Yellow Pear Tomatoes

Besides the fact that they are prolific and look impressive, yellow tomatoes have a luscious unique flavor which lends itself well to both fresh eating and preserving.

The yellow pear tomato is a small, sweet tomato that can grow quite tall. Tomatoes grow in clusters, and the ones that come inside are amazing in salad or pasta (see recipe below). Should any remain uneaten, they can be canned or pickled. Pickled yellow pear tomatoes make an interesting side dish along a plain meal such as roast chicken and broccoli.

The FDA (and various other experts) reccommend a diet that includes a variety of colors. How much yellow are you eating now?

Yellow Pear Tomato Puttanesca

Ingredients:
1 medium spaghetti squash
A couple handfuls of Yellow Pear Tomatoes
1 bunch of Fresh basil
1 bunch of fresh mint
2-5 cloved of garlic minced
1/2 cup of black olives whole (or about 1/4-1/3 cup sliced)
1/2 red pepper diced
1/2 tablespoon dried red pepper flakes (optional)
Vinegar of your choice (I recommend Balsamic or Cadwell Garden's own hot pepper vinegar)
Olive Oil
Kosher Salt
Pepper

Prepare spaghetti squash by cutting in half and wrapping in plastic wrap. Microwave 10-12 minutes. Let cool for 20 minutes. While it's cooling, heat olive oil in a large skillet. Slice yellow pear tomatoes lengthwise. Add garlic and hot pepper flakes to the olive oil and stir until garlic is cooked. Add tomatoes and diced red peppers. Do NOT stir for a minute, let brown on one side for a couple minutes. Then stir and sautee until just barely cooked through. While it's cooking, use a fork and pull the "spaghetti" out of the squash and place in a bowl. Toss with vinegar, salt, and pepper. Chiffonade the herbs and add to your skillet at the last minute, they only need to wilt a little bit. Add the skillet mixture to the squash, toss and serve.

Leftovers taste just as good!

Serves: 2-4

(By the way, I used the term puttanesca loosely.)

Happy Spring

I decided to post this this morning instead of yesterday. As of the moment this is posted, it's officially SPRING! We made it through the winter! And this is what we get for it.

It's been a hard year with a lot of loss for us. This little bloom reminded me that there's always a spring after a winter. Always.

For those of you who don't know, FarmerGeek and I moved into this house at the end of last summer. By then, of course, all the spring blooms had wilted and were gone. So finding the little sprouts popping up through the dirt was doubly amazing. Finding flowers that had been planted by someone else last year (or even years before) was like a... like a...

Miracle.

Welcome to Cadwell Gardens

This is the blog for our cottage industry, Cadwell Gardens. We started out on a tenth of an acre outside of Pittsburgh, and now we have a couple acres in Ohio. Currently on the farm right now are the two of us, two dogs, 9 hens, 2 roosters, and 2 Muscovy Ducks. Oh and a few hawks and fox- but they are uninvited.

For the first time this year, we're going to be selling seedlings! Yes we can ship them as long as your state allows. Soon we'll also have natural cleaning and beauty supplies available on our forthcoming website.

Welcome, and pull up a chair to enjoy the breeze.