With much planning and financial investment, a new barn was built in June 2003 for the goats with a to-be-built cheese facility in place.  Keep in mind this total building is 36' x 36'.  Total milking and cheese square footage is merely 12' x 36' divided into three equal rooms (less than 150 sq. ft per room).  Summer 2004 saw the completion of the milking area, milk storage room, and cheese room.  In August 2004, Grade A Goat Dairy status and Cheese Producer licenses were granted by Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA).  We found the inspectors from WSDA to be extremely helpful and knowledgeable throughout the whole process.  If you are considering a similar adventure, I highly suggest you contact them early in your planning.

Voila!!  Official cheesemaking begins!  With just a short three month start-up season (remember, goats are "dry" for winter), Skagit Valley now has local goat cheese with chevre, feta, gouda, and cheddar as intro products.  With many blessings it has been very well received and successful.

All cheese milk is machine milked, cooled quickly, and processed into cheese.  All cheeses are made with pasteurized milk.  The pasteurizer was the piece of equipment requiring the most consideration.  They are pretty sophisticated by my standards and are not inexpensive.  After much consideration, van't Reit Dairy in the Netherlands was selected.  We have not regretted this choice. 

All cheese is totally handmade after pasteurization.  All moulds are filled by hand, turned by hand, and salted by hand.  All wrapping and packaging is by hand with hand lettering on the labels.  Yes, this is labor intensive but affords quality checks at every turn.  The low-tech approach is generally favored whenever possible.