THE VEGAN NEWSTHE VEGAN NEWSThe 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. Note: The Vegan News will not be published throughout August. However, please continue to send in your advertisements over the summer period. They will be published in this issue and also in the September Issue.
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Recipe of the MonthThe Gooseberry Jam recipe below, is taken from a leaflet called 'Sugar Free Jam Making, produced by The Wholefood Cookery School. It tastes particularly nice with wholemeal scones. Concentrated fruit juices (such as the apple concentrate used in the recipe below) can be purchased from most health food shops. Remember to store sugar-free jam in the fridge as this will prevent moulds from forming in the jam.
Method
* To test to see if your jam is at setting point use a small plate. Place a little jam on the plate and leave it to cool. Slide your finger into the jam. If the space left by your finger does not cover again, then the jam is at setting point. You can also use a sugar thermometer. - setting point is at 104 degrees C or 220 degrees F.
** To sterilise jam jars: Remove the labels from the jars. Then boil the cleaned jars in a stainless steel or glass pan. Dry the sterilised jars in a low oven before use.
Come on readers, I want to hear from you. Please send in your contributions. Don't be shy now!
An open email to animal rights-related organisations and supporters sent in by:
Chris Wright, South Midlands Animal Aid (UK)
Following on from all the publicity generated by yesterday's gathering
of around 100,000 bloodsports supporters in Hyde Park, London
(unsurprisingly nearly 2 *full* pages were devoted to it in my local
paper - The Birmingham Post), the only suitable response is for even
more people to attend the "March Against Bloodsports" rally in Hyde
Park on August 2nd (it's happening a bit too soon for my liking -
September/October would be better to allow more time to get things
organised). My own personal view is that it should be renamed the
"March For Animals" and should focus on all areas of animal cruelty
and exploitation, not just bloodsports. That would encourage more
people to turn out, and having a bigger turnout than the hunting
fraternity could muster is of paramount importance in my opinion.
If we don't get hunting banned this time (those who don't know what
I'm talking about email me for info), I think it will be many, many
years before the opportunity would come again. This is why the August
2nd rally is vital. Everyone who cares about animal rights should try
and be there, and I believe that all the organisations involved in
animal rights should come together and co-fund the biggest
advertising campaign ever seen in the name of animals to publicise
this rally and our cause in general. Now is the time for action and we
must all be seen to act....
If you have an opinion on hunting/bloodsports, then why not voice it on the radio:
Phone in number is: 0121 432 2000
Sundays 9 am - 12 noon
Weekdays 11am - 2 pm
Hemp has many uses. Throughout history it has been used to make clothes, ropes, paper,
painting canvas, horsebedding, cosmetics and in building materials. If you are interested
in purchasing hemp products then Union Hemp in Sheffield sells
many environmentally friendly hemp products by mail order. These products are not sold especially
for vegans, so please check suitability before purchasing. All Things Hemp
also offers a selection of skin and hair hemp products by mail order. All their beauty products are Vegan Society
Approved. They also supply a virgin, cold-pressed hemp oil, which can be used in a similar way to olive
oil. e.g. in salad dressings. (Price £6.50 for 250 ml)
The seeds of the hemp plant (Cannabis sativa) are in fact very good for your health and can be eaten or made
into drinks. (See The Hemp Cook Book - in the interesting vegan websites section.)
They are high in fibre and the minerals calcium, magnesium, phosphorus and sulphur.
They are also contain a high proportion of Gamma Linolenic Acid or GLA and the essential fatty
acids (EFA's) - Linoleic and Linolenic acids. As the body can not make its own essential
fatty acids, it is important to consume a supply of them regularly. Essential fatty acids are used by
the body to maintain skin and hair health and they are also very good for your heart.
Finally, a new product which has just been released recently: Before you throw anything away think! Can it be reused? Here are some suggestions:
You will be pleased to know that August is a good month for sitting in a nice
shady spot with a cool drink and watching everything grow; most of the hard work has
already been done! Runner beans, onions, sweetcorn and tomatoes should all be growing
nicely now and your herbs should be hanging up to dry for the winter. And, there should still be
plenty of nice green salad leaves available, if you don't feel like cooking in the heat.
Make sowings of spring cabbage in early August. Sow turnips and winter radishes towards
the end of August. Black Spanish Round and Summer Cross F1-(Mouli) are good
winter radishes, both available from The Organic Gardening Catalogue
If you are interested in creating your own Wildlife Pond, then
this month's Vegan News has information on how to do this. Visit the pond link
above, but don't forget to come back here again afterwards and read the rest of The Vegan News!
D.H. James. Hull
I am trying to grow some vegetables in my garden without using any animal products or chemicals. However,
cats keep going to the toilet in my vegetable patch. Is there anything that I can do to prevent this?
It is very difficult to prevent cats from doing this unfortunately. Certain measures can be taken
to discourage cats from coming into the garden. For example a high fence could be erected and
barbed wire (or another similar prickly material) could be placed on top of it. You can also keep
a bucket of water (or a plant spray) handy, to use if you see a cat in the garden.
However, this method tends to make the cats rather nervous of you and they simply hang on until
you have gone out! A good way of keeping cats off your vegetable patch, is to cover the beds
with netting or wire netting. This doesn't look very nice, but has proved quite successful in
my garden. Cats usually prefer to use bare soil, so unplanted ground or ground with young plants
in, is most at risk. To deter cats, keep any beds which have bare soil covered with a mulch, such as carpet or
cardboard, until you are ready to plant in them. Beds, which contain young plants can be protected
with netting until the plants are well established. Try to keep the amount of bare soil
left between rows of plants to the minimum and perhaps interplant your main crop rows
with a fast growing crop which will be finished by the time the main crop plants need more space.
The RSPB sells a rather expensive cat deterrent and if all else fails,
I would suggest that you contact them to see if it is suitable. And, if any reader has managed to
completely solve this problem, then please could they e-mail the editor!
New Earth Main Site
The Hemp Cook Book
The Biggs' Wildlife Pond
Bertolli Olive Oil
The Vegan Society UK
The Caring Cook. By Janet Hunt. Published by The Vegan Society.
The Caring Cook is a guide to cruelty-free cooking for the complete beginner. The book contains
advice on kitchen equipment and vegan store cupboard ingredients.
Tasty breakfast recipes include home-made muesili and scrambled tofu. At least half-a-dozen
interesting soup recipes are followed by a selection of salad dressings made from olive oil, tahini,
peanut butter and tofu. The packed lunch section offers a selection of recipes for home-made
spreads and a list of tasty sandwich filling ideas, as well as a recipe for fat-free, wholemeal bread.
Cooker-Top meals include several adventurous, foreign-sounding recipes including Hawaiian Rice, Spaghetti Napoletana,
and a Dhal made from bananas and peppers. Oven-Baked meals include, of course, the Nut Roast and an interesting
quiche made using tofu. Finally, desserts and teatime treats complete the book.
A small but useful book. Good value at £3.45. It can be obtained from The Vegan Society.
Mediterranean Vegetarian Cookery. Edited by Janet Swarbrick. Price £12.99. Apple.
This cookery book is divided into five sections: Appetizers/soups/salads; dips/salsas/relishes;
main dishes; side dishes and desserts. Most of the recipes in the book are vegan, or could be made
vegan by substituting vegan cheese or yogurt in the recipes. Be careful in the dessert section
as quite a few of the recipes contain eggs or honey. The book opens with a mouth-watering photograph
of different coloured peppers. I have tried out the Greek potato salad on p 20 - very nice and the oven
cooked spaghetti with tomatoes on p 74 which is an unusual, but very pleasant way of cooking spaghetti.
I would recommend this book to anyone who is feeling adventurous. Well illustrated with many
coloured photos. If you want to live a longer and healthier life then try some of these Mediterranean
recipes and don't forget to read this month's article on Mediterranean Cuisine! I think I will try out
the spinach, fig and pine nut salad on p 24, next...
Pauline's Mediterranean-Style Lentil Salad
Ingredients
Method
Serve the lentil salad inside warmed pitta breads. It can also be placed on
top of lettuce leaves and eaten as a side salad. Serves 1-2.
Readers' Contributions
The Ed Doolan Show on BBC Radio WM is happy to hear all sides of the argument.
Frequencies: FM 95.6 (West Midlands)
94.8 Coventry
103.7 Stratford
104 -- A5 Corridor near Hinckley
In this month's bumper summer issue, I am going to review three products. The first two
products are made using seeds from the hemp plant and are produced by New Earth.
Summer Issue Product Review9 Bar Hemp
This high energy, chocolate-flavoured bar (approx 200 kcals/bar) is made from organically grown
ingredients. Produced by New Earth, 9 Bar Hemp is dairy-free and is suitable for vegetarians and
vegans. Sugar-free and made without using any hydrogenated fat, ingredients include: chocolate, oats,
apricots, hemp seed, flax seed and cocoa butter. Each 45g bar contains approximately 14% hemp
seed. Nine bar Hemp has a nice crunchy texture and a delicious chocolate flavour. Very good to take
on walking and backpacking holidays! Price about £0.85. I found mine in a health
food shop. For details of 9 Bar stockists, world-wide, visit the New Earth website. (See this month's
interesting websites section.) You can also purchase a 9 Bar T-shirt from this site which
is also made from hemp and costs £14.95.Pow!
This is a low-fat, fruit, energy bar which is also suitable for vegans. Again made with hemp
seeds, it is rich in essential fatty acids, has no added sugar or hydrogenated fat and is high in vitamins
A, C , E and B. Entirely gluten and nut-free. Unfortunately, I haven't managed to find one to test it yet!
Wildlife gardeners will be pleased to know that swallows and finches both adore hemp
seeds. So, in the unlikely event of you having any crumbs leftover, don't waste them - put them on the bird table!
White-Sun
White-Sun is a nutritious, alternative to soya milk. It is produced by Plamil and does not contain any genetically
modified ingredients. Made from sunflower oil and pea protein, it is enriched with calcium,
the vitamins D2, B2 and B12 and is sweetened with apple juice. Use it like soya milk.
It will curdle if added to hot drinks so you need to add quite a bit. It is also slightly
higher in fat and calories than soya milk Price about £1.15. It can be obtained
from health food shops. Vegan Society Approved.
Recycling TipsThis Month - Some Uses for Old Carpet.
The following suggestions are for natural carpets which do not have a foam backing:
What's Happening in the Veganic
Garden This Summer?
The Veganic Garden in July
Watering
Most crops have now been planted and they should all be growing well. In recent years,
in the South of England, July has been a very dry month. Be prepared for drought
again this year. Mulch plants whenever possible to keep in the moisture and water
well, using water butt or recycled water, whenever possible.
Crop Picking
Pick your crops regularly in order to encourage them to keep producing. Crops which are available in July include:
cucumbers, other salad crops - spring onions and lettuces, peas, radishes,
spinach, broad beans and marrows.
Other Garden Tasks This Month
Stop the runner beans when they reach the top of the poles by pinching out their
growing points. This will encourage them to form pods. They can also be mulched with old grass
cuttings to help to keep them moist. Tomatoes should be tied regularly as they grow.
Perpetual spinach can be sown in July to provide pickings in the autumn and winter and a
late sowing of parsley will give you a good supply of fresh parsley for the winter.
Plant out kale, sprouting broccoli and winter cabbage plants this month. Remove any early pea plants if
they have finished and either use the plants as green manure or put them on the compost heap.
Drying Herbs
The best time to dry herbs is just as they come into flower as this is when they have the most flavour.
(This usually occurs sometime between June and August.) The herbs should be dry when
picked and it is better to pick them early in the morning. Tie the stalks into bundles
and hang them up in a dry, dark place, indoors. They should be left to dry until they can be
crumbled in the fingers. Pack the crumbled herbs into coloured jars for storage.
I usually dry sage, thyme, rosemary, oregano and basil. Parsley and chives are not really suitable for drying.
Fruit
July and August are both good months for seasonal fruit. If you do not have any in your garden, it may
be worth going to a fruit farm to pick some of your own. Black currants, gooseberries, raspberries, red currants and strawberries are
just some of the fruits which are available in July. In August you will also get cherries, loganberries, pears and plums.
Of course many commercial growers spray their fruit, so it may be worth sending off for some
catalogues and considering planting some of your own fruit bushes or fruit trees this autumn.
The Veganic Garden in August
Watering and Feeding
The main garden task in August is again to keep everything well-watered.
Don't forget to keep all the water that you use to wash your salad, fruit and
vegetables in throughout the day, as it can all be re-used to water the vegetable patch
in the evening. Runner beans especially need to be watered frequently when they
are flowering and making pods. (The flowers can also be sprayed with water from a plant spray, to
help the beans set.) Tomatoes need a good supply of water when the fruits are swelling up. Feed
them frequently with comfrey solution this month.
Other Tasks This Month
Stop tomatoes when they have formed four or five trusses. Pick any ripe fruit
and eat it! Onions should also be ripening well this month. Stop watering them about a week before
lifting and loosen the roots with a fork. They should be lifted by the end of this month and hung
up to dry in an airy place. Crop Picking
Beetroot, onions, tomatoes, runner beans, sweetcorn, garlic and cucumbers should all be
available in August. As you pick your crops, think of the money that you have saved and be proud
of all the pesticide-free crops that you have produced! If you have been very successful then you may even have some
left over to store for the winter. Wild Life Gardening
The RSPB is offering a free 28 page booklet called 'The Birds in your garden'.
It contains information on shrubs and flowers which will attract wildlife into your garden,
details on what to feed the birds in winter and an illustrated bird identification guide.
The booklet can be obtained from: RSPB, The Lodge, Sandy, Bedfordshire. SG19 2DL. The RSPB
also sells a nice pottery, toad house. However, I am not sure if it can be obtained by mail order.
So, if you've got a toad, then why not give it a home! And, if you would like to attract toads into
your garden then see the pond link below!
Any Queries?
Animal Aid
Vegan Organisation Review
Animal Aid visits livestock markets in the UK to investigate animal suffering.
The work is carried out by volunteers who monitor the 20 million farm animals
bartered in these markets each year. They report and film incidences of animal abuse.
If you would like to make a donation, or become a member, they can be contacted at: Animal Aid, The Old Chapel,
Bradford Street, Tonbridge. Kent. TN9 1AW. Or telephone: (01732) 364546 for more information.
New Earth Stockists
Other Interesting Vegan Websites.
At this site you will be able to find details of your local stockists of 9 Bar Hemp and Pow Bars.
Click on your Country's flag for further details. (About 12 countries available.)
A very interesting site. Find out more about these bars or order a hemp T-shirt here.
Site produced by Nicky Coville. Has many recipes which use ground hemp seeds. Find out how
to make your own hemp seed milk. Recipes for hemp hummus, hemp vegeburgers, hemp pastry and hemp loaf
(don't use the egg), hemp dumplings in vegetable stew, hemp & coriander soup, vinaigrette au chanvre (leave out honey)
and the gravy recipe, are all suitable for vegans. The hemp flapjacks would be suitable if you
substituted maple syrup.
Pictures and details on how to construct a garden pond and stock it with plants.
You can also see some of the wildlife which has visited the pond.
Site with Mediterranean recipes, some of which are suitable for vegans. Information on olive oil
and on the Mediterranean lifestyle. Find out how olive oil
is made.
The Vegan Society Site has now moved. So, readers may find that links
to the Vegan Society, in previous issues of The Vegan News, no longer work! I apologise
for this inconvenience.
Summer Issue Book Review
View all issues of The Vegan News
Copyright © Pauline Lloyd 1997.