Gotcha to look? Bwhaaa… ok, generally speaking, organic gardening is not viscerally horrifying. But have you ever opened a seemingly perfect peach only to have the core literally swarming with earwigs? Since they are nocturnal, you get the added bennie of having them run down your hand trying to escape the light. Hence, visceral horror…
Some context: This is a bleak fruit year at Flying Pig Farms. A late hard frost took out ALL the cherry blossoms on our beloved cherry tree, and most of the peach blossoms on our older peach tree too. But there was enough peaches left for a basketful, and we carefully watered and religiously, and organically, sprayed neem extract and horticultural oil to control all the critters that munch on, crap on, or lay eggs on (or all three) our fruit trees. The peaches were big and perfect, just getting ripe…then I noticed the hollow look near the stems on several, and cut one open for a peek. EEEEWWWWW…. to say the least.
I perused some websites looking for help in online forums. Many talked about the beneficial nature of earwigs, how they help control aphids and other insects. Perhaps I should consider “moving them to another section of the garden” they said. RRRRRight!
Move them? RU smoking some of that organic hemp? Oh no, my friends, I wanted revenge, and I wanted it now. I did have enough restraint not to spray my tree with something awful, setting oil traps and tanglefoot around the trunk instead, but the revenge part involved a bucket and a pesticide called Sevin for the entire peach harvest. Overkill perhaps, but the little buggers floating on top of the pail made me a happy gardener and that is what it is all about baby!