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Vinegars - The Rundown Newsletter

Vinegars – the Rundown

Vinegar continues to be a popular subject, but confusing. Here’s a rundown that will hopefully help clear it all up.

This is the vinegar that should be used for cleaning around the house and as an ingredient in the vinegar herbicide formula. Sprinkling white vinegar atop a dusting of baking soda is terrific for cleaning sinks, tubs, tile floors and other surfaces. For cleaning, it can be diluted with water as much as 50-50. For the herbicide, it should be used full strength. In all cases, the products to buy in this category are true vinegars made by distilling grain alcohol. For the purists, there is organic white vinegar made from corn.

Natural vinegar such as those made from fermenting apples and other fruits have little herbicidal value, although the original research done by the USDA on the herbicidal aspect used a 5% product. There are two basic categories of cider vinegar – regular apple cider vinegar and organic apple cider vinegar with the “mother” included. That's the clumpy stuff that settles to the bottom of the bottle. The regular non-organic products are what I recommend for use in the Garrett Juice formula and to use in the watering of interior plants at 1-2 oz per gallon of water in the Garrett Juice formula.

The good organic stuff is what I take internally daily – usually an ounce or so.

Some of the 10% vinegar being sold to naïve organic gardeners are the fake 20% product that has been cut with water. Proper vinegar should have on the label that they are made from distilled grain alcohol or other similar language indicating natural products from distilling.