Farm Life · October 7, 2026

Canning donated heirloom tomatoes

Wide-mouth jars packed with deep red and dark heirloom tomatoes beside a yellow and a red onion, with autumn trees behind the garden fence

We've been receiving donations of older produce from a local grocery store — food that would otherwise go to waste finds a second life here on the farm.

This batch held a real treasure: heirloom tomatoes, deep red and nearly purple-black, and so flavorful that I couldn't let them wait. I canned them immediately.

The pressure canner hummed on the porch into the evening, and by morning the jars were sealed and glowing amber in the light.

I'm looking forward to opening these on a cold winter day, when a little bit of summer will be very welcome.

A pressure canner on a wooden stump table on the lit front porch at night — The pressure canner working late on the porch.

Sealed jars of canned heirloom tomatoes cooling on a round wooden slab — Sealed, cooling, and ready for winter.

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Canning donated heirloom tomatoes

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