From Farm to Freezer: Preserving Your Tomato Harvest When Time is Tight

If you are like me, the idea of delicious home-made spaghetti sauce from locally grown organic tomatoes sounds really amazing…

But then you think of your first week of September with kids going back to school and work and life and so on, and you wonder how you can realistically add canning tomatoes into the mix…

As a farmer who's been nurturing tomato plants through countless seasons, I know the late-summer harvest presents both a blessing and a challenge. You've got bushels of beautiful, ripe tomatoes—but limited time to preserve them.

In this guide, I'll share three preservation methods that fit even the busiest schedule, drawn from years of hands-on farm experience.

Whole Tomato Freezing: The Farmer's Quick Preservation Hack

Imagine preserving your entire tomato harvest in under an hour. Sounds too good to be true? Read on.

A few years back, I discovered that you can actually freeze tomatoes whole, with the skin and everything! What a relief!

This method is particularly effective with our Italian tomato varieties like the Andine Cornue or Napoli a Fiaschetto Red. The process is surprisingly simple:

• Wash and sort your tomatoes

• Spread them on a cookie sheet for flash freezing

• Transfer to freezer bags after a few hours

And there you are, you have your delicious local organic produce put away for when you’ll need it in the winter.Just grab 1 or 2 frozen tomatoes and throw them in your curry dish, chilli, omelette or whatever!

Pro Tip: Freezing whole tomatoes isn't just convenient—it's a game-changer for busy home cooks.

If you want to make a sauce you’ll take a bunch of them out of the freezer in advance and leave them to thaw in the sink or in a bowl, and then get cooking!

 The Magic of Freezing: Less Water, More Flavor**

Through the freezing and thawing process, the tomatoes actually lose most of their water, and when you actually make your sauce, it’s SO MUCH quicker, because you don’t have all that water to evaporate!

Freezer space is the only real consideration here. Plan ahead and clear some room, and you'll have farm-fresh tomatoes all winter long. 

Space-Saving Diced Tomato Preservation

For those with limited freezer space or lots of slightly imperfect tomatoes, dicing is your preservation secret weapon. This method is perfect for using those "second-grade" tomatoes that might not look picture-perfect but are still packed with flavor.

Preparation is straightforward:

• Cube your tomatoes (don't worry about perfection)

• Spread on a tray to prevent clumping

• Freeze in single layers

• Transfer to freezer bags for compact storage

Bonus: This technique works especially well with our Italian Heirloom variety, which produces large, meaty tomatoes that dice beautifully, but can also be used with your standard round tomatoes.

Canning: The Traditional Preservation Method

For those with a bit more time and culinary ambition, traditional canning remains the gold standard of tomato preservation. As farmers who've been growing tomatoes for 20 years, I know there's something special about a perfectly canned sauce.

Advantages of Canning:

• Pre-cooked sauce saves time during meal prep

• No freezer space required

• Longer shelf stability

• Concentrated, rich flavor development

Interested in mastering the art of canning? Check out our comprehensive tomato canning guide for step-by-step instructions.

Your Tomato Preservation Toolkit

September is the perfect time to put some delicious tomatoes away and make sure you’ll be able to have tasty, healthy and local ingredients all year round.

Recommended Tomato Varieties for Preservation

If you are are gardener and would love to grow yourself the tomatoes that you will keep all winter, you should definitely check out our 3 popular italian tomatoes varieties:

1. Andine Cornue- Long red tomato shaped like a goat’s horn. This French heirloom indeterminate variety produces fruits with few seeds, perfect for making rich, thick sauces

2. Italian Heirloom - Large, red tomatoes weighing around 400g hang from these plants,This new variety is perfect for all your sauce needs. In our trials, despite being started late, they thrived, yielding over 25 fruits per plant, with a delightful flavor that impressed everyone.

3. Napoli a Fiaschetto Red. This paste tomato features elongated red fruits in abundant clusters.This determinate variety thrives with a bountiful yield, perfect for rich sauces.

Special offer: Members of our basket program have access toour online storewhere they can seasonnally order vegetables like tomatoes and peppers in bulk to stock up their freezers and pantry for the cold months!

Final Thoughts

From our farm to your kitchen, preserving tomatoes is more than a technique—it's a celebration of seasonal bounty.

Whether you choose freezing, dicing, or traditional canning, you're capturing the essence of late-summer sunshine to brighten your winter meals.

Happy preserving!

Frederic

Ferme Tourne-sol