THE VEGAN NEWS
AUTUMN 2005
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In This Issue:
Mango and Tomato Salad
Source: The
Health Store Magazine (Visa Press Ltd, May-June 2005).
Ingredients
- 1 ripe mango, peeled and diced
- 400g cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1 large red onion, thinly sliced into half rings
- 250g mixed green salad leaves
For the Dressing:
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 tbsp rice vinegar
- Freshly ground pepper
Method
- Combine all of the salad ingredients in a bowl.
- Mix the dressing ingredients together. Pour the dressing
over
the salad. Toss well and serve.
This is a lovely fresh and fruity salad that's very
easy to prepare. An excellent way of using up those homegrown
tomatoes. If
you don't have any cherry tomatoes use
quartered tomatoes instead.
Serves 4
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Hemp
Cardigan
Made from 42% organic hemp and 52% organic linen, this versatile
cardigan is
available from Green Fibres. It's available in black, natural and
bilberry,
in S, M, L and XL. You can place an order online at http://www.greenfibres.com or
Tel: 0845 330 3440. Price £39.00
plus P & P.
Coming Soon! A
sexy zip up 55% hemp and 45% organic cotton cardigan will shortly be
available
from the Natural Collection.
Price £65.00. Designed
by 'Madness', it's available
in lime green, black, brown and orange. Watch this space!
Hemp Sports Shoes
These sports shoes are suitable for vegans and are produced by the
company Ecolution who cultivate
the hemp organically in the Satu Mare area of western Romania using
natural mechanical processing methods. Available in black or
natural these shoes are suitable for most leisure activities, or they
can be
used simply for lounging around in. The soles, unfortunately, appear to
be plastic. However, the sports shoes
look hardwearing and are quite comfortable to wear. The shoes
have
been waterproofed and both men's and women's sizes are available. You
can order them from the Natural Collection, who also sell men's and
women's lace-up hemp ankle boots, women's hemp sandals and men's lace
up hemp classics. To order a pair visit http://www.naturalcollection.com
or telephone 0870 331 3333. Price
£39.95.
Cocoa Nibs
'The food of the gods'? Chocolate at its purest with
no
added dairy or sugar. The latest craze to come from the USA, cocoa nibs
are simply peeled cacao beans and are
especially suitable for those following a raw vegan diet. They are high
in
antioxidants and are a good
source of 'feelgood' neurotransmitters such as tryptophan, serotonin
and dopamine. They can taste rather bitter at first, but I bet
you'll soon be nibbling away! Eat them neat (fresh or
frozen),
add them to desserts, use them as chocolate chips in vegan ice cream,
add them to smoothies, or simply blend them with some nuts and dried
fruits.
Be sure to keep them well away from children, or else you'll never get
any!
Cocoa Nibs are imported from the USA and are available in the UK from:
Lifestream Organic Barley Grass
Powder
Obviously it is better to grow your own
fresh wheatgrass and juice it, if you possibly can. However, this
barley
grass powder could be useful if you are doing a lot of travelling, or
in other circumstances where you are unable to produce a supply of
fresh grass. This product is excellent value, at £10.99 for a 100g pot and contains
minerals, enzymes, vitamin C and chlorophyll. Sprinkle it on your
food, or add it to juices, smoothies etc. The barley is grown in New
Zealand, but it's available from the Fresh Network in the UK. Call 0870
800
7070 if
you want to place an order, or you can order online using the above
link.
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Autumn Sowing and Planting Schedule
- September: Plant out autumn-planted onion sets such as Radar
(sold by the Organic Gardening Catalogue, Tel: 0845 130 1304), which
should crop in the
following
June/July. Various winter salad vegetables can still be sown outside in
September. These include corn salad, rocket and winter varieties
of lettuce such as Winter Density or Rouge D'Hiver. Sowings of
mizuna and mibuna can still be made under cover.
- October: Winter hardy peas such as
Feltham First, Pilot and Meteor can be sown in October/November, but
are best grown with some protection. Slug attack can sometimes be a
problem with autumn sown peas. Therefore, it may be better to sow
peas in
spring in
exposed areas of the UK.
- November: Autumn sowings of
Aquadulce broad beans can give good results providing it's a mild
winter, although
spring sowings are usually more reliable. You could also try planting some field beans.
Field beans are usually grown as a green manure crop, but if sown in
November and allowed to flower and seed can produce a good crop of
beans for human consumption the following year. Plant garlic
cloves out between November and February. Autumn planted bulbs produce
the
best yield. Use the variety Thermidrome for autumn planting.
Incidently, Tamar
Organics sells two fast-growing varieties - Sprint and Vitesse, which
are
ready in June. However, they sell out fast! Email:
sales@tamarorganics.co.uk to find out if they have any left.
Crops In Season:
- September: Potatoes (maincrop),
cabbage, cauliflower, celery, calabrese, onions, tomatoes, marrows,
celeriac, carrots, spinach beet, apples, blackberries, damsons, plums
and pears.
- October: Globe artichoke, Brussels
sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, celery, parsnip, spinach beet, turnips,
apples, pears and plums.
- November: Brussels sprouts,
red cabbage, celery, leeks, parsnips, Jerusalem artichokes, cabbage,
chicory, swede
and spinach beet.
Garden News - Squashes:
This year I have been experimenting with two unusual squashes, both
available from Thompson & Morgan (Tel: 01473 695225). Hasta la
Pasta is a type of spaghetti squash, which is cut in half and boiled
for five minutes to give 'vegetable spaghetti'. This plant is
easy to grow and has a bushy habit and my plants were fruiting
wonderfully by the end of July. The other squash is called Jaspe
de Vendee. Its flesh is supposed to be so sweet that you can simply eat
it raw like melon, although it can also be cooked in soups, made into
jam and added to cakes and flans. This one was just starting to produce
fruits in early August and is rampaging madly around my garden. I
must admit I have always been put off from growing squashes
because they usually take so long to cook, so I was quite pleased to
discover
these
two little beauties. Another interesting squash is Lady Godiva,
also available from the Organic Gardening Catalogue (Tel: 0845
130
1304). This squash is grown entirely for its mineral-rich seeds, which
taste like
almonds and can be consumed raw. I'll try that one out
next year!
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UNICEF APPEAL
UNICEF is running an appeal to
raise
money to buy mosquito nets in order to prevent vulnerable children from
dying of malaria in Angola (South West Africa). Apparently one in
four children dies here before the age of five and malaria is
responsible for half of these deaths. It costs just £18.00 to buy seven mosquito
nets (which will protect 14 children), each net costing just £2.57.
Most families cannot afford to
buy them. If you would like to make a donation to this appeal,
please telephone 0800 037 9797, or post your donation to: The Angola
Children's Appeal, UNICEF, FREEPOST CL885, Billericay, CM12 0BR.
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In the Wildlife Garden
Many of our wildflowers and commonly grown garden plants are
beneficial to animals and can be used to attract wildlife into your
garden. Here, I will cover three more plants that are especially
attractive to wildlife. Details of other suitable plants
are given in earlier issues and these are now listed in The
Wildflower Index for easy reference.
Nasturtiums usually have dark red, orange or yellow
trumpet-like
flowers and dark green rounded leaves. Climbing varieties can be
grown up fences for an attractive display, non-climbers can be grown in
borders, windowboxes and containers. Nasturtiums are the caterpillar
food plant for large and small white butterflies. Sow the seeds in May
in a sunny position. This plant has vitamin-C-rich leaves that have a
peppery flavour and can be used in salads. The flowers are also
edible and can be used in a similar way.
Brambles (blackberries) are excellent for
attracting wildlife into the garden. They are best grown in a sunny
position, in an area of the garden where they will not be too obvious
to the neighbours! Be warned that once established they can be
invasive and
difficult to get rid of. They can be trained up fences and walls,or
grown in hedges or woodland areas. Birds such as blackbirds,
thrushes, wood pigeons, greenfinches and warblers will eat the
berries and some species of birds nest in tangles of bramble. The
flowers are popular with bees, hoverflies and moths (such as the
elephant hawk moth) and butterflies such as the speckled wood, comma,
silver-washed fritillary, ringlet, brown hairstreak, black hairstreak,
white admiral, white-letter hairstreak, gatekeeper and white admiral
butterflies are also commonly seen taking nectar from bramble flowers.
In addition, bramble is the caterpillar food plant for quite a few
moths and butterflies. Both cultivated and wild forms of
bramble are attractive to wildlife.
Michaelmas daisies provide an
attractive display of flowers in the autumn and are best grown in a
sunny border. Not all varieties are equally popular with butterflies
so try to purchase a mixed packet of seed. 'Barr's Pink' is a
good variety for attracting butterflies and single-flowered varieties
are more attractive than double-flowered forms. It is a good idea
to divide established plants every three years to keep them flowering.
Michaelmas daisies will attract mainly red admiral, peacock, comma,
small tortoiseshell and brimstone butterflies. The seeds are eaten by
birds such as finches, siskins and linnets. The flowers can be pink,
purple, violet, blue or white. As Michaelmas daisy is prone to mildew
if
the roots dry out, mulch if possible and keep well watered
throughout
the growing season.
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An excellent site
and a particularly good source of information for new vegans, or for
anyone who is thinking of going vegan. You can
also shop or become a member
online.
This site sells a range of gourmet raw vegan and organic foods,
including trays of wheatgrass, snacks, essene loaves and superfoods.
You can also purchase kitchen equipment such as juicers, blenders,
dehydrators and some body care products. Check out the recipes: there's
one that uses cocoa nibs.
A new Internet TV station that contains information, education and
entertainment related to cruelty-free living and animal-free eating.
You will need to download a free media player to watch the programmes,
which at the time of writing included a cookery channel on healthy
Indian recipes and exclusive interviews with Jerome Flynn and Benjamin
Zephaniah.
A company selling quality nutritional supplements by mail order.
Some of their products are suitable for vegetarians and vegans. For
example their
Veganicity range is registered with the Vegan Society and contains 28
different supplements including agnus castus , vitamin E, folic acid, a
multi probiotic, black cohosh, kelp, palmetto, garlic, St John's wort,
spirulina, selenium, zinc, grape and vitamin C. Vegan products are
clearly labelled with a Vg. You can also order by ringing the Direct
Order Hotline on:
01323 872277.
Run by Earthsave, the VegPledge is a
campaign to educate and spread healthy, plant-based eating habits to a
broad audience. A useful site for those who are thinking of going
vegetarian or vegan. You can obtain your free vegetarian starter
kit here when you sign up for the VegPledge. Plus a free 6 month
subscription for the Vegetarian Times magazine (USA only).
This site offers extensive online support whilst transitioning.
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Autumn
Book Reviews
Living With
Green Power: A Gourmet Collection of Living Food Recipes by Elysa
Markowitz (Alive Books, 1997).
A comprehensive and inspiring recipe book that describes how to prepare
vegan raw food using the virtually noise free and versatile Green Star
(originally Green Power) machine.
This collection of over 150 delicious and easily prepared recipes is
organised into chapters on juicy juices, blended juice drinks, frubet,
fruit and vegetable soups, sauces, dressings, supper ideas, breads and
grain dishes and desserts and other sweet treats. Containing lots
of mouth watering photographs, this book shows just how easy raw food
preparation can be. Take a look at the strawberry cream pie, date
nut torte, carob mint pie and tropical pie, all of which are ideal for
entertaining and for special occasions. Note: you will also need
a dehydrator and a blender in order to make some of the recipes.
Available from Amazon Books for (ISBN 0-920470-11-4) and from Alive Publishing.
Living Foods for Radiant Health: The
Authentic Guide to Using Fresh and Raw Foods by Elaine Bruce
(Thorsons, 2003).
Find out how to take responsibility for your own health by
adopting the Living Foods Approach. Covering many aspects of the
Living Foods Lifestyle, Elaine Bruce clearly explains the benefits of
consuming wheatgrass juice and other living foods. She then goes on to
provide detailed instructions on how to set up a living foods kitchen
and indoor garden to enable you to produce your own supply of
wheatgrass, sprouted seeds and indoor salad greens. This book
also contains information on related topics such as juicing, fermented
and dehydrated foods, fasting, colon care, rebounding and contains 45
of Elaine's best living food recipes.
Living Foods for Radiant Health
is available from The Fresh Network for £12.99, plus postage. You can
order a copy online, or by
phoning 0870 800 7070.
Gardening With
Wildlife in Mind PC CD-ROM produced
by
English Nature
Containing 841 items, this easy-to-use database is excellent value for
those
interested in wildlife-friendly gardening. Easily installed, this
database contains
information on the animal species that are likely to live in gardens,
plus information on many garden flowers and wild flowers that are
attractive to wildlife. Beautifully illustrated, item by item,
the photos not only make the database interesting and attractive to
look through, but
also make species identification easy. The search facility is
excellent,
allowing you to search, for example, for a particular animal or plant
species, or for plants or animals that will do well in a particular
habitat such as in a meadow. The database also contains useful
tips, an extensive bibliography, links to useful websites, an
indication of how likely it is that you will see a particular species
in your garden and allows you to create your own slideshows and to
print out lists. There's also advice on creating wildlife habitats and
information on some simple things that you can do to encourage wildlife
into your
garden such as installing a pond.
Gardening with
Wildlife in Mind is available from: The Plant Press, 10
Market Street, Lewes, BN7 2NB at £9.99 (add £1-50
for
postage and packing). For more information call John Stockdale on 01273
476151 or e-mail
john@plantpress.com
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1996-2006
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