THE VEGAN NEWS 

JANUARY 1997

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  In This Month's Issue:

Recipe of the Month

Pauline's Vegetable and Pasta Soup

Ingredients

Method

  1. Peel the carrot and the potato and chop them into small pieces.
  2. Place all the vegetables into a pan with the boiling water.
  3. Stir in the tomato puree and add the pasta shells or shapes.
  4. Bring the soup to the boil and simmer for about 15 mins or until the vegetables are tender.
  5. Mix in the flour and when the soup has thickened, stir in the yeast extract.
  6. Serve the soup with pieces of crusty bread and a sprinkling of Engevita yeast flakes.
Recipe Serves 2
* Sometimes it is possible to purchase small animal or space-ship pasta shapes but check the ingredients carefully for egg or other animal products. If you can find suitable shapes - preferably wholewheat - then these can be added to the soup for small children instead of pasta shells.  (March 2009 Update: I now thicken this soup with oatmeal. You will probably need to use about 5-6 tbsp.  I add this at the start of cooking.  For a salt-free version, try adding about 1 tbsp of medium curry powder instead of the miso/yeast extract. )

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January Product Review

Bio-D concentrated washing-up liquid

A biodegradable detergent with no chlorine bleaches, phosphates or animal products. It has a faint lemon smell. Made from coconut oil, nettles and citric acid, the product is ecologically safe and from renewable resources. Made in the UK and approved by The Vegan Society. It can be obtained in 5 L containers from: The Natural Collection.

(I am still using this product in 2009. I also find the 5L containers very useful for transporting water to my allotment. So there is another Recycling Tip!)

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Recycling Tips

Before you throw anything away think! Can it be reused? Here are some suggestions:

  1. Soap Scraps

    Collect up all those tiny pieces of left-over soap and instead of throwing them away, put them into a jam-jar. Add some water and stir to give a jelly-like solution. This can be used in a soft-soap spray against aphids, or can be used as liquid soap in the shower or for hand-washing.

  2. Jam-Jars

    Don't be too quick to throw these away as they can be very useful. Uses include:
    • Making a soap jar as explained above.
    • Sterilise the jars and re-use them for jam or chutney making.
    • They can also be useful for storing things in the freezer eg. left-over portions of cooked beans. I often fill them with homegrown, skinned, chopped tomatoes which I use instead of tinned ones. If you have spare space in the freezer it is better to do this and fill the freezer up rather than to run it half-empty.
    • Jam-jars can also be used for sprouting grains and pulses instead of purchasing special kits.
    • Cleaning paintbrushes in, or storing hazardous waste products, for later safe disposal at a special refuge site, rather than putting them down the drain.
    • Finally, when you are sure that the jar is no longer required, spare jars (not lids) can be put into the glass recycling container provided by your local council.

  3. Household-Cleaner Spray Containers

    Keep a few of those empty spray containers e.g.from disinfectant sprays, carpet sprays, window cleaning sprays etc. Rinse out thoroughly. They can be reused to make your own cleaning sprays (see next month's Green Cleaning Tips for information on how to make your own window cleaning spray). They can also be used to spray your plants.

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What's happening in the Veganic Garden This Month?


Hopefully by now, you will have given some thought to the sort of crops that you are going to grow in your garden in 1997, checked your gardening equipment and perhaps even ordered some seeds from The Organic Gardening Catalogue or another supplier.

Because it is still quiet in the garden this month, I intend to use this space to give you some information on veganic gardening techniques. I would recommend that you gather together the necessary gardening equipment and that work is started on making any new raised beds as soon as the weather is warm enough, probably in the early spring.

1. What is Veganic Gardening?

Veganic gardening is a type of organic gardening, where the soil is enriched by adding compost which has been made only from plant materials and has been activated with a herbal powder or other suitable activator such as human urine. For further information on compost making see the November Issue. Animal products such as bonemeal or manure, which are normally used in organic gardening, are never used in the veganic gardening system, nor are any artificial fertilisers.

In veganic gardening the soil is always cultivated very gently. For example, it is never compacted by walking on it, or by using heavy machinery which damages the soil structure. In other types of gardening much damage is done to the soil by digging it up and thus altering the position of the top-soil. Digging can also kill the creatures which live in the soil and break up the drainage that they have created. In veganic gardening, only the top 3-4" of the soil is ever cultivated and the soil is not dug at all, but cultivated with a tool called a scrapper. In fact, to avoid compacting the soil by standing on it, the land is divided into permanent raised beds with straw paths in between them. Weeding, sowing and planting are always done from these paths, to avoid treading on the soil at any time.

In other types of gardening, digging the soil also brings any weed seeds to the surface and provides them with ideal conditions in which to germinate. In no-dig, veganic gardening, creeping and deep-rooted weeds will soon be replaced by finer weeds such as grass. These can then be removed with a scrapper. Thus, in veganic gardening, hoeing and weedkillers are not necessary either.


2. What is a Scrapper?

The Scrapper is a small hand tool that used to be obtained from Veganic Garden Products. It was originally brought over to England by Dutch market gardeners who used it to weed between their salad crops. It is an essential tool for veganic gardening and is used for weed removal and for cultivating and freshening the surface soil. It is used with the blade tilted down to the left, penetrating the top 3-4" of the soil. A good description of its use can be found on p.21 of Veganic Gardening by Kenneth Dalziel O'Brien. This book may now be out of print, so I have included a brief description of how to use the scrapper below, although it may of course still be possible to obtain a copy of this book through your local library.  (March 2009 Update:  The scrapper is no longer being produced by Veganic Garden Products. So you could purchase either a Onion Hoe or a Hand Azada and use one of these instead.)

Using the Scrapper

Divide the bed in half lengthways. Place a plank of wood along the edge of the bed to kneel on while you are working the soil. Insert the scrapper blade into the soil, slightly tilted downwards to the left and draw the scrapper through the soil at a 45 degree angle to the edge of the bed, from the centre of the bed towards the board. Repeat the stroke to the right of the original stroke and continue the process until all the soil to the right has been worked within a comfortable reach. The soil to the left of the original stroke is then worked in the same way. The board can then be moved along the edge of the bed and the whole bed is cultivated in this manner.

3. How Do I Make the Raised Beds?

There are 3 basic stages to making the beds:

(1) Clearing the Ground of Weeds

This can be done in several ways:

By Using Straw as a Mulch as Follows:

Cover the surface of the soil with a thin coating of lime.
  • Place a 3-4" deep layer of long wheat straw on the ground which is to be cleared.
  • Apply the QR herbal compost activator to the straw at the rate of 1 pint per 12 sq yds.
  • It is important that the straw is always kept moist throughout the clearing process by watering it when necessary.
  • After about 3-4 weeks, rake off the straw and compost it.

    • By Using Other Mulches

    Land can also be cleared by using other barriers instead of straw. Mulches such as newspaper (about 15 sheets thick), cardboard boxes (folded flat) or old natural (not foam-backed) carpets can all be used, but land will take longer to clear using these materials. Place a layer of one of the above materials over the surface of the land to be cleared. A good overlap should be left at the edges of the material in order to prevent any weeds from finding their way through to the surface. It is important that the soil is moist before putting down a mulch but land can be cleared at any time of year - late winter is however, the ideal time to clear land by this method. If you are in a hurry to start your planting, then after a few months plants can be planted in holes made through the mulch, using a trowel. The mulch is not removed but left in place until it rots down naturally, thus releasing valuable organic matter into the soil which helps to increase the soil's fertility. This year, I intend to experiment with some old carpet or cardboard boxes on my lawn, in order to create a new raised bed. This new bed will be used to plant strawberry plants. I will let you know how I get on using this method.

    (2) Measuring Out the Beds:

    The raised beds are measured out so that the beds are 4' 6" wide and are separated by 15" paths but smaller people may find 4' wide beds and 12" paths are better in order to avoid standing on the soil. The top 4-6" of soil is removed from the paths using a spade and is spread over the bed surface. The paths can then be covered with a layer of long wheat straw. However, some veganic gardeners do not cover the paths with straw in this way. They simply use the paths to grow weeds which are then scrappered off and composted at intervals. I do not use straw in my garden, instead I have some weed paths and some grass paths between my beds.

    (3) Preparing the Ground

    Use the scrapper as described in the section on the scrapper above. The ground is now ready for sowing and planting. A layer of compost can be placed on the surface of the soil if you have any that is ready and large seeds or plants can be planted in this layer. Sometimes, it is possible to buy ready-made compost from your local council. Check if your council operates a scheme to recycle shredded garden waste.

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    Any Queries?

    I have been told that Comfrey plants are very useful in the veganic garden. Do you know where I can get these plants from and what I can use them for?
    M A Smith. Chelmsford. Essex.

    Comfrey is a plant which is very useful to veganic gardeners as it can provide a good supply of organic fertiliser for up to twenty years. The best type of comfrey to grow is the 'Bocking 14' cultivar of Russian Comfrey. This variety can be obtained from:The Organic Gardening Catalogue. Comfrey is a very easy plant to grow, requiring little care and once established it grows very rapidly and can be cut 3-5 times each season. It will grow in most soils but prefers a sunny position.

    Planting

    Comfrey is usually supplied as root offsets. These can be planted out at any time of year (except December/January) but the best time to plant them is in the spring. For an average-sized garden four to eight plants should be sufficient. If necessary the comfrey bed can always be expanded later on by splitting up the original plants.

    Care

    Harvesting

    New plants should not be harvested during their first year but don't forget to remove the flowerheads. (Comfrey should not be allowed to flower as it weakens the plant.) For established plants harvesting usually starts about April. The plants are ready for cutting when they are about 2ft high and cutting should continue regularly throughout the season up until September. During the winter months the leaves die back and all the nutrients are stored in the roots until the following spring.

    Using your comfrey plants in the veganic garden

    Similar liquid feeds can also be made from nettles or seaweed.

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    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 here covering various aspects of veganism.

    Details of many other interesting vegan sites can quickly be obtained by visiting a search engine such as Yahoo and typing vegan into their search facility box.

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    January Book Review

    Food: Need, Greed & Myopia. Exploitation and starvation in a world of plenty. By Geoffrey Yates. Earthright Publications.
    An interesting book which looks at the world food problem from a vegetarian viewpoint. Plenty of facts, graphs and figures to support the arguments. I particularly like the Lentil Hotpot recipe on p.62. My version of this recipe is given below in case you can't find a copy of the book.

    Ingredients: 6 oz red lentils, 1 lb potatoes - sliced thinly, 2 onions - sliced, 1 tbsp yeast extract dissolved in 1 pint of warm water. Method: Put layers of the potatoes, onions and lentils into a casserole. Pour the fluid into the casserole. Bake in a moderate oven for about 1 hr (Gas 5), Brown off without the lid. Serve with green vegetables. Serves 2. Note: it is sometimes necessary to add some more fluid during the cooking time so that all the lentils are soft.

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