“Amazing Vinegar Uses in Garden”, http://balconygardenweb.com/amazing-vinegar-uses-in-garden/, viewed 01/14/2017

BalconyGardenWeb.com lists 12 unique & practical uses for vinegar on your apartment balcony or in the garden – everything from preventing weeds to pest control to extending the life of flowers.

1. Clean Clay Pots

2. Remove weeds on walls and walkway

From my perspective, this also sounds like a practical idea for my home – weeds do sprout up in the sidewalk & those need to be eliminated. “To kill them, simply spray the place with pure white vinegar.”

3. Get rid of ants

If you struggle with ants in your kitchen; this one’s for you…

“Vinegar is very effective in getting rid of ants. To repel ants, mix equal amounts of water and vinegar (either white or apple cider) and spray the solution on the ant hills in your garden. In the home, look out for ant’s entry paths, counter tops, sink, and windows. The strong scent of vinegar will make the ants avoid the places sprayed with vinegar.”

4. Keep away animals from garden

Last year we had to deal with a rabbit.  This is may only be practical though if you live in the country – or if you just love the smell of vinegar near your house.

“Many animals including common garden destroyers like rodents, moles, cats, dogs, rabbits, and deer loathe the strong scent of vinegar. You can keep out these unwanted visitors from the garden by soaking several old clothes in white vinegar and placing them on stakes around your garden where they usually come most.  Resoak the clothes about every 6-7 days regularly for better results.”

5. Extend the life of cut flowers

This will come in handy as Valentine’s Day approaches next month…

“You can use vinegar to extend the life of cut flowers: Add 2 tablespoons of vinegar and a teaspoon of sugar per liter of water.”

6. Kill Weeds

Struggle with dandelions or other weeds near home?  This may be effective there too as well as in the garden…

“Vinegar is a weed killer and can be used for effective weed control. Spraying it kill weeds within 2-3 days after application. Here is how to kill weeds using vinegar.”

7. Vinegar garden insect spray

This is a practical idea to spray on your vegetables for protection from commonly harmful pests.”Vinegar is an effective solution for eliminating garden insects. To create a vinegar spray that works on garden insects, combine three parts water with one part vinegar in a spray bottle and add a teaspoon of dishwashing detergent. Shake the spray bottle to mix the contents thoroughly before use in the garden. Here is more on it.”

8. Prevent fruit flies

I do not personally have fruit in my garden at this time, but if you do, this may be a useful solution.  “Save your fruit crops from the fruit flies, make a bait using vinegar. For this, you’ll need a cup of water, half a cup of apple cider vinegar, 1/4 cup of sugar and 1 tbsp of molasses. Mix it all together and put that solution in an empty container or tin can and hang it on affected fruit tree you’ll see how it will attract and trap them. The similar solution can be used for houseflies too.”

9. Make acid loving plants happy

These plants can help draw helpful insects to your garden plot, like bees.

“Keep the acid-loving plants such as rhododendrons, gardenias or azaleas happy with vinegar. Although its effect is temporary but you can give a quick acid boost to plants with vinegar. Mix cup of white vinegar to a gallon of water and water you acid loving plants with this solution.”

10. Clean rust from garden tools

This is an idea for cleaning your shovel, pitchfork, etc.  Perhaps even the blades on your rototiller…

“Vinegar can be used to make the garden tools rust free. Just spray or soak the tools in undiluted vinegar and leave them for a few minutes and then rinse and clean the tool.

You can also clean the birdbaths and birdhouses in your garden from vinegar!”

11. Save plants from fungus

“You can protect the plants suffering from fungus and mold, the vinegar fungicide recipe is simple and easy– Add 2 tsp of vinegar in brewed chamomile tea and spray this on the affected plants in your garden. It’s safe and organic!”

12. Kill slugs and snails

I hate slugs; they appear in my garden every year.  Vinegar may be useful, as I recall; dish detergent is another option, but vinegar is also worth trying.

“Of many uses of vinegar, this one is getting popular among gardeners. You can kill snails and slugs with the help of vinegar. eHow has an informative article on this.”

http://www.burpee.com/gardenadvicecenter/areas-of-interest/flower-gardening/companion-planting-guide/article10888.html

I like to plan out my vegetable garden early, so I know exactly which vegetables & herbs I want as well as which specific varieties.  Burpee Seeds has an article on companion planting – plants which deter mutually beneficial or harmful insects, etc.  I pull out my gardening books, scout through them & make decisions at this time of year so that I may go to the store early in the year to buy the seeds I want from a local gardening center.  Later on, it is also possible to return for starter plants, because some vegetables like cantaloupe (my favorite food of all time) are challenging to start & to grow in the garden.  Last year I actually got fruit for the first time & it was the 3rd year I had made an attempt.  Starter plants are more expensive really (you pay maybe $3-$5 for one plant when you can buy a packet of 20-150 seeds for that plant (depending on the size of the seed) for less than $3.  It is more economical to start plants from seed, but it can be challenging to start some plants from seed in certain areas (the soil is too cold, too moist, not moist enough, etc.).  This makes it worth buying a starter plants when needed if you usually start plants from seed.

Johnny Seeds (http://www.johnnyseeds.com) is a site recommended to me by a local farmer at the farmer’s market & a former coworker.  It shows a variety of seeds & specifies some characteristics of each one – for example, how the tomato tastes, whether it has a more juicer or there is more flesh on the inside, shows different colors of tomatoes (did you know that there is a variety that is striped?), etc.  It’s another place to go to check out varieties of seeds.

Although I do receive seed catalogs myself; I purchase all my seeds and starters (if I buy a starter) from my local garden center.  Earlier this year when the quarantine began, I was able to order from Bennett’s Gardening Center in Lafayette, IN.  They deliver plants locally.  That’s how I acquired my first carnivorous plant…