There are many ways to get your cheese fix: going to the grocery store, joining a Cheese of the Month Club, whipping up a quick batch at home, or—if you want your cheese consumption to do some multitasking—you can try out a Cheese Share!
Cheese Shares directly support your local farmers while also getting you fresh, delicious cheese. It’s like a CSA (Community Support Agriculture) for cheese. A win-win in our book.
With most Cheese Shares you’ll get to know the farm and farmers that perform the milk-magic and you’ll also need to pick up your goods in person.
Here are a few to check out:
Raw goat’s milk or raw goat’s milk cheeses. For a $25 one-time refundable deposit and a $28-a-month boarding fee, you’ll get either a ½ gallon of milk per week or 8 ounces of cheese. Flavors of cheese will vary. Answers to other frequently asked questions and contact information to sign up can be found here.
Local New England Cheeses. Choose between the 3-Month Share ($99) or the 6-Month Share ($179), and every month you can expect ¼ to ⅓ pound of each of four varieties of cheese. Since this is a multi-farm share, Formaggio Kitchen also includes the stories about the artisans and farms that produced each cheese. In each share you will see one example of a strong cheese (blue or washed rind), a soft cheese, and a firm cheese. Sign Up online.
North Country Creamery offers cheese shares for just six bucks a week. The share rotates between 8 ounces of fresh cheese or 6-8 ounces of hard cheese per week. They also offer plain and flavored yogurt shares. Sign Up via this link!.
Farm-fresh cheese from Bridport Creamery. For just $110, you’ll live the dream of 22 weeks of cheese! That’s just $5 a week for 8 ounces of cheese per week. Bridport rotates four varieties weekly: Fresh Cheese Curds, Swisserella, Danz Ahn Feta, and Grating Cheese. Check it out.
If you’re interested in vegetables too (they do work well with cheese), these places provide a cheese add-on to their regular CSAs:
Registration for this CSA closed in April, but it’s one to keep in mind. Offered for 18 weeks during the summer months, the $195 add-on will bring you a mix of goat’s, sheep’s, and cow’s milk cheeses from the Hudson Valley and local Long Island dairy farms. The cheese will range from 4 to 8 ounces. If you’re looking for some cheese-friendly accompaniments, they also have prepared food and fruit add-ons. Signup information can be found here.
Appleton Creamery through Hatch Cove Farms (ME)
This goat and cow cheese share add-on runs for 16 weeks in the summer, providing 10 to 14 ounces of cheese every week. They include their award-winning standbys (chèvre in olive oil, chèvre spread, mixed milk tomme, Camdenbert, halloumi, feta, gouda, havarti, goat-chego, yogurt, ricotta, mozzarella) and also some new varieties or other local Maine cheese if their supply is running low. A good variety for $169 (16-week summer share). Fall and spring share options are available as well. Take a look.
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