In the Garden: Dig into learning – discover lots of resources to help you with your garden

Gardening is a learning process. If things don’t go according to plan, we take notes, do a little research and remember that there’s always next year.

Last year, many Inland Northwest gardeners were inundated with earwigs that caused a lot of damage. I had the same problem.

Ordinarily, earwigs are considered beneficial since they feed on decomposing plants and are predators of aphids and mites. In my garden, these critters also helped themselves to celery stalks, yardlong bean seedlings, broccoli and cauliflower. I’ve been looking into ways to make them behave themselves this year.

But first, let’s look at the types of resources and opportunities you can take advantage of to deal with challenges as well as advance your gardening skills.

The Spokane County and Kootenai County Master Gardener programs run plant clinics that provide free, research-based information to the public. To contact them, refer to the information box.

To locate reliable information on the web, consult educational resources. When wording your search, input the problem or question you have, followed by the phrase “site=edu” (e.g., “how to control earwigs site=edu”). Look through the results for links to university websites such as Washington State University to know you are receiving reliable information that you can trust.

There are educational opportunities to take advantage of, as well. The Spokane County Master Gardeners and Spokane County Extension will be putting on several useful horticulture-related classes in the coming months. Take a look at their events calendar by going to extension.wsu.edu/spokane/events/. I’ll be teaching a class on raised bed gardening on March 7 from 9 a.m.-noon.

This year’s Northwest Flower & Garden Show takes place in Seattle from Wednesday through March 1. Each day, there will be 20 seminars and demonstrations on all sorts of gardening topics. Attending the show is a great way to celebrate this year’s garden season, learn new things and hit the ground running.

The Cabin Fever Gardening Symposium, a daylong educational event by the Master Gardener Foundation of Spokane County, will take place on March 21 at CenterPlace in Spokane Valley. Learn about it by going to mgfsc.org. During this event, I’ll give a presentation on growing edibles in the garden.

Many of our public and county library branches have scheduled free gardening talks. Find their schedules at spokanelibrary.org/calendar/ and scld.evanced.info/signup/calendar, respectively. The libraries also carry books and magazines on many horticultural topics.

Your friends and neighbors are another wonderful resource for gardening information. Take this opportunity to visit with them while learning new skills and how to solve problems they might have encountered.

Back to the earwigs: If they cause damage to your vegetable plants, you have options. If you sprinkle diatomaceous earth around the base of the plants, it creates a barrier that insects rarely cross. Diatomaceous earth is a flourlike substance made from the fossilized remains of algae. It is safe for humans but contains tiny sharp edges that cut into the skin of certain insects, causing them to dehydrate and die.

Another option is to make an earwig trap with an empty tuna or cat food can or an empty plastic butter container with a hole cut into the lid. Submerge the container so the lip is at the soil surface and add vegetable oil and perhaps a splash of soy sauce. The earwigs are attracted to this solution, fall in and drown.

Earwigs like to hide under mulch or garden debris during the day. If they are being troublesome, remove the mulch or debris. Or place sheets of corrugated cardboard or newspaper on the ground, pick them up in the morning and shake the earwigs hiding in them into a container of soapy water.

Today marks the beginning of my weekly garden columns and videos. Take a look at the information box to see what I’ll be growing in my vegetable garden this year.