THE VEGAN
NEWS
THE VEGAN
NEWS
SPRING
2006
In This Issue:
- Recipes
- Vegan Product Review
- Don't Miss! This Month's Article - Container Gardening
- In the Veganic Garden
- Safe Haven for Donkeys in the Holy Land (SHADH)
- In the Wildlife Garden
- Web Sites
- Book Review(s)
- The Wildlife Database
Spring Recipes
Ingredients
Method
- 1 carrot, chopped into thick slices
- 1 medium potato, peeled and chopped into small chunks
- 1 small leek, sliced (optional)
- 1 small turnip/parsnip, peeled and chopped into chunks
- 3-4 Tbsp fine/medium oatmeal
- Miso (optional, to taste)
- 1 Tbsp of tomato puree
- 100g cooked white beans (e.g. soya or haricot beans) (optional)
- Small soup pasta shapes/or broken up pieces of spaghetti (optional)
- Approx 450ml water
- Prepare all of the vegetables and place them in a pan.
- Add the tomato puree, oatmeal, pasta and beans. Cover the vegetables with water. Stir well.
- Bring to the boil and simmer until the vegetables are tender, stirring occasionally.
- Just before serving mix in the miso. Serve with crusty bread.
Serves 1
Beans on Toast
Ingredients
Method
- Approx 100g of cooked white beans (soya or haricot beans work well)
- 1 tbsp tomato puree
- Approx 120 ml water
- 1 chopped tomato (optional)
- 1 small onion, peeled and chopped (optional)
Variation For extra flavour why not add one of the following:
- Place the beans, tomato puree and water in a small pan. Add any of the optional ingredients you are using and mix well.
- Bring to the boil. Simmer gently until heated through and the onion is tender, stirring occasionally and adding some more boiling water, if the sauce becomes too thick.
- Serve on toast, or on top of a baked potato.
Serves 1
- 1/2-1 tsp of ready-made mustard
- Chilli powder/or curry powder to taste.
Spring Product Reviews
Jason Hemp Super Moisturising Shampoo
Containing natural organic ingredients and no lauryl/laureth sulfates or parabens, this hemp shampoo is naturally enriched with essential fatty acids and primrose, borage and blackcurrant seed oils. It is suitable for all hair types and seems to leave the hair clean and shiny, but in my opinion is best used with the Jason hemp super moisturising conditioner as I found my hair did get slightly dry in time without a conditioner. Comes in a generous sized 518ml bottle which lasts for ages. Price £5.99. Look out for this product in a health shop near you.
Avalon Organics Peppermint Revitalizing Shampoo
This 100% vegetarian, organic and paraben free shampoo has a lovely refreshing smell - a combination of peppermint oil and rosemary I think. Producing lots of lather, it leaves the hair clean and shiny. What's more, I didn't need a conditioner, probably due to the restoring effects of the babassu oil, which is supposed to revitalise the hair. For more product information visit Avalon Organics. Look out for this shampoo in local health shops. Price around $8.95 for a 325ml bottle. (Product information updated January 2009)
Divine Whole Apricots
Divine Whole Apricots are made from fairly traded apricots, imported by Tropical Wholefoods from the Dried Fruit Project, an apricot drying business that improve the incomes of farmers in the remote Hunza and Karakorum regions of Northern Pakistan. The juicy apricots are dipped in fairly traded dark chocolate, made from cocoa beans from the Kuapa Kokoo, a small cooperative of small scale farmers in Ghana. Here the money earned from the fairtrade premium is invested in water wells and education and health projects. Vegan and GMO-free, these tasty chocolate apricots are available in 125g packets. Follow the link for more information on this and other Tropical Wholefood products. (Product information updated January 2009)
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What's Happening in the Veganic Garden this Spring?
Spring Sowing and Planting Schedule
For advice on what to plant in March, April and May of this year see the Gardening Diary.
NEW! Some sow & grow ideas for 2006, obtained from this year's seed catalogues:
- Tamar Organics are now selling leek seed sheets. Why not try out this easy way to raise leeks? Contains approximately 270 leek seeds per especially impregnated paper sheet. Just lay the sheet on the soil, lightly cover with soil and the leeks should be ready for transplanting in about six weeks. Price £2.75 per sheet. Ring 01822 834284 to order, or visit the Tamar Organics website.
- Also available from Tamar Organics and worth trying out this year is Speedy, which is probably the fastest growing dwarf French bean around - 60 seeds cost just £1.25.
- Suffolk Herbs are now offering an new, improved mangetout variety called Delikett, which is high yielding and only 65cm tall. Price £1.59 for 200 seeds. If you want to try it out phone 01376 572456 or order online.
- Chiltern Seeds are once again offering Pumpkin Nuts. These almost black pumpkin seeds can be eaten without peeling. The pumpkin flesh is also edible. Price £1.90. Contact Chiltern Seeds on 01229 581137 if you would like some.
- Finally, Thompson & Morgan are offering four new mini patio vegetables in their 2006 catalogue. These include Aubergine Baby Rosanna, ideal for growing in containers on your patio, Beetroot Pablo F1 - a top quality baby beetroot, Cauliflower Avalanche and Cabbage Redcap F1, a red mini cabbage. Incidently, their complete mini patio vegetable collection was on special offer at the time of writing for £27.99, a saving of £10.33! Phone their orderline on 01473 695225 to place your order.
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Safe Haven for Donkeys in the Holy Land (SHADH)
For up-to-date information on this organisation, please visit the SHADH website, or see their entry in The Vegan Directory. (Updated in January 2009)
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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.
Verbena (Verbena bonariensis)
Verbena bonariensis (also known as vervain) is nearly as attractive to butterflies as buddleia. Plants are best grown in a mass in order to attract butterflies and will also attract bees and moths. Verbenas can be grown from seed, although it is better to buy young plants from a garden centre and plant them outside in the spring. They like a sunny position and a rich, well-drained soil. Grow verbenas in containers, in a rockery or border.
This attractive climbing plant makes an excellent addition to the wildlife garden. It is a good butterfly nectar plant and also provides nectar to moths and to humbles, which are the only bees able to obtain nectar and pollen from its blossoms. Birds such as waxwings, robins thrushes, warblers, finches and blackcaps like to eat the bright red berries and strips of honeysuckle bark are used by many birds and by dormice for nest building purposes. In addition, honeysuckle is the caterpillar food plant for some species of butterflies and for moths such as convulvulus, elephant and pine hawk moths. The dark yellow and pink flowers give off a lovely fragrance. Grow honeysuckle on walls, in hedges, or in a shady woodland area.
Honeysuckle (Lonicera periclymenum)
Knapweed (Centaurea spp.)
Knapweed grows best in chalky and sandy soils and likes a sunny position. The plant has purple flowers and resembles a thistle, although the leaves have no prickles. Finches will eat the seeds and bees, moths and butterflies such as the small skipper, marbled white, small heath, clouded yellow, brimstone, comma, peacocks and large white will use it as a source of nectar. The rare Queen of Spain fritillary may also visit this flower. It's a caterpillar food plant for the knapweed fritillary and marbled white and is also eaten by caterpillars of the lime speck pug moth. The silvery heads make a useful addition to dried flower arrangements. One of the best plants for butterflies!
Other Interesting Websites
The Vegan Society (UK)
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.
Respect for Animals
An organisation that peacefully campaigns against the cruel and unnecessary fur trade. Do you think that the killing of baby seals in Canada is a thing of the past? Well it's not! Most of the seals are clubbed to death and it is estimated that about 42% are skinned whilst still conscious. Help to bring an end to this senseless cruelty. To find out more about this issue and about the trade in dog and cat fur, visit this site now.
Ectopia
Eco website for socially responsible shopping, offering a wide selection of environmentally-friendly, fairly-traded and recycled products from gifts to homeware, garden goods, baby accessories, glassware, wind up gadgets, children's toys to books and eco-friendly cleaning products. Please check products are vegan before purchasing.
Bonnie Lloyd Holistics
Site offering hand made aromatherapy products by mail order. Products contain many locally sourced ingredients, are free from lanolin and other animal products and are not tested on animals. A refil facility is available. The imaginatively named products include massage blends, face creams, salt scrubs, lip balms, bath and shower products, men's products and gift sets.
Vegan Fitness
An interesting site supplying information on vegan nutrition and training issues, plus recipes and articles and offering some support for new vegans. The site is in the process of expanding to include photo galleries, article databases and athlete profiles, so keep your eyes open for these changes!
October Books
Website providing a mail order book service for Veggies, Vegan Views and the Vegan Organic Network. Offers vegan cookbooks, Vegan Society books, books for children/teenagers and books on vegan permaculture. New additions are added regularly. Now stocks VON'S new book 'Growing Green - Organic Techniques for a Sustainable Future'.
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Spring Book Reviews
Feel-Good Food: A Guide to Intuitive Eating by Susie Miller and Karen Knowler (The Women's Press Ltd, 2000).
Tired of other people telling you what to eat? Confused by all of the conflicting dietary advice you've received? Feel-Good Food offers guidance on how to instinctively satisfy your own dietary requirements. You'll discover how to reawaken your intuition and work out the best way to eat for yourself, essentially by listening to your own body and reading its food signals. Although offering guidance on how to increase the amount of simple and raw food in your diet, this book basically allows you to eat what you want. So, if you want to eat cooked food, then that's OK, there's no need for guilt!
Susie and Karen tell their stories, answer faqs and cover topics such as conditioning, addictions, bingeing, cravings, emotional eating, being too busy to change anything and the art of self observation. The authors offer step-by-step advice on introducing raw foods into your diet and useful tips on how to survive in the real world and deal with situations such as eating out and other social occasions. There's even a chapter on Intuitive Children, covering raw pregnancy, weaning and how to encourage kids to use intuitive eating techniques too.
Finally, there's advice on shopping for raw ingredients, the equipment you'll need to prepare the food, raw food preparation techniques, meal ideas and some recipes. ISBN: 07043 4546 3
The Joy of Vegan Cookery by Amanda Grant (Metro Publishing Ltd, 2002)
A collection of around 150 recipes, which includes some interesting Thai, Mediterranean, Indian, Japanese and Moroccan dishes. The brief introduction provides general information on the vegan diet and nutrition and some advice on stocking up on vegan ingredients. Then each recipe has a complete nutrient breakdown, the recipes being divided into starters, snacks and light meals, main courses and desserts. The book ends with a collection of menu ideas including suggestions for suppers, lunches and picnics. Earlier recipes tend to involve using deep frying and frying techniques and for some reason the recipe on p. 37 contains butter, which I can only assume must be a misprint! On the whole a varied collection of tasty recipes.
ISBN: 84358 023 3
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