You should be able to do most even in early June. My father never bothered until Memorial day. That 5a zone up north is the same for us. Determinants go typically shorter but if you have 3-4" seedlings in mid-June that is 85 days or so till the end of August. I consider all September solid tomato season. With season extension October as well. I caught last years November Indian summer. I don't know if finding plants will be the issue. Starting from seed in June is probably a bit more narrow but it could be done but I would certainly want plants because you will lose much of the productive season.
For short you could try early girl for a cherry Tom and Oregon Spring for a mid sized. For big and early try Black Krim. The Russian tomatoes certainly know about short season and like the black skin on a polar bear the black Russian types grab the heat better in fall.

eric first welcome to the NW.Where exactly will you be living? Most of the coastal NW is zone 8...a cool zone 8. I put my tomatoes out today and have since last season with good results. As for variety...yeah our growing season will be shorter than SD but most varieties will do fine. Last season I grew Brandywine, Mortgage Lifter, Cherokee Purple and Black Prince. Even with a cooler than normal summer I had lots of tomatoes. This season I am growing some short season types Siberia & Stupice, and some mid/late season types San Marzano & Kellogg Breakfast. Have fun.

Larrick

I'll be living near Poulsbo on the Hood Canal.

Can you recommend any places nearby that will have started plants?

no i am a long way away from you in Bellingham and I don't know what places are in your area. You might want to try big supermarkets and or Walmart. Good luck.

I'm not familiar with the Poulsbo area, but check to see if there is a McLendon's nearby. They usually have a decent variety of tomato starts. I sometimes also luck at with Fred Meyer. And definitely see if you have a local farmer's market near Poulsbo, because that's where you can probably find lots of good vegetable starts from various vendors.

If you like cherry tomatoes, I highly recommend Sungolds. They've always done well for me. This year, I'm trying a couple of early varieties like Northern Exposure and Stupice. I usually like to plant a couple black varieties because they're so good, even if they are later varieties. I have Black Krim, Black Prince, and Cherokee Purple, so hopefully our summer will be warm enough to get some good production. Good luck and have fun!

Hi Eric,

I am not real familiar with the Poulsbo area, I have two sons that live in Everette and Bremerton, but I do know that there are Home Depot Stores and Lowes in your area and as far as I know they all have garden centers.

Doing an internet search brought up at least 3 local nurseries in Poulsbo with more in the Silverdale and Bremerton areas. Hopefully any local nurseries and even the chain stores will have tomato plants that are adapted and do well in the area.

Look for tomatoes with "Oregon" in the name, they were bred at OSU specifically for the PNW. Also check the DTM on the varieties.

You can also check TatianaÂs Tomatobase for a list of 80 varieties of heirloom or open pollinated early tomatoes.

Bets

Here is a link that might be useful: OSU develops tomatoes especially for PNW gardeners

Probably too late for ya, but thought I'd post anyway. Had my best year ever last year with Applause and Sunstart - very short season, full-size hybrids.
{{gwi:70754}}
Started seed indoors and planted out six-week-old seedlings on the Victoria Day weekend. Had them under hot caps (cloches) for about 10 days, vented during the day. They survived at least two or three dips below freezing under the caps with no ill effects. It's quite a bit colder here this spring (snowed a couple days ago), so I plan on doing the same thing, only delayed about a week, which would be about May 23/24 weekend. I'm loving hot caps now - putting them over as many things as I have caps for. Never had such early pumpkins as last year either! :)