jay and we have been here many times. This is a yearly thing for us. Maybe someday we will have one, my husband loves goat cheese. It’s really nice that they do this. It’s a lot of fun.”

“I manage all the animals here, anything from milking and feeding to livestock management,” said Billy Lincoln. “It started out as a summer job and turned into a full-time management position. I love everything about it. I like being outside, the animals, everything. The bosses are great. Everything is great here.”

Nick Perry and Liz Jordan with daughter Maya enjoy their time at the Asgaard Farm & Dairy Kidding Day in AuSable Forks. (Photo — Naj Wikoff)

“This is my third season,” said Caitlin Aherne, who’s in charge of marketing their produce, makes the goat milk caramel produced at the farm along with the goat milk soap, and manages their CSA. “I moved up here three years ago from Brooklyn and found my way here by luck. They needed help, it’s very idyllic here, and they produce a product that’s amazing, sustainable and humane. I like that so much of what we produce is sold here in the community. We have so many local chefs that are huge supporters and use our cheeses and meats. The amount of support we get locally amazes me.”

“We are having a great time,” said Nick Perry out with his wife and daughter. “My wife would love to take a baby goat home.”

“Today is fabulous,” said Nick’s wife Liz Jordan. “It’s full of kids. Lots and lots of kids, and I love kids of all breeds.”

“I live right across the road from here so I can come over whenever I want,” said Emmy Zielinski surrounded and stood on by baby goats. “I have goats of my own at my house, but these are a little more cuddly. Goats are the best thing in the world.”

“We just came out to see the goats,” said Erika Creswell. “I’ve seen their cheeses in the stores and I just wanted to come out and see the baby goats.”

Ryan and Erika Creswell and their kids Everleigh and Sage (Photo — Naj Wikoff)

“It was awesome to see all the baby goats, and our daughter Erika got to pet one,” said Ryan Creswell. “She got to hold one too, so that was awesome.”

Want to purchase a kid? A neutered male can be had from Asgaard for just $50 up to four weeks old, $75 up to weaning, and a bit more after that. Think of them as an organic lawn mower that can buzz right through thistles and poison ivy. Pure bred dairy goats go for more, but then one day you too can be making cheese and inviting your friends and neighbors over.

Asgaard Farm public visiting hours are Thursday 2-6 p.m. and Saturday 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. Learn more online at www.asgaardfarm.com.