DECEMBER 1999

In This Month's Issue:

• Recipes
• Don't Miss! The Christmas Quiz!
• Vegan Product Review
• Hedgerows
• In The Veganic Garden
• Your Queries
• The Importance of Trees
• Vegan Websites
• Book Review
• The Wildlife Database

Recipe of the Month

Source: Both of this month's recipes were taken from: Discovering Vegetable Proteins by Montse Bradford (The Natural Cookery School, 1998).

1. Paella with Seitan

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 garlic clove, chopped finely
• 1 cup of mushrooms, sliced
• 2 medium carrots, diced small
• 1 medium courgette, medium diced
• 1 cup of seitan, cut into cubes
• 1/2 cup boiled peas
• 2 cups of cooked brown rice
• 1/2 tsp turmeric (optional)
• 1 red pepper
• Chopped parsley to garnish
• Soya sauce to taste

Method

1. Add the oil and a few drops of soya sauce to a wok, or frying pan and saute the onion, garlic and mushrooms for 2-3 minutes.
2. Add the turmeric, carrots, courgettes and seitan to the pan. Cook, covered, over a medium flame for 7 minutes.
3. Meanwhile grill the red pepper until the skin is burnt and black. Allow to cool. Remove the skin and cut the pepper into thin strips
4. Add the cooked rice and peas to the pan. Mix thoroughly. Serve garnished with the slices of red pepper and the parsley.

Recipe Serves 3-4

2. Pan-Fried Seitan With Mushrooms

Ingredients:

• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
• 1 cup of mushrooms, finely sliced
• 1 pack of seitan, finely sliced or chopped
• Dried herbs, soya sauce, chopped parsley

Method

1. Place the oil in the frying pan (or wok) and add the onion, garlic, herbs and a few drops of soya sauce. Saute for 5-7 minutes.
2. Add the mushrooms and seitan to the pan. Cover and saute for a further 10 minutes.
3. Serve garnished with parsley.

Recipe Serves 2-3

Note: This dish is nice served with potatoes and assorted steamed vegetables.

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December Product Review

Terrasana Seitan

Seitan is made from wheat gluten and has a rather chewy meat-like texture. It is prepared from well-kneaded wholewheat flour which is then washed to remove the starch. Terrasana Seitan is sold in a recyclable glass jar and is made entirely from organic ingredients, including wholewheat flour, ginger, herbs, tamari and kombu seaweed. I used my jar of Terrasana Seitan to make the two recipes given above and was very pleased with the results. If you would like to try this product, then it can be purchased by mail order from Clearspring Direct. To order telephone: 020 8746 0152, or e-mail: mailorder@clearspring.co.uk. Soon it will also be possible to order direct from the Clearspring website. A 350g jar costs just £2.39. (Order Number: VP006. Postage is free on all orders over £25.00.) Look out for this product in your local health shop too.

Note: Seitan is a very useful item to keep in your store cupboard. It's an extremely versatile product and the combination of wheat protein and soya sauce makes it a nourishing vegetarian alternative to meat. You will find two recipe ideas in this month's recipe section, but it can also be added to stews and casseroles, made into Bolognese sauce, used in salads and sandwiches, stir-fried, or made into tempura or kebabs. You will find a dozen tasty seitan recipes in Montse Bradford's book Discovering Vegetarian Proteins. This book is also available from Clearspring and costs £3.49.

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In The Wildlife Garden - The Hedgerow

Hedges have many useful functions. They provide shelter from the wind and they are often used to mark field boundaries on farmland. But perhaps most importantly of all they are very good for wildlife. Many species of woodland birds nest in hedgerows including blackbirds, robins, chaffinches and dunnocks. If a hedge surrounds farmland then pheasants, yellowhammers, linnets and corn buntings may also be present too. About 20 species of butterflies breed in hedges, including some rare species. Hedges provide homes for many animals including the wood mouse, the rabbit, the rat, the dormouse, the slow worm and the bank vole. All of these live in burrows underneath hedges. Toads and frogs, grass snakes and the common lizard also frequent British hedges.

Hedges provide many creatures with a reliable supply of food. For example both the wood mouse and the bank vole will eat hazel nuts, or rose hip seeds and shrews live on small invertebrates which they find at the base of hedges. Squirrels and dormice adore hazel nuts too! Hedgehogs are also common where there are plenty of hedges. They forage along the length of the hedge searching for beetles, worms, insect larvae, slugs and snails.

Many animals (e.g. hares) also use hedges as a safe highway to go between fields. Unfortunately though, many predators know this and also use the hedges to conceal their whereabouts! Consequently, you will also find foxes, badgers, stoats and weasels in hedges too. And my own garden hedge is often alive with lurking pussycats - so watch out garden birds! But it's not just animals that thrive in hedgerows, hundreds of species of woodland and meadow plants live here too. You will find some common hedgerow plant species listed in the 'What to Plant' section below.

Because of modern agricultural practices many thousands of miles of British hedgerow have been lost since the Second World War. We can all help to make up for these losses by planting hedges in our gardens. I have a mainly coniferous hedge in my own garden and every year several pairs of birds usually decide nest in it. This year it was the robins turn. Next year, well who knows!

What to Plant In Your Hedge:

• Hedging Shrubs - The following shrubs are all suitable for hedging: blackthorn, dogwood, holly, hawthorn, guelder rose, hazel, beech, elder, privet, dog rose, blackberry and laurel. Fruit bushes can also be used to make small garden hedges. Prickly fruit bushes such as gooseberries or worcesterberries will help to deter cats, as well as supplying you with food!

• Hedgerow Plants - Garlic mustard, bluebell, red campion, primrose, dog violet, dame's violet, herb Robert, musk mallow, lords-and-ladies, greater stitchwort, lesser stitchwort, sweet cicely, white dead-nettle, wood's crane's-bill, nettle-leaved bellflower, betony, cowslip, foxglove, wood anemone, lesser celandine, field forget-me-not and hedge parsley. All of these species of plants are ideal for planting underneath your hedge.

Why not plant a hedge in your garden for the new millennium?

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What's Happening in the Veganic Garden This Month?

As it's fairly quiet in the garden at the moment, I thought that it would be a good time to review new gardening products in this issue. First of all I would like to mention that the range of sprouting seeds, offered in the Year 2000 Organic Gardening Catalogue, has been extended and now includes organic red clover seeds and organic green peas. I was particularly pleased to see the latter, as it can sometimes be quite difficult to find organic peas for sprouting.

Also of interest in the Year 2000 Organic Gardening Catalogue are two new varieties of kale. First of all there's 'Red Winter', an organic variety with grey-green feathery leaves on purple stems and secondly you will find the pre 1900, variety known as Cottager's Kale which is extremely hardy. It's also worth browsing through the organic seed potato section on p. 20. Here you will find quite a few new, organic varieties of seed potato including two new potato collections which have been developed especially for people with small gardens, or for people who want to experiment with different varieties. Choose from 'Cook's Choice' or 'Blight Resisters'. Each collection contains 10-12 tubers of five different varieties. Both collections cost £12.50.

And if you are fond of pumpkin, then you might also like to try out Atlantic Giant. Do let me know if you beat the world record of 450 kg! Send details and a photo and I will make your pumpkin famous worldwide!

Other new products which could also be of interest to vegans include:

• Hop manure - An animal-free fertiliser, containing slow release nitrogen and potash. This product is particularly good for improving clay soils, but is also useful for mulching purposes.
• A Ladybird Feeder - This feeder helps to encourage ladybirds into your garden. Fact: Did you know that one adult ladybird can eat up to 5000 aphids in its lifetime?!
• Squirrel Away - An extract made from red peppers which harmlessly deters squirrels from stealing your bird food.
• Dry Vegetarian Dogfood (£5.50 for 2kg.) Note: This product which is produced by Yarrah is also suitable for vegan dogs.
• GHIBLI Food drying cabinet - Useful if you need to dry large amounts of fruit, vegetables and beans. Consists of five large drawers, each drawer holding up to 750g of food. (Price £149.95.)
• Gardening Without Water - An interesting new addition to the book section. This book essentially teaches you how to create and maintain your garden, using only rainwater, mulching techniques and by selecting drought-resistant plants.
• Finally, I would just like to remention the wooden bat, hedgehog and frog boxes and the squirrel feeder which I described in more detail in last month's issue. All of these are useful items for encouraging wildlife into the veganic garden.

To obtain a copy of the Year 2000 Organic Gardening Catalogue please write to: The Organic Gardening Catalogue, Riverdene Business Park, Molesey Road, Hersham, Surrey, KT12 4RG, or e-mail: chaseorg@aol.com.

Crops Available This Month:

Leeks, Brussels sprouts, kale, winter cabbage, swede, chicory, Jerusalem artichoke, spinach, celery and parsnips.

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Your Queries

Could you send me some details on how to order Montagne Jeunesse products as I do not have a local distributor?

Sent in by: Anne Lorgeoux, Samoreau, France.

Unfortunately, I do not have any information on French suppliers of Montagne Jeunesse products. However, I do know that it is possible to order Montagne Jeunesse gift packs by mail order from a British company called The Natural Collection. These gift packs cost £9.00 - £10.00 each and can be supplied overseas for a surcharge of 20% of the goods value, plus the usual carriage price. If you would like more information, then e-mail: natcoll@ecotrade.co.uk or visit The Natural Collection's website. Also if anyone living in France does know of a local supplier of these products, then could they please e-mail the information to Anne at: anne_lorgeoux@pechiney.com

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The Importance of Trees

Why are trees are so important? Well mainly because they are vital for the maintainance of environmental health. But also because they are a valuable source of food for humans and for many species of wildlife. Consequently, it is absolutely essential that deforestation is rapidly brought to a halt.

The Environmental Importance of Trees

• Trees are important environmentally for several reasons. First of all they play an important role in the water cycle. Every time it rains, water in the soil is drawn into a tree's extensive root system. This water is then carried up the tree's trunk to its leaves and is returned back to the atmosphere as water vapour in the process of transpiration. Thus if trees are present, then when it rains heavily excess water is quickly mopped up and recycled back into the atmosphere again. But when it rains in deforested areas the excess water rushes unimpeded down the mountainside, washing the precious surface soil away. And it is on slopes which have lost their tree cover, that natural disasters such as landslides and mudslides are especially likely to occur. Flooding also often results when rivers, dams and reservoirs become silted up with top soil. Trees can also help to prevent flooding because the tree's leaves break the force of the rain, allowing it to drip slowly downwards and seep into the ground, replenishing the water table and underwater springs below. When no trees are present the rain rushes unchecked down any slopes, going straight into rivers and causing floods.

• As well as helping to regulate the water supply, as described above, the root systems of trees have many other useful functions. For example, the roots of trees planted by streams help to hold stream banks together, thus reducing the risk of washouts. And in tropical and subtropical areas the roots of mangroves stabilise shorelines. Tree roots also allow air to penetrate deep into the soil.

• Belts of trees offer protection against the wind and help to prevent the soil from blowing away - another form of soil erosion which can lead to desertification. But perhaps most importantly of all trees help to prevent global warming. Carbon dioxide is a major greenhouse gas and trees, like other chlorophyll-containing plants, remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and use it in the process of photosynthesis. Trees are of course vast store houses of carbon and when forests are burned down much carbon dioxide is released back into the atmosphere. It has been suggested that if deforestation was stopped, that there would no longer be any increase in the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, even if we continued to produce carbon dioxide by burning fossil fuels at the present rate. As well as recycling carbon dioxide, trees also release valuable oxygen into the atmosphere.

• Finally, trees add to the soil's fertility. Their deeply penetrating roots bring up trace elements and minerals from far down in the earth. Leguminous trees (such as carob) are particularly useful for increasing soil fertility because their roots contain nitrogen-fixing bacteria. Trees also add valuable humus to the soil, especially when their leaves and twigs decay and when old, fallen trees decompose. The leaves of deciduous trees are particularly important in this process, returning valuable minerals back to the soil again. Every organic gardener knows the true value of leaf mould.

Tree Products (Food and Non-Food)

Trees are a valuable source of food, with many species of trees yielding more food per hectare than can be obtained from either cereal crops or from livestock. Carob, for example, yields 47 tonnes/hectare and walnuts 31 tonnes/hectare compared with 0.2 tonnes/hectare for meat and 5 tonnes/hectare for cereals. (Figures obtained from Food For Everyone, produced by MCL.)

In temperate regions food-producing trees include almonds, hazel, beech, chestnut, oak, pine and walnut, as well as various fruit trees such as apple, pear, peach, cherry, plum and greengage. Avocados, dates, bananas, pineapples and coconuts and many types of citrus fruits are produced by trees in tropical and subtropical areas. Other important edible tree crops, grown throughout the world, include figs, breadfruit, jackfruit, mangos, persimmons, sago, coffee, cocoa, carob, vanilla, olives, cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg.

So as you can see, a tremendous variety of food can be obtained from trees! But, trees also supply many other useful non-edible products including rubber, cork, turpentine, creosote, various dyes and the medicine quinine. Plus trees are of vital importance in the manufacture of cardboard, paper and plywood. Tree wood is essential for building, making boats/rafts and for making furniture. And in many parts of the world wood is still a vital source of energy for cooking purposes.

Trees For Wildlife

Trees are an important source of food for many birds and animals - crossbills, tree creepers, squirrels, nuthatches, and woodpeckers, to name but a few. Willow supports a wide range of wildlife - particularly insects - and the larvae of many moths and butterflies feed on its leaves. Elm supplies food for the caterpillars of the comma, large tortoiseshell and the camberwell beauty and wild pear is an important source of nectar for the peacock butterfly. Many animals such as pine martens, squirrels, owls, rooks and crows also build their homes in trees and several species of bats roost in tree holes.

Further Reading:

1. Abundant Living in the Coming Age of the Tree by K Jannaway. Price £2.30. (Published 1999, MCL)
2. A New World Order of Self-reliant, Tree-Based, Autonomous, Vegan Villages (MCL)
3. Food For Everyone. Price £0.80. (1989, MCL)
4. Forest Gardening by Robert Hart

The first three of the publications listed above can be obtained from: The Movement For Compassionate Living, 47 Highlands Road, Leatherhead, Surrey. KT22 8NQ. Forest Gardening is available from The Vegan Society for £10.95 + £1.50 pp.

Plant A Tree For the Millennium!

The supermarket chain, Tesco, is running a tree-planting campaign for the year 2000. Trees are now for sale in branches of Tesco for £3.99 each. Choose from: Scots Pine, Mountain Ash, Birch, Cherry, Oak and Norway Spruce.

Tropical Tree Seed Distribution Service

In the last ten years, the HDRA's Tropical Tree Seed Distribution Service has sent 14 million trees to more than 400 groups, throughout Africa and Asia. This service has helped to bring precious, often badly degraded land back into cultivation, as well as providing valuable food and fuel. If you would like to support the Tropical Tree Seed Distribution Service, then join the HDRA's Third World Organic Support Group. Membership costs £10.00 and includes 3 newsletters per year. For more information e-mail: eroycroft@hdra.org.uk or visit the HDRA's website.

Tree-Related Websites

• Trees For Life - An organisation which helps people in developing countries to plant fruit trees. The trees provide them with much-needed food, as well as protecting the environment. Good tree-related links.
• Trees For Life (Canada) - Provides tree-related materials for schools, thus ensuring that children understand the critical role that trees play in maintaining ecological balance.
• Living Earth Rainforest Database - Has lots of interesting information on rainforest-related issues.
• Organizations That Plant Trees - Lists non-profit tree-planting organizations.
• The Drumstick Tree - Find out more about this valuable source of vitamin A.

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Other Interesting Websites

The Vegan Society (UK)

An excellent site and a particularly good starting point for obtaining information for the new or intending vegan. You can now visit their online shop or become a member.

The Organic Shop

An on-line, UK supplier of organic fruit and vegetables, wine and groceries.

The Henry Doubleday Research Association

Visit HDRA's site to find out all about organic gardening! Here you can discover how to grow green manure crops, how to make your own compost, how to practice no dig gardening (including how to produce potatoes without digging) and you can also read about vegetables for the new millennium. Plus there are links to many other organic organisations worldwide.

Solar Century

Find out all about this marvellous way of powering your home. Here you will find information on solar roof tiles and slates as well as on solar panels.

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December Book Review

The Sunfood Diet Success System by David Wolfe (Maul Brothers Publishing, 1999)

The Sunfood Diet Success System is a revolutionary book which covers the Vegan Raw Diet from every conceivable angle. From poetry to profound truths, you'll soon discover the many advantages of consuming sun-grown foods in their natural state. So why waste time and use up the Earth's valuable energy resources cooking your food, when it is so easy to create simple, raw food meals using fruit, vegetables, nuts and seeds? Avocado lovers, particularly, will like these menu plans! And, unlike in many other raw food books, very little specialised equipment is needed in order to be able to carry out these simple menu plans - although a juicer would be useful.

Throughout this book David Wolfe gradually reveals his secrets. You will find out how to balance the Sunfood Diet by using the 'Sunfood Triangle'. And how to transition away from a cooked diet, by gradually replacing cooked foods with raw ingredients, until a 100% raw diet is achieved. Other topics covered include: fasting, wild and hybrid foods, detoxification, minerals, teeth, avocados and olives. There's also a selection of personal testimonials and information on the author's own diet. And at the back of the book you'll find lists of resources, raw food organisations and ideas for further reading.

The Sunfood Diet Success System is an interesting book which is well worth reading, although I found it rather controversial in parts! It contains about 30 recipes.

This American book is now available in the UK from The Fresh Network for just £16.50, plus £2.00 for UK postage. It can be obtained from: The FRESH Network, PO Box 71, Ely, Cambridgeshire. CB7 4GU.

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