I just got off the phone with Amy Turnbull, who with husband Stephen J. Hueffed owns Willapa Hills Farmstead Cheese in Doty, near the Chehalis River.

This is the first year of production for the couple who bought their farm 5 years ago and have since built their herd to 150 sheep. They produce fresh ricotta, blue cheese and several other styles of cheese. This weekend is the first time they'll participate in the Seattle Cheese Festival, held May 16 and 17 at the Pike Place Market.

Production is way up right now for Willapa Hills. Not only are they going to sell at the Gig Harbor Farmers Market this weekend, but they'll also supply cheese samples at the Seattle Cheese Festival. Then, next week, the couple will start selling their cheese at the Tacoma Farmers Broadway Market, which opens May 21.

Watch TNT Diner next Wednesday for a story about the couple and Willapa Hills Farmstead.

Where to buy their cheese:
Gig Harbor Farmers Market, this Saturday
Seattle Cheese Festival, this Saturday and Sunday
Metropolitan Market, Proctor location
Direct from Willapa Hills Farmstead
At the Tacoma Farmers Market, beginning May 21

EDITOR’S NOTE: Farmers Market Fresh is a weekly series featuring farmers and food producers who sell at South Sound farmers markets. Each week in this space, we’ll write about a different farmer and the markets where they sell.

What’s at the market this week: A variety of fresh and aged cheeses, including fresh mozzarella, chevre and ricotta, from the River Valley Ranch Cheese Farm in Fall City. Available Saturday at the Proctor Farmers Market, open 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays at North 27th Street and Proctor; 253-961-3666; www.proctorfarmersmarket.com.

Who’s the farmer: Julie Steil started her 20-acre Fall City farm in 2006. Before that, her cheesemaking was a hobby. But then a cheese buyer from Whole Foods tasted her homemade cheese at a parent-teacher meeting at the high school Steil’s children attend. With encouragement from the buyer, she ditched her high-pressure career in real estate property management, bought some cows and goats, purchased some land by her home and started River Valley Ranch Cheese Farm.

=> Read more!

Oregon writer Tami Parr has a new book out that I don't think I could live without now that I've read it. If you're a person who loves cheese, you'll understand.

Parr researched 71 Washington, Oregon, Idaho and British Columbia cheese farms and wrote brief profiles of each farm. The book is a collection of fascinating details about the history of each farm, as well as a look at the styles of cheese each farm produces. It also tells readers how to get to each of the farms – complete with maps. I am already planning on visiting a few when I take some time off in May. I'm sure I'll end up writing about them.

From our region, a handful of cheesemakers are featured.

=> Read more!

The cheese case at Vinotique has between 40 and 50 imported cheeses, and a few domestics.

I lamented in my good, bad and ugly list of 2008 that Tacoma needs more cheese stores. TNT Diner reader Mandy Kaplan suggested I pay Vinotique Wine Shop in Lakewood a visit.

Wine shop? With cheese? I'm there.

With a selection that fluctuates between 40 and 50 imported cheeses (and a few domestics), Vinotique caters to cheese enthusiasts. Manchego, aged gouda, aged cheddar, English stilton – the cheese case at Vinotique is intensely interesting. And Paz Morris, co-owner with husband Thom Morris and Christian Rubio, is the woman behind the counter, eager to slice off a sample of whatever you eye in the case.

=> Read more!