Stupice, a Czech variety, worked really well for me last year. Today's New York Times piece on buying tomatoes online [!] also endorsed this tough variety.

With the cold and wet of our recent late spring, tomato season is off to a bit of a slow start here. My nursery is only starting to bring in tomatoes and the selection is by no means complete yet.

FWIW, many of the smaller fruited varieties do very well here - Sweet Millions, any of the grape forms, Tumbler or Tom Thumb, most Roma or pear shaped. Sungold is and will continue to be available, depending on where you look. We have had it in twice and sold out nearly immediately but more is on order. Look for cultivars which are listed as early season - and anything with Oregon in the name :-) And Stupice is an excellent and very popular choice.

We are in the Bellingham area and we have found BETTER BOY to be just as early as Early girl and bigger and BETTER...Give it a try........I believe we are a bit cooler here weather wise also.

I'm planting Stupice for the first time this year. I've had great luck with Lemon Boy the last two years if you want a non-red tomato.

I seem to have tried them all. The winner is Roma Italia, all the way. For eating and sauce. I found Stupice pretty bland for our taste. Good Luck!

Check out Minter's Earlington Nursery in Renton on Renton Ave for heirloom tomatoes. They have Stupice, Sungold, Brandywine, Jaune Flamme, and many others. We've had great success with all of these. Neighbors have also had plants in the ground for two weeks with very limited protection that are growing healthily and rapidly.

Sue

Sungold is a favorite of mine...and now I think I like Sun Sugar even a little better(Sungold is one of its parents). It resists splitting and I love the flavor.

This year, I'm trying a red grape tomato called Navidad. I like to try something new each year.

Patrick

We have had good luck with Lemon Boy as well. We really like Mister Stripey -- they are very sweet, but the crop seems to be inconsistent, and they don't always form nicely -- more like 'heirloom' tomatoes.

Bellingham is colder but not enough to be Zone 7, unless you really live in the mountains east of Bellingham. Grow tomatoes under plastic for best results, these are hot climate tropicals that love the 90 degree summer nights of the Midwest. Here they also need a covering to protect them from Late Blight.

In 2004 Willamette was my best producing plant.
Last year it was Early Cascade.
The Willamette were superior in taste, but Early Cascade was great in Salsa.
Sungolds love the climate here.
Heirlooms unfortunately do not.
I am trying Cherokee Purple though for the first time this year, in buckets so I can move them around if they're not digging the microclimate.

I allways have wonderful luck with Early girl, and Juliette, a "half size" Roma type that is still covered with fruit at the first hard frost. You can make a great salsa with it, or even stir fry or make a fresh pasta sauce with it. Then in the hierloom area, I really enjoyed Brandywine last year, kind of a rich almost smokey flavor. This is Northern Willamette Valley, though, and any type of tomato will do pretty well here I guess. I do plant them in the "newest" compost bed , (I compost directly into the next bed I am going to put to use)and they like that as long as it has some soil mixed in.

I got a couple Brandywines and couple cherry type from Territorial and planted last week. The plants were smaller than I expected, though. :( Got a couple peppers too.
I have high hopes for these babies. I put wallowaters around them all propped open a little for sun, if we get any.
Any other advice for getting them big and producing fast? I want yummy tomatoes!

MG

Thanks to everyone for the tomato suggestions; shortly after I posted I saw a sigh that our local alternative high school was selling bedding plants and veggies as a fund raising project (what a great idea). I picked up the follow varieties from them

Sun Gold (2)
Cosmonaut Volkov (2)
Beaverlodge Plum
Early Girl (3)

In addition I got Willamette from a friend and found Celebrity and Manitoba at local stores. Most of these are new to me and I will try to remember to post how they do. Right now they are looking very good planted in the new Cedar Grove compost and homemade tomato cages.

Christine