Could you help me choose some vegetable varieties that will grow well here, especially tomatoes?
Although we have a long growing season here, cool night temperatures slow development of some vegetables so they take longer to mature. It helps to plant some early or rapidly maturing vegetable varieties.
Most seed packets, catalogs and seed sources online rate vegetable varieties by days to maturity. Many vegetable plant tags also include this rating, which is the number of days from planting to first harvest under ideal growing conditions. Ratings for hardy or cold tolerant vegetables fit our climate fairly well. These include almost all of the root, leaf and flower-bud vegetables, plus peas. Frost-tender or heat-tolerant vegetables need to have about two weeks added to the days-to-maturity ratings. In cooler, high-elevation areas, even more time must be added. Tender vegetables include almost all the fruiting vegetables such as tomatoes, peppers, corn, squash, cucumbers, melons and beans.
Almost all the hardy vegetable varieties will mature in our growing season. However, earlier varieties may give us an advantage, especially in colder areas. Because hardy varieties are more tolerant of light frost, they can be planted as much as a month ahead of the average last frost date, which is mid-April in Vancouver. It is best to wait until temperatures warm up in May to plant tender vegetables.