[biermaster]

what you have to think about is we really have two short seasons. Is possible for plants to hold from the spring to fall season but you will be fighting the heat, humidity, and the fungal problems associated with them. Mulch is the biggest key to growing. I mean twice what you are use to using and drip irrigation on a timer that you can use twice a day from 1st of July to end of September. Shade is the other big requirement. If you are using a raised bed, the build a frame over it using pvc or wood and then cover by about 15 May and remove when the heat comes down to 90 during the day for at least 10 days. You can easily over water so watch the leaves. Folger sprays, Asprin, and Teas, as well as soil drenches work for me. I would seriously think of putting either foam board or cardboard on the inside of the frame to help keep the roots cool. You might want to think about adding some green sand to your bed if the are on alkaline side. You want to transplant early as possible, like this weekend. You are a little lower than I am and my average frost day is 15 March but that hasn't happened for a number of years so I shoot for the late transplants in on the 1st and the earlly ones in the ground about the 15th of Feb. You should be about two weeks earlier. You can grow tomatoes here but the fall tomatoes are normally the better ones and if the frost holds off or you cover you can pick for Christmas. You want early,short season varieties for the spring season. Bloody Butcher, Romma, New Big Dwarf and cherries have given me tomatoes most of the year. There are other things you can do such as cut the plants back in the heat so they start producing new growth which helps produce blossoms when it does start cooling down. Western Gardening Book by Sunset is great for California but you should look at Gardening In the Southwest Desert as a guide.