Good Taste

In this era of farm-to-table mania, few cheeses capture the green-snacking spirit quite like Full Nettle Jack, a seasonal from Cherry Grove Farm in Lawrenceville, N.J. There's little more than salt and minced wild nettles (previously frozen to remove their sting) added to the curds of raw morning milk from Cherry Grove's Jersey cows, which graze on 200-plus acres of organic grass. But the flavor is vividly herbaceous, with an almost garlicky zing backed by shades of dill, marbled into the crumbly-yet-toothsome Monterey Jack. The semisoft 15-pound wheels are pressed, then aged two months with an edible rind of olive oil and veggie ash in a humid cave, so they retains a nice moistness. Cherry Grove still has plenty of nettle wheels left before its next seasonal – garlic and black pepper – brings the zest of late summer to the jack department.

- Craig LaBan

Full Nettle Jack, $15.99 a pound, at Cherry Grove's stand at Rittenhouse Square Saturday Farmers Market. Also at Greensgrow Farm (in Kensington), Fair Food Farmstand, Reading Terminal Market.