Not sure why but your link won't work for me. This one will.

http://wire.farmradio.fm/en/farmer-stories/2016/11/burundi-farmer-finds-new-technique-for-preserving-tomatoes-15454

Never tried it and don't really have a need for long term storage other than canning or freezing. But I am concerned that while requested, there has been no testing on the safety of such method.

Dave

I can find a couple of historical references to this method, circa 1893. Gardeners in Maine wanted to know if they could use coal ashes instead of wood ashes for packing vegetables, so apparently it was a familiar method. More recently, wood ashes were evaluated as a packing material for potatoes. They lost weight in wood ash storage, but resisted various rots.

The fellow here can't provide cool conditions, so maybe the next best thing is to pack his tomatoes in wood ashes -- semi-sterile, dry, alkaline, salty and not likely to host fungi.