My favorite is probably Aker's West Virginia. Incredibly strong, thick and sturdy stems. Tomatoes around a pound or so. Superb, tomatoey taste. It is not a hybrid, but an heirloom. Indeterminate. Plant it in the sunniest spot you have. Mid to late season here. Yes, you can grow late season tomatoes in the northwest. Don't let anyone say you can't. It is problematic if you have lots of shade. I have neighbors with large shade trees, so I have to plant in the same spaces every year. You will need at least 8 hours of sun a day for most tomatoes, and more is better.

Another terrific red is Red Brandywine. Not as big as A.W.V., but it is another with superb taste. Indeterminate and an heirloom.

One that not many have yet is Neves Azorean Red. The woman who introduced it is a regular on the tomato forum, as am I. Neves Azorean Red is an o.p. from the Azores Islands and brought to the states by the man who bred it. Plant is indeterminate, neat and tidy vines, producing lots of solid, red tomatoes. Most are over a pound. I like A.W.V. slightly better for taste, but N.A.R. is also excellent. N.A.R. is very late for me and I found the year it was introduced that even people in prime tomato growing areas were saying it was late for them too. Just when you think it will not produce one ripe one for you, it starts ripening all of a sudden. More than likely you would need to start all of these varieties yourself. Red Brandywine is slightly better known, so it is possible you might find starts.

Some on-line plant catalogues for these are Tomato Growers supply in Florida, Sandhill Preservation in Iowa, (run by a family. Dad, mom and kids.), and Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds. This one is in Missouri. I have ordered from all three and been happy with service, prices and seed quality. All have paper catalogues you can order too.

There are also people on the garden web tomato seed exchange who sometimes offer seeds for a trade or for self addressed stamped envelope. I have traded for seed, taken advantage of others' seed offers and offered seed myself. People are usually pretty generous. I am not offering seed right now, but some folks might be, so I would at least give it a look.

Best wishes for a great 2006 garden.

Mary

My most successful tomatoes last year were Brandywine Sudduth, Cherokee Purple, Marianna's Peace, Brandywine and Earl's Faux, all but the latter grown from seed from Tomato Growers Supply. The Earl's Faux are difficult to get but Laurel of heirloomtomatoplants.com has plants available and I bought a half-dozen from her last summer. They were fabulous.
For yellow tomatoes that were really delicious and productive, we grew Jaune Flamme and Azoychka. Best cherries were Sungold and Snow White.

We had a terrific crop last year from raised and in-ground beds, with new plants protected by Walls o' Water, and some tasty soil amended with washed dairy manure, alfalfa and epsom salts.

Good luck with your garden!

Sue

A lot further north, [Juneau Alaska] we rarely have nights [or even days] over 60, which is what tomatoes really like. After experimenting with MANY varieties, I found two cherry types that grow well--these were kind of known, or just, to local gardners: TUMBLER and BALCONI. The latter did nothing outside, but when I took the plant inside in September and left it in a window, well, I had fresh tomatoes in November! Fine taste to both, why grow unless taste is exceptional? The other, larger discovery I made, not previously known here, was SILETZ, about 1.5", great taste, balanced between sweet/tart. I'm told that was developed at U of Oregon, perhaps related to Oregon Spring? Some friends report that the SWISS ALPINE plants I gave them were very productive in greenhouse, and I tasted one grown in an Arctic entry, pretty good flavor, almost 2" diameter, slightly thick skin, but that was indoors, and I'm looking for a great tasting outdoor grower, so SILETZ is the winner so far, up here, in my tests, but I have a shady spot, so others may have different experiences. One fellow liked Sub Arctic 25, I think.....Debararao Black grew well, but tasted poorly. Stupice sometimes will produce here.

If any growers have suggestions for a cool weather great tasting tomato that does well in shade and rain [up to 100 inches annually], well, suggest away!! Thanks!!

What about disease susceptibility on the heirloom types? I think I tried Brandywine once some years ago and had disease issues...kinda put me off on trying the heirlooms in our climate.

Patrick and anyone else who is curious,

Heirloom potato leaf types like Brandywine are usually pretty resistant to disease. However, Brandywine is not as productive as other heirlooms, so I usually grow others. Some heirlooms are very productive. An excellent introduction to heirloom tomatoes is, "100 Heirloom Tomatoes for the American Garden," by Dr. Carolyn J. Male. Dr. Male is a fairly regular poster to the tomato forum, by the way. She is a wealth of information.

Mary

Aker's West Virginia did well for me too. I tried a lot of early ones and like Taxi, a tasty and productive early yellow that is supposed to be cold-tolerant. Juliet has been my earliest and cranks them out all season, crack-free and very firm. Some people think they are tasteless but I like them- not sweet but tomato-ey. My best yielder last year was a hybrid paste, Big Mama, but for taste I liked the hearts I grew, Ukraine Heart, Sochulak, and what I think was Grace Lahman's Pink. I'm trying a bunch more hearts this year.