Garden Report III
Posted
Mon, 09/01/03
Our corn is just about ready. We've pulled off several "cobs" in the last few days. However, I've noticed the intolerable presence of earwigs. It's hard to miss the little pests: you can see their dark bodies squirming just under the husk of the corn. When I see them, I take a stick and work it into the top of the corn and this usually runs them out.
Besides searing heat, summer is my least favorite season because of bees, flies and other insects. The earwigs are horrible, loathsome creatures. Sometimes I find them in the house as well. They seem to be attracted to water and dark, moist places. I've mashed more than a dozen in the bathroom over the last few months. For some reason, they love perching on the sink. One time I even found one in my hairbrush, happy as you please entwined in strands of my hair. Needless to say, I cleaned the brush in boiling water and soap, but it gave me the creeps. What if I had been brushing my hair when the creature decided to make its exit? I think I would have run screaming from the house if I'd found one in my hair.
According to Health Canada:
"Earwigs come out of hiding at dusk to begin foraging. While decaying organic matter forms the largest part of their diet, they also feed on the tender shoots, leaves and blossoms of such flowering plants as marigolds, roses, carnations, clematis, dahlias, zinnias, gladioli, chrysanthemums and asters. They can chew on garden vegetables such as lettuce, celery, potatoes, beans, carrots, and sweet corn crops. Earwigs are also carnivorous, eating other small insects and sometimes even each other."
Sadly, earwigs have a lifespan of one year.
The green beans are almost ready to harvest, and our tomato plants are loaded although all of the tomatoes are still green. Some of the branches are so full they have sagged to the ground. I'm sure we'll be flooded all at once and end up giving many away, which is fine because I don't have a speck of room in my freezer to store the bounty.
Tags: Gardening
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