Coastal Growers LLC is preparing for its first watermelon harvest of the 2010 season, and Will Hales could not be more proud.

Mr. Hales and his partner, Travis Hastings, teamed up and founded Coastal Growers in 2008. Both men run family-owned operations near each other on the Delmarva Peninsula -- Mr. Hales runs Hales Farms Inc. in Salisbury, MD, while Mr. Hastings runs Lakeside Farms Inc. about 20 miles away in Laurel, DE.

Jackson Farming Co., based in Autryville, NC, teamed up with the Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina to help fight hunger in the region.

The company donated over 35,000 pounds of cantaloupes, all raised in Sampson County, to the food bank at the end of June. They will be distributed in 24 of the state's 100 counties.

The 2010 National Blueberry Conference & Expo is scheduled for Oct. 12-15 at the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel convention center in Grand Rapids, MI. This year's conference and expo is being held in conjunction with the North American Blueberry Council and the United States Highbush Blueberry Council meetings scheduled at the same location that week, according to the June 2010 USHBC newsletter.

Pegi Adam, director of communications for the New Jersey Peach Promotion Council in Clayton, NJ, said in late June that 2010 marks the fifth year the organization has promoted its "Peach Parties" events.

Celebrated during August, which is New Jersey Peach Month, the parties are gaining in popularity each year with retailers, farmers markets and foodservice operators. Although the council is a non-profit, non- governmental agency, it works closely with the New Jersey Department of Agriculture to promote the Jersey Fresh locally grown initiative.

LOS ANGELES -- John Corsaro, executive vice president of the Giumarra Cos., announced July 12 that Giumarra will be opening a new division, Giumarra Southeast, to focus on marketing vegetables and melons from the southeastern region of the United States. This new division will also be responsible for imports from South America for shipment to the eastern United States.

Giumarra Southeast will be based in Boca Raton, FL, and will be headed by Gary Sargent.

The Union of Growers of Brazilian Papaya, whose primary focus is the production and distribution of papaya from South America's largest country, also handles ginger and is now promoting the availability of that commodity to the U.S. market.