On a recent post Peggy asked what a tommy-toe was. Here’s the definition:
tommytoe noun A small salad tomato, cherry tomato.
1957 Broaddus Vocab Estill Co KY 80 tommytoe = a variety of tomatoes that are approximately 1 ½ inches in diameter when ripe. 1976 Garber Mountain-ese 94 = tiny bell tomato. “We raised a bushel of tommy-toes on jist one vine in the garden.” 1981 Dumas Appal Glossary 18 = a cherry or plum tomato. 1986 Pederson et al. LAGS = attested by 37/60 interviewees (61.7%) from E TN and 8/35 (22.7%) from N GA; 45/83 of all LAGS interviewees (24.5%) attesting term were from Appalachia. 2007 Farr My Appalachia 71 Every year we would find tomatoes growing in the places where a tomato had rotted, or tomato peel and seed had been dumped. These we called “Tommy Toes,” and it was incredible how strong and vigorous the plants were and how the small, round tomatoes would be bursting with flavor. Toady at the farmers market I buy cherry tomatoes. But they never taste as good as the sweet, sound flesh of the Tommy Toes in our garden.
—Dictionary of Southern Appalachian English
The usage of tommy-toe for small tomatoes is still alive and well in my area of Appalachia. They are among my favorite tomatoes due to a couple of reasons mentioned in the dictionary entry.
Tommy-toes are generally very prolific and as Farr described they are absolutely bursting with flavor. I can never walk through the garden without eating at least a handful.
There are all kinds of tommy-toe varieties. And as Farr indicated often hybrid or store bought tomatoes will revert back to a tommy-toe size of unknown variety if their seeds are allowed to grow.
Our favorites are Black Cherry, Sun Gold, and a wonderful orange tommy-toe shared with us by dear friends David and Carolyn Anderson.
Several years back I tried a really tiny tommy-toe called Matt’s Cherry. It was very tasty but so small it was hard to do anything with other than eat out of hand. Although I haven’t planted them in a couple of years, the small tommy-toe comes back every year in a couple of places in the garden.
Also noted by Farr is the strength and vigor of volunteer tommy-toe plants. They always seem to be so far ahead of the ones I plant myself.
Last night’s video: 4th of July Hike in the Mountains of Appalachia.
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I just had a customer from Eastern Ky. spot my morning snack bag of Sun Gold tomatoes. He called them tommy-toes, which I have heard on your videos a few times. Somehow I missed that it was small tomatoes you were referring to. When I heard you saying tommy-toe I thought to myself “is she talking about tomatillos?” My dad is from Eastern Ky. too, but I’ve never heard him say tommy-toes.
One thing I never heard anyone besides my aunt (dad’s sister) say, until you, is gom. All these years I thought she’d made it up.
Hi Tipper, What I think I’m hearing, (unless I have the size wrong) is what here in Oregon we call a “Sweet 100s” about the size of marbles. There are cherry tomato’s, (about the size of shooter marbles,, 1in diameter) and Rome’s (kinda oblong, from Mexico.. this is the one I was talk about yesterday that didn’t remember name) Then there’s med, (Early girls) Lg and,,, beef steak’s Xlg There are so many,, and everyone has their own name, in their own community. What ever you call them,,, enjoy you sandwiches or just off the vein. (have a friend that grows the Cherokees purples but don’t remember what he calls them?) Have good day Tipper Thanks for reply JH
That is all my Dad called them, Tommy Toes.
Not about Tommy Toes but just finished eating 2 very good tomato sandwiches. My homegrown Cherokee Purple tomato , Dukes mayonnaise and light bread. One slice would almost cover slice of bread. I tried something different this year, when I set my tomatoes out I put two Rolaid tablets in each hole below the tomato plant. Don’t know if it made a difference but have had some real pretty tomatoes this year. No problem with end rot. Tums, Rolaids and have heard powdered milk, anything with calcium will work too.
This is for all the ones that were concerned about not seeing yellow jackets. While cutting grass a little while ago I found some for you. They only got me 3 times. I saw the hole and plan on giving them a good drink of gasoline around can’t see time tonight.
I have never heard of them called Tommy Toes, so I guess what we call cherry tomatoes or grape ones are the same thing? If not, I hope someone will let me know. I love the name. Tipper, I really enjoyed you and Matt on your hike. It was beautiful and so peaceful. Have a great day everyone!
We always called them Tommie Toes”.
Oh, you mentioned you and Matt were going back to the house to work on green beans for canning. My mind immediately pulled up old precious memories of sitting on the porch with my Grandmother breaking green beans. That was precious to me listening to family talk about growing up days when they were young while we were breaking the beans. You experienced the peacefulness of just being still and drinking in the sounds of the birds, running water, and smell of the fire. I hope you were able to experience the breaking of the green beans sitting on the porch with family too:)
I have found only one drawback to tommy toes. I have to lick them first so that the salt will stick. It”s not a problem when I’m alone but seems a bit crude in a social setting.
ED, I agree, and I have done that, but other times I have taken a small bite out of one and filled it with hot sauce.
Always heard them called Tommy Toes from my Parents, Grandparents and use it myself even today. My son has planted them for me in planter boxes right off the patio for maybe three or more years now and what a pleasure it is just to step out and eat some right off the patio. I love them!!!! Of course, I love a big tomato sliced in a Tomato and Mayo sandwich too!!
That was a beautiful walk with you and Matt up the mountain trail. Thanks for taking us along. I remember following my Daddy along a creek in January in NE MS and even then I loved being out in the woods. I was bundled up with sweatshirt and coat, which as I walked along got a little too warm even though it was freezing temps, the sun and the walking did well to make me shed my coat:)
To keep the tommy toes off the ground, I made my own topsy turvy growers out of large plastic mailing envelopes. Just cut five or six-quarter size holes on one side, and fill them with soil. Plant the tommy toes in each hole and leave them on a flat surface about a week before hanging them. I cut two holes at the top of the bag and used a strong cord to make the hanger. They have needed daily watering in all this dry weather and scorching heat. The vines are loaded but the treats are not ripe yet.
I always call them tommy toes and I planted 3 last year. This year I didn’t plant any, but I do have a volunteer. As a boy I would hear the word volunteer, and I wasn’t satisfied until I learned what volunteer meant. The word still catches my attention.
Several years ago, I planted some of those real small ones and they produced many, many small tommy toes, about the size of a small marble. Although they were good eating, they are just too small.
We always called the small tomatoes Tommy Toes. When growing up we would always plant a large number (50 plants) of either Rutgers or Marion tomatoes , one year the plants my daddy bought had been marked wrong and they all turned out to be TommyToes. We were picking tomatoes and filling up several 5 gallon buckets each time we picked them . Mother tried to use them for soup and the rest were fed to the hog.
I love tommy toes and the black cherry variety seem especially good to me picked and eaten right in the garden.
When I was a child growing up in south Georgia, our next door neighbor always had volunteer tommy toes that came up in her flower bed next to the front door. I don’t think her family ever got any because all the neighbor kids devoured them!
And now I know, thank you.
I have heard them called Tommy Toes. We grew Matt’s Wild Cherry a couple years but as you said they are small, not to mention they were WILD as the name implies and grew almost like kudzu! Don’t plan to grow those again. I want to try the Sun Gold since you like them so much. Friends of ours freeze dried some Tommy toes and they were delicious; the freeze drying seemed to intensify the flavor. They said they were going to use them like croutons on salads instead of re-hydrating them for other use.
One of my favorite memories is of a volunteering “tommy-toe” plant near our fence where scraps were dumped. I’ve never seen a plant it’s equal. On every pass with the push mower a handful were enjoyed. That was the best mowed area in our yard!
Last year I bought yellow pear tomatoes which turned out very tasty but super tiny. I wanted BIG yellow, less acid tasting, smooth tomatoes, but got thousands upon thousands of the tiny tomatoes. I tried to can them, eat them, give them away but canning those tiny suckers was difficult to say the least. I DID NOT save those seed and was glad to be done with them honestly. This year I’m thankful none of those tiny flavor bombs are in my garden. In a salad or to pop like candy- sure they’re great. But I’m not a Tommy toe person because those tiny gems POP seed all over the place and there’s no way to cut one lest they explode all over the place. I dare say a tommy toe all crammed in one’s mouth at a dinner party could be a disaster. It could “explode” all over your clothes or “shoot” across the table upon slicing and “explode” on a dinner guest. As I’m writing this I am getting a good laugh imagining this actually happening…. lol but y’all Tommy toe fans enjoy those popable, quite portable “baby maters!” Its an area I am gonna cut down on starting last year…. lol Btw I once caught some really pitiful kids from California throwing my precious tomatoes onto a neighbor’s garage. Let’s just say it didn’t end well for them. I scolded them about MY food and how it’s clearly not theirs and not to be wasted followed by threats of police intervention if it ever happened again. Then I notified their grandmother and my neighbors… I often wonder where those adorable tiny hellions ended up…. they were pitiful indeed- Hannah and Christian from Stockton with no mommy or daddy or grandma to give one damn about them. Their people traveled like a band of Gypsies causing mayhem wherever they lighted for a while… then they ramble on and on… town to town state to state evading their criminal syndicates lifestyles….
Margie this happened to me at a wedding reception! My son was a preschooler–I gave him a “tommy toe”. When he bit into it, juice & seeds squirted all over my dress!!
I like Tommy Toes, but now days I favor Yellow Pear tomatoes. They are small like Tommy Toes but low in acid, sweet, easy to grow and shaped like a pear. Very tasty! But I’ll always plant them because they grow so well ever year.
Sorry, I meant to say I’d grow Tommy Toes every year even though I have a new favorite with the Yellow Pear. Tommy Toes just give the beautiful red color a salad needs!
Our garden always had an abundance of volunteer tommy toes and my Mother made tomato preserves using tommy toes. Not sure if any of our neighbors used their tommy toes for preserves. The preserves were really tasty with fresh butter and a hot biscuit. The thing I can remember Mom saying about making tommy toe preserves was that it took a “ton” of sugar to sweeten them.
As Tipper mentioned, they were good to eat right off the vine. Seems like I remember some of them being pretty sour.
I’ve been waiting for my first Tommy toes from my plants this season. Well they are beginning to rippen and are beautiful to look at but the skins are so tough you can hardly chew them. I’m supposing the incredibly hot weather so early this year is the reason. But I love them anyway ❤
Yep, always tommy toes to me. I don’t recall when I first heard “grape” or “cherry” but I probably was full growed. I have kindly gravitated into saying cherry or grape now though since I figured out some people don’t know tommy toes.
I only have one plant of a version of them this year. (I think, unless one of my transplants turns out to be one. I should look closer to see.) Anyway, the one store-bought plant is doing nothing, just sitting with no growth and no blooms. It had one set of blooms when I bought it that has yielded about 5 tomatoes. Now it seems to be done.
As a garden year, this one seems to be a version of my Dad’s saying, “It’ll feel.good when it quits hurtin’.
I’m 60, and here in Knoxville I grew up with these small tomatoes being called Tommy toes. I recall they would spring up and produce a whole load where other tomatoes had been thrown out. My neighbor grew em and he would give my boys a bucket full. They ate em straight from the bucket like candy.
I have heard you speak of Tommy Toes several times on your blog and I ordered the seeds to grow next year. I cannot wait to try them for myself. You always have such interesting information and I cannot wait every morning to see what I might have missed. My question today is, does the Deer Hunter mark the trails you guys walk or have you just used them enough that you do not get lost?…have and good and Blessed day.
Glenda-we don’t mark them, but they are pretty easy to see from all the years of foot travel and the old road beds that were traveled by sleds, wagons, and vehicles 🙂
I always loved tommy toes! I think it was because they were little, and I was little. They were just the right size for a little kid. My Grandmother always had plenty of them in her garden.
I have never hesrd them called Tommy Toes but a good name as they seem to walk all over.