THE VEGAN NEWS
THE VEGAN NEWS
FEBRUARY
1997
In This Month's Issue:
- Recipes
- Vegan Product Reviews
- Green Cleaning Tips
- In The Veganic Garden
- Your Queries
- Vegan Websites
- Book Review(s)
Recipe of the Month
Pauline's Pesto Pizza
Ingredients
For the tomato paste:
- 2 lb Tomatoes
Vegan pesto * About 40 g grated vegan cheese can be sprinkled on top of the pizza instead of the pesto.For the pizza topping:
- 1 small onion - sliced
- 3 tbs frozen sweetcorn
- 35 g mushrooms - sliced
- 8-10 black olives - stoned and halved
For the pizza dough:
- 200 g strong wholemeal flour
- 150 g strong white flour
- 7 g dried active yeast
- 15 ml olive oil (1 tbsp)
- 240 ml luke-warm water
* The above amount of dough mixture will make a pizza large enough to serve 2-3. I usually make double this amount and freeze the spare dough in a plastic bag after the kneading stage. Defrost the dough thoroughly before use, then leave it to rise in a warm place, as described in (4.) below.
Method:
Serves 2-3
- Pour boiling water over the tomatoes, leave for a few minutes, remove them from the water and skin and chop. Place the chopped tomatoes in a pan and bring to the boil. Simmer until the sauce has thickened - usually about 40-50 mins - then liquidise.This will make about 500 ml of tomato paste which is enough to cover 3 pizzas. (Spare tomato paste can be frozen in a clean jam-jar or container until required.)
- Dissolve the dried yeast in the luke-warm water.
- Put the flour into a large bowl and mix in the water/yeast and oil
- Knead the dough for 10 mins, then leave it in an oiled bowl in a warm place (e.g on top of the cooker with the oven on low) for 1 hour, or until the dough has doubled in size. (The bowl can be covered with a clean tea-towel or some cling film to keep the heat in.)
- Roll out the dough and place it on an oiled pizza plate or tray.
- Cover the dough with a layer of pesto and then a layer of tomato paste, making sure that the edges of the pizza are well-covered with paste, or they will get too crispy. Leave the dough to rise again for about half an hour, then arrange the sliced onions, mushrooms, sweetcorn and olives on top of the pizza. Leave the pizza to rise for a further 15 mins.
- Bake the pizza on Gas 7 for about 50 minutes.
February Product Review
Pacific Isle Pure Coconut Oil Soap. Made in Sri Lanka.
The Pacific Isle company funds work on compassionate farming in the Third World. This pure coconut oil soap contains no animal ingredients and is not tested on animals. The soap is saponified over an open wood fire and is moulded, stamped and wrapped entirely by hand. Each white soap has a nice palm tree design on it and all the ingredients are entirely biodegradable. So is the packaging, which is made from jute, rice straw and recycled paper. The product is unfragranced with a slight coconut smell. (This product may no longer be available.)
Other Brands of Vegan Soaps:
If you are unable to obtain the above brand of soap then you could try Sainsbury's pure vegetable oil soap which is also unfragranced and contains no animal fats or derivatives. It is particularly good for hand washing, but a bit small for use in the bath.It can sometimes be quite difficult to obtain suitable vegan soap as a lot of soap contains slaughter house products, such as tallow. All brands of pure vegetable soap are usually worth examining carefully, but very few specifically state whether they contain animal products, or are tested on animals. The Animal Free Shopper contains a good list of suitable soaps. (See this month's Book Review below.) Some of these are available by mail order. The Montagne Jeunesse brand have a range of vegan soap and cleansing bars. Oliva, is a pure olive oil soap, which is biodegradable, vegetarian and not tested on animals. It can still be purchased in Holland and Barretts (Information updated in March 2009).
Green Cleaning Tips
Kettles should be descaled regularly as large amounts of scale on the element will mean that extra power will be required to boil the water.
Descaling the kettle
To Descale an Electric Kettle:
Boil up half a kettle of water. Unplug the kettle and stand it in a bowl or the sink. Pour in some white vinegar - such as pickling vinegar (malt and spirit vinegars are usually animal free) and leave to 'fizz' until all the scale has dissolved. Do this in a well-ventilated room, or it will soon smell like a chip shop! If the scale is very bad then you may need to use a proper kettle descaler the first time you descale it, followed by regular descaling with white vinegar on subsequent occasions. Rinse out the kettle thoroughly before use. It is also possible to buy small metal pads (kettle protectors) to drop inside the kettle. These are designed to collect the scale and can be removed at intervals and rinsed out under the tap.
Window Cleaning
Mix 2 tbs of vinegar with 2 cups of water and a drop of liquid soap and place all the ingredients in a spray. This spray can be used to clean windows, mirrors and tiles. Polish off excess with a clean cloth.
Furniture Polish
Mix three parts of olive oil with one part of white vinegar. Rub a small amount on with a clean cloth and then polish off the excess.By using common household ingredients in the above way, it is possible to reduce the use of special household cleaners in plastic containers. Buy olive oil and vinegar in glass containers and recycle them in a bottle bank after removing any plastic or metal bits.
What's Happening in the Veganic Garden This Month?
Sowing of Early Crops
By now, you should have ordered and received your seed potatos and shallots/onion sets.
- Plant out your shallot bulbs in a sunny position, preferably on land that was composted in the autumn if possible. Firm the soil around each bulb as you plant them and if you have any wood ash this can be scattered on the soil after all the bulbs have been planted. Each shallot should be placed in a hole so that it is half-buried, setting the bulbs about 9 " apart. Examine the bulbs daily until they have rooted, as they may need replanting if they have been disturbed by cats or birds. I also plant out my onion sets in February and cover them with envirofleece for protection. However, if the weather is bad, or you do not have any fleece, then it may be better to leave them until March. Garlic can also be planted this month - again a sunny position is required.
- If your seed potatoes have been delivered then they can be stored in a dry place at room temperature. Place them in a single layer in shallow wooden boxes with the broad end of the tubers upwards. They should be exposed to light in order to form study green shoots. Limit the number of shoots that they produce by rubbing off weak shoots - you should end up with two good shoots at the 'rose' (broad) end of each tuber. If the shoots are long and spindly then more light is needed.
- If the weather is reasonable then broad beans can also be sown in the latter half of February. The Organic Gardening Catalogue supply a dwarf variety of broad bean for the small garden called The Sutton. Another variety which can be sown early is Aquadulce. Broad beans should be sown about 10" apart and spinach can be planted in between the plants when they are about 6 " high. When the beans have cropped they can be cut down and the spinach left to give an autumn crop.
- Plant early peas of the round seeded varieties. Feltham First is an excellent dwarf pea for the small garden, also supplied by The Organic Gardening Catalogue. Again, I usually cover mine with envirofleece for protection but this early variety can stand frost. Kelvedon Wonder can also be used.
Preparation of Raised Beds.
If the weather is good enough and the ground isn't frozen, then it may be possible to start making the raised beds this month. For more details on how to do this see the January IssueIndoor Sowings of Seeds Can Also be Started.
Sow peppers, strawberries etc. indoors this month. Try sowing Temptation F1 around the beginning of February. These strawberry seeds can be obtained from The Organic Gardening Catalogue. Sow them now in gentle heat and plant them outside in late April. Lettuces such as Little Gem and Lolla Rossa, can also be started off indoors.I am now going to use the rest of this section to write about forest gardening.
What is a Forest Garden?
A forest garden is essentially a miniature version of a natural forest, composed of many different, compatible, mainly perennial, species. It requires little maintenance once it has been established and little weeding is usually required because the ground is mulched with straw or covered with spreading herbs. Forest gardens are generally very productive (an area of half a hectare of forest garden can usually provide enough food for up to ten people.) They usually consist of seven storeys as follows:
- The Canopy - made up of standard and half-standard fruit trees.
- The low tree layer- made up of dwarf fruit and nut trees.
- The shrub layer - fruit bushes such as currants and gooseberries.
- Herbaceous layer - herbs and perennial vegetables
- Ground cover layer - creeping plants such as rubus species
- The rhizosphere - winter roots and shade plants
- The vertical layer - climbers such as runner beans and vines
How do I plant a forest garden?
First of all plant the canopy using standard fruit trees spaced about twenty feet apart. Then halfway between the standards, plant the dwarf fruit and nut trees. Fruit bushes can then be planted in the gaps between the dwarf species. Climbers are grown up special trellises, or up the tree trunks, and finally the ground is covered with creeping herbs and berries to stop the weeds from growing. The forest garden should provide fuel and timber as well as food and wildlife should be kept in mind when designing it. (See the December Issue for hints on wildlife gardening.) A forest garden can also contain an annual vegetable patch if required.
What species of plants can I use in a forest garden?
The following species were all used in the forest garden designed by R A de J Hart:
Standard trees: apple, pear, plum (Czar) , greengage (Deniston's superb) and damson.
Nuts: Marron de lyon chestnut, hazelnut, swiss arolla pine.
Climbers: plums, loganberries, raspberries, siberian kiwi (all trained), runner beans, brant vine.
Ground berries: juneberry, cloudberry, black mulberry, blackcurrant (ben sarek), rubus species - strawberry, raspberry, dewberry, tayberry, boysenbery, loganberry, worcesterberry.
Energy: Willow.
Herbs - sun: marjoram, rosemary, fennel, lavender, hyssop, rue.
Herbs - shade: sorrel, good king henry, rosa rugosa.R A de J Hart has written an excellent book on the subject called Forest Gardening. It's worth trying to order a copy of it through your public library. Another interesting book on forest gardening is: How to make a Forest Garden by Patrick Whitefield. ISBN 1 85623 008 2. Its aim is to enable you to create your own self-sufficient woodland garden.
Any Queries?
Ethical Wares offer several types of breathable walking boots. They also supply non-wool socks, non-leather belts and shoes.
Other Interesting Vegan Websites.
The Vegan Society
An excellent site and a particularly good starting point for obtaining information for the new or intending vegan. It is also possible to buy many useful books covering various aspects of veganism, here.Why not check the Links Page to see if you have a local vegan group near to you.
This section was updated in March 2009 and all redundant links were removed.
February Book Review
The Animal Free Shopper, published by and obtained from: The Vegan Society.
This pocket-sized book is a good buy for the new or intending vegan and contains much useful information for vegetarians and for anybody who is intolerant to dairy products. A very good addition to the vegan bookshelf. It covers a wide range of products which are suitable for vegans, many of which can be obtained by mail order if necessary. All the listed products are free of animal substances and are not tested on animals. It has sections on Food; Drink; Toiletries & Cosmetics; Remedies & Supplements; Baby, Infant & Childcare; Footwear & Clothing; Home & Office; Animal Care; Garden & Leisure. There is a glossary of animal substances in the back and also a suggested reading list. The address section lists all suppliers and many useful vegan organisations. Remember though, to still carefully check all the labels when you are out shopping, as manufacturers do sometimes change their ingredients. (March 2009 Update: A later edition is now available.)