Dice,
May I ask what part of Western Washington you are in? I grew up in Bellingham. Some years we had tons of wonderful tomatoes and some years we had nothing. I don't know what varieties my dad grew.
I was just out in Washington for three weeks, driving around Puget Sound and the Olympic Peninsula. I have been scouting for a potential retirement place and of course, one of the criteria has been whether tomatoes will grow where I land. As I'm sure you know, the amount of rain and sunshine over the average year around Puget Sound and the Olympic Peninsula is highly variable, because of the rain shadow effect of the Olympic Mountains. Seattle gets 38 inches of rain a year, Port Townsend gets only 19, Sequim gets 16, Bremerton (which is only an hour's drive from Sequim) gets 52, Concrete gets 68, Olympia gets 54, Shelton gets 66, Bellingham gets 36, Orcas Island (Olga) gets 26, Lopez Island gets 19, Whidbey Island (Coupeville) gets 21. The ocean coast is gorgeous, but I don't think tomatoes can grow there: Long Beach gets 81 inches of rain, Clearwater gets 117, etc.
Do you have any advice?
Best,
Jonathan
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