THE VEGAN NEWS

JUNE 1997

The Vegan News is written and edited by P M Lloyd. Please e-mail your contributions to the editor at: pauline@bury-rd.demon.co.uk or fill in the form provided.

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In This Month's Issue:

Recipe of the Month

Tofu Omelette

Ingredients

Method

Mash the tofu in a bowl. Mix in the remaining ingredients. Lightly oil the skillet. Place on a medium heat. Place batter in skillet and press into an omelette shape. Fry until brown on one side, then flip over and brown on the other side.
Variation: Add 1 finely diced onion, or 1/2 a finely diced, sweet red pepper. Saute onion and pepper first. Add to batter before frying.

The above recipe was taken from Vegan Nutrition: Pure and Simple by Michael Klaper, M.D. This book can be obtained from Gentle World

Recipe Serves 1-2

Don't Miss! The June Issue Extra! - a selection of easy snack and meal ideas which are especially suitable for new vegans.

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Readers' Contributions

Try this summer recipe, sent in by Patt Stewart from Johannesburg, South Africa.

Refreshing Summer Fruit Platter

Cut all summer fruits and arrange on glass platter. Arrange so colours compliment each other. Lightly cover all fruit with orange juice and sprinkle a mixture of sugar and cinnamon on top. Eat chilled. Can be served with fried tofu sticks or non-dairy ice-cream and flaked/chopped nuts.

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June Product Review

Montagne Jeunesse Beauty Products

It is not always easy to find suitable vegan toiletries. If you are really stuck, then the 'The Animal Free Shopper' devotes a whole chapter to cosmetics and toiletries, many of which can be obtained by mail order if you can't find them locally. Most of the cosmetics and toiletries produced by Montagne Jeunesse are suitable for vegans. So this month, I am going to introduce you to some of them. They can be obtained from many health food shops.

I tested three of their products. First of all, I tried a small 50 ml bottle of Apricot & Almond Handcream. It had rather a nice smell and wasn't very greasy. Good value at £0.99. Their Evening Primrose Body Moisturiser was also quite useful as a handcream. The small 60 ml bottle of Chamomille & Jojoba Shampoo had a pleasant smell and was ideal for taking away for a weekend break, although not very good for greasy hair.

A comprehensive list of the Montagne Jeunesse products, which are suitable for vegans, can be found in The Animal Free Shopper. I have listed some of the products which are suitable below:

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Green Cleaning Tips

Stain Removal!

Did you know that it is not always necessary to buy special stain removers? Try out some of the following common household ingredients first:
  1. Salt - can be used to remove wine, beetroot and fruit stains.
  2. Salt & Lemon Juice - use a combination of these on rust stains.
  3. Borax - is suitable for use on many stains. Well worth a try.
  4. Washing Soda - use on grease, blood, ink, tea & coffee stains.
  5. Eucalyptus Oil - can be used on tar, oil and grass stains.

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What's Happening in the Veganic Garden This Month?


  1. Sowing and Planting

    Bought, or home-grown tomato plants, should be planted outside sometime between the end of May and the middle of June, when all frost danger has passed. Tomatoes usually like a sunny, sheltered position, although I have grown tomatoes successfully in partial shade, for many years. Add plenty of wood ash and leaf-mould to the soil before planting. Plants should be planted about eighteen inches apart and staked and watered immediately after planting. About two to three weeks after planting, when the plants are well established, I usually put a compost mulch on top of the soil around each tomato. (Alternatively, you can put a handful of compost in each planting hole when you first put the plants outside.)

    Tomatoes need quite a bit of attention. Water regularly, particularly when the fruits are forming. Comfrey solution makes an excellent feed for both tomatoes and peppers and can be purchased from the Organic Gardening Catalogue. They also sell comfrey plants which you can use to make your own comfrey solution.

    Basil is a excellent companion plant for tomatoes, so plant a few rows of Basil nearby. Basil is in fact a very useful herb to have in the veganic garden. Use it to make your own vegan pesto sauce, sprinkle it on top of tomato or mediterranean type salads, or add it to a tomato sauce to pour over your pasta.

    At the end of May/beginning of June, indoor grown runner bean plants can be put outside, or the seeds can be sown directly into the soil. Indoor raised peppers can also be planted in a sunny bed or trough, in the South of England, this month. Further north, they should be grown on a sunny windowsill or in a green house, instead.

    On a recent trip to a garden centre, I was pleased to discover a hulless type of pumpkin seed called 'Baby Bear'. It is packaged by Mr Fothergill and although rather expensive at £1.45 for twelve seeds, should hopefully, provide me with a good supply of edible home-grown pumpkin seeds! It is also worthwhile growing your own sunflowers. The seed heads can either be used on the bird table in the winter, or you can remove the seeds, sprout them and eat them yourself!

    This month you should also make sowings of spring cabbage, carrots, parsley and further sowings of lettuce and salad onions.

  2. Other Jobs To Do In the Garden

    Don't forget to protect soft fruit such as strawberries and raspberries from the birds! See the May issue for some ideas of how to do this. If the ground is dry, you will probably need to do quite a lot of watering this month too, particularly when cucumbers, courgettes etc. are starting to swell up.

  3. Crop Picking

    Anybody, who followed my advice earlier and planted seeds, should now have quite a few crops that are ready for picking. Peas, broad beans, lettuce, spring onion, spinach, radish, gooseberries, strawberries and rhubarb, are just some of the delicious, pesticide-free crops which are available from the veganic garden at this time of year!

  4. In The Wildlife Garden

    Bee Plants

    Bees and hoverflies should be attracted into the veganic garden whenever possible. Encourage these hard-working creatures to pollinate your fruit and vegetables for you and you will be well rewarded. For example you could plant poached egg plants around the edge of your vegetable patch, basil in your tomato patch, or sunflowers amongst your sweetcorn. The following plants are particularly popular with bees and should be included in the veganic garden:

HERBS WHICH ARE VERY ATTRACTIVE TO BEES
BasilBergamotChives
FennelHyssopLavender
Lemon BalmMintOregano
ThymeWild Angelica

FLOWERS/SHRUBS WHICH ARE ATTRACTIVE TO BEES
AlyssumAubretiaClover
FoxgloveHeatherHoneysuckle
IvyLilacLove-In-A-Mist
Poached Egg PlantSunflowerThrift

More details, on each of the above species, can be found in the The WildLife Database

If you want to attract wildlife into your garden then do not be in too much of a hurry to get rid of all your dandelions! I left some small patches of dandelions in my garden recently and was very pleased to see a pair of Bullfinches eating the seed heads.

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Any Queries?

This month, I have written an article especially for new vegans. Would it be possible for any experienced American vegans to email product information to me? Most of the information I provide is of course based on British products. I am interested in receiving details of the sort of products available for vegans in America, their price, where you would normally buy them from, any comments etc. Please send any information to the editor by filling in the form or (if information is longer than 100 words) by emailing: pauline@bury-rd.demon.co.uk

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Vegan Organisation Review

Hillside Animal Sanctary. Founded by Wendy Valentine.

Hillside Animal Sanctary -
Houses many rescued animals, including dogs, cats, horses and cows. It campaigns to improve the lives of animals and holds many fundraising events in order to raise money for its campaigns and for animal feed. There are many ways in which you can help. Here are some of them:

For more details, or a copy of the Hillside Animal Sanctuary Newsletter, write to:

Hillside Animal Sanctuary
Hall Lane
Frettenham
Norwich
NR12 7LT
(or telephone 01603-891227)

Hillside have recently opened a second animal sanctuary, in Downham Market, which houses over a 100 rescued animals and birds.

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Other Interesting Vegan Websites.

The Vegan Society (UK)
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.

Tara's Vegan Recipes
Many good vegan recipes. Including soups, rice/grains, pasta, beans, tofu, sauces and desserts. Try her scrambled tofu!

Chef Andy
Over 200 nice vegetarian and vegan recipes available here. All obtained by email from Chef Andy. (Select the vegan and vegetarian link.)

VIVA Vegan Recipes
More tasty recipes.

Vegan Recipe Browser
A good vegan recipe site. Covers: sauces/dips, soups, sweets, breads, entrees and appetizers, but watch out for non-vegan ingredients in some of the recipes! Find out how to make your own pasta without eggs, pita bread, or even sun-dried tomato hummus here.

Karsten Scoellner's Page
Recipes and basic advice for new vegetarians and vegans.

PMS Foods
Nutritional information on imitation bacon flavoured TVP products. (USA)

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June Book Review

A-Z of Companion Planting by Pamela Allardice

An alphabetical guide to companion plants including herbs, vegetables and flowers. Reduce your need for harmful chemicals and pesticides in the garden by using some of the natural sprays in this book. Discover how to deter pest attack by interplanting e.g carrots and onions. Do you know which plants grow well together? Reading this book will help you decide! Contains recipes, herbal remedies, medicinal information and details of many plants which are of particular value to birds and insects. Many nice, coloured pencil drawings too. Price £12.99. ISBN 0-304-34324-2. I obtained my copy from the public library.

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HTML written by P M Lloyd
Copyright © Pauline Lloyd 1997.