Each month, your Neighboring Food Co-ops feature our region’s artisan cheesemakers by offering a specially selected cheese at great price. Look for the “Cave to Co-op” sign in the cheese section at your local food co-op. To find one near you, visit www.nfca.coop/members.
This month’s Cave to Co-op cheese is Swallow Tail Tomme from Stony Pond Farm, Fairfield, VT
Made by cheesemaker Melanie Webb at Stony Pond Farm in Fairfield, Vermont, Swallow Tail Tomme is a raw-milk, French farmhouse-inspired cheese made in small batches with milk from the farm’s own Jersey cows. The cows head out to pasture each spring, and Swallow Tail was created to capture that seasonal connection between the herd, the grass, and the wider farm ecosystem. Creamy and buttery with a fresh, lively character, the 2026 wheels are tasting beautifully right now. Melanie describes this year’s Swallow Tail as “spring encapsulated” how’s that for a way to savor the sunshine as we head into autumn!
Stony Pond Farm is a family-owned, certified organic farm stewarded by Tyler and Melanie Webb. Their cattle are rotationally grazed on nutrient-rich organic pasture, and their farmstead cheeses are made with milk from their own herd. Swallow Tail is aged in the farm’s cave for at least 60 days, with the current wheels around 80–90 days old. It’s a wonderful example of how pasture, season, animals and cheesemaking can all come together in one cheese.
Swallow Tail pairs well with crisp apples, ripe pears, local honey, fresh apple cider, crusty sourdough, roasted winter squash, sautéed mushrooms, dry hard cider, and light-bodied red wines. Try this lovely cheese in an apple and cheese grilled cheese or mushroom tart, in potato, leek and cheese gratin or with cider-braised cabbage with melted Swallow Tail. Fall vegetable frittata or roasted delicata squash with shaved cheese.
Cave to Co-op is a partnership between Provision International and the Neighboring Food Co-op Association (NFCA) to support local, artisanal cheese producers in our region and make their products more easily available to co-op shoppers. The NFCA is a network of more than 40 food co-ops in our region — including yours — that are working together to advance their vision of a thriving regional economy, rooted in a healthy, just and sustainable food system and a vibrant community of co-operative enterprise. For more information, please visit www.nfca.coop.