Fresh Tomatoes 1 lb

A fresh tomato from a colony garden is one of those seasonal things that reminds you what the ingredient is actually supposed to taste like.

Grocery store tomatoes are picked underripe to survive the supply chain. They ripen in the truck or the warehouse, not on the vine, and the flavour reflects that. A colony garden tomato ripens where it is supposed to, comes off the plant when it is ready, and gets to you before that window closes.

Summerland Colony grows tomatoes in their garden near Carmangay in Vulcan County, Alberta. Established in 2021 as a daughter colony of Clear Lake Colony, Summerland is building out its fresh produce operations to serve nearby towns and customers across Alberta. These tomatoes are available by the pound, in season, for as long as the harvest runs.

What Fresh Garden Tomatoes Are Good For

Fresh sliced with salt and a drizzle of olive oil, nothing else needed. Layered into sandwiches and burgers where the tomato is actually the point. Diced into fresh salsa, bruschetta, and pico de gallo. Slow-roasted for pasta sauces and soups. Canned whole or crushed for a winter pantry stocked with the flavour of an Alberta summer. Made into homemade tomato juice, ketchup, or pasta sauce in batches that last through the cold months.

For canners, buying by the pound at colony price during peak season is the move. A summer’s worth of canned tomatoes from colony-grown fruit is a different product from anything that comes off a grocery store shelf in January.

Seasonal Availability
Tomatoes are available while the harvest runs. Alberta’s growing season is short and the window for fresh colony tomatoes closes when it closes. Order early in the season to get ahead of demand.