These are busy days for California’s First Family of Pumpkins.

George Perry & Sons – the biggest broker of pumpkins on the West Coast – is sending between 40 and 50 truckloads laden with pumpkins to various California markets from the firm’s operations that have been based just north of Manteca since 1925.

That is a pace that has been steady for nearly a month as the fields around Manteca yield well over 70 percent of California’s commercially grown pumpkins.

“It’s a good year for tonnage and quality,” noted Art Perry.

Growers indicated that this year’s crop could top last year’s near record 76,100 tons generated from 4,320 acres that sold for $22.8 million on the wholesale market.

Perry said the late planting due to unusual spring rains had some growers worried. But in the end, Mother Nature came through.

Perry was in Nogales, Mexico on Monday checking on whether watermelon there will be of good enough quality to contract and deliver to California markets through the Manteca operations. By all indications, it is a good crop Perry noted.

Perry & Sons is also a major distributor of watermelons plus other melons and squash.

The watermelon crop was planted late this year as well but the harvest was strong.

“We have gotten good feedback about the quality of this year’s Manteca (watermelon) crop,” Perry said.

Watermelons grown close to the Delta have a major advantage over those grown farther south in the valley and even in Mexico and Arizona. That’s because warm and hot days followed by cooler nights are ideal for watermelons to bring up the sweetness just as it is with grapes.

The 2010 San Joaquin County watermelon crop was 68,200 tons. They were grown on 2,200 acres for a gross wholesale value of $16 million. Just like with pumpkins, Perry & Sons also contracts for crops in nearby northern Stanislaus County that are harvested and shopped through the Manteca operation. The Stanislaus valuation is not included in the San Joaquin County crop numbers.

Perry & Sons employs 30 year-round and up to 300 workers during various harvests.