When to plant tomatoes for fall/early winter harvest

Question from Lewis:
I wanted to know when to plant tomatoes and what kind of tomatoes for a late fall, early winter harvest.

Answer from Pat:
The best time to plant tomatoes for summer use is in March, but this year our temperatures have been cool along the coast and cool temperatures can lead to bud drop so use a tomato-blossom set and grow cold-resistant varieties when planting early.

When planting tomatoes for tomatoes for fall harvest, choose early or cold-resistant tomatoes and count the days to harvest backwards from the time you want to be picking fruit to when to plant. For example if you choose a plant that bears in 58 days, you will want to plant in early August if you want to begin harvesting in late September. My guess is that most often you will want to plant in late July or early August for fall picking.

Some of early and cold-resistant varieties include Early Girl Improved VFNT, Champion 11 VFNT, Grushovka #4717, Jetsetter VFFNTA Hybrid #4519, and Oregon Spring V #2712, and Siberian #2908. Tomato Growers Exchange lists a whole page of cold-resistant varieties, and other catalogues have a few too, but beware of those which may also need long days, since our days in fall are growing shorter. Use blossom-set spray to keep the blossoms from dropping off when nights are cold or days too hot.