To say the least, August has been a productive month at Whitehall-Coplay Hunger Initiative Food Pantry’s garden. Despite the ongoing issues of our eggplants being eaten, we were able to harvest 220 pounds of peppers, tomatoes, zucchini, watermelon, corn and herbs.

The storms brought enough rain to fill our water tank, but the strong winds uprooted our sunflowers, which had stood approximately 12 feet high.

Tom’s crop of bicolor sweet corn started to be eaten by groundhogs — or so we thought. We found ears that were picked, the husks peeled back and every kernel of corn completely eaten from each cob. Empty cobs were strewn about the corn bed and surrounding grass, making it look like someone didn’t clean up after a picnic. The only thing that could not be determined from the empty cobs was whether the culprits ate the corn going across or around.

We subsequently learned our corn was not being eaten by groundhogs but by raccoons. To keep from losing the entire crop, Tom ended up picking the remaining corn about a week earlier than planned. The 76 pounds of corn were picked and distributed Aug. 8.

We harvested six watermelons in August, which accounted for just under 72 pounds of our total harvest weight. We have one watermelon remaining in the garden which will be picked before our September distribution.

Upon doing more research, we have learned the culprits eating our eggplants are also not groundhogs but more likely raccoons. We have had two rounds of eggplants eaten so far, but the third round has started to grow, and there are a few that are getting some size.

On our work night Aug. 27, we enclosed the plants with some mesh deer fence that was left over from our “save the pepper plants from the finches” project. This time, we tacked down the fence to the ground and we will open the top when it is time to harvest.

Our winter squash is growing like gangbusters! We have two shapes of squash growing in one of our larger beds. On her next visit, Hannah from The Seed Farm will advise us on the proper time to harvest.

After recovering from the finch damage, our peppers that survived completely bounced back. We picked about 10 pounds Aug. 6 and more than 30 pounds Aug. 13. We look forward to picking more peppers for our September and October distributions.

The tomatoes continue to ripen slowly. Unfortunately, some have been snacked on by our groundhog friends, but we have been able to pick and share a few at our community meals and at August distributions.

On our work night Aug. 20, we picked the last of our zucchini and pulled the plants. On our work night Aug. 27, the empty beds were rototilled and replanted with lettuce and chard provided to us by The Seed Farm. We have plans to plant brassicas in the former corn bed Sept. 3. Hannah will be bringing the plants and will help us get them into the ground. In my October article, I will update you on exactly what we planted.

Did you know WCHI is a Lehigh Valley Plant-A-Row drop-off location? Extra fruits and vegetables you grow may be left on the table in the foyer at Re/Max Unlimited, 1080 Schadt Ave., Whitehall, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays. All produce will be distributed at our pantry and free community meals or shared with other pantries in the Lehigh Valley. Nothing will go to waste.

So far this summer, our local gardeners have donated more than 170 pounds of fresh produce, including tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, yellow squash, peppers, herbs and sweet corn. Thank you for your generous donations.

Happy September!

Editor’s note: This column was written by Gwen Herzog, WCHI Food Pantry garden chair.