Use Dogpile for search and help contribute to animal rescue.

We’re on a mission to help animals in need. We call it our Search and Rescue program. Each time a user goes to Dogpile.com to search the Internet, a portion of the revenue generated will be donated to rescue animals. Our goal is to raise $1 million by the end of 2009.

You’ll be helping pets just by doing what you already do – search the Internet. Dogpile gives you one-click access to the best results on the web from Google, Yahoo, Ask, and MSN Live.

Just make us your preferred search engine. It’s free. It’s easy. And it’s one small change that could make a big difference in the lives of animals.

Tags:   rescue animalsNo Comments.

All Vegan is a store in the North Park area of San Diego. It has a great selection of shoes and bags that are 100% man made. My daughter found a pair of shoes she loved and they were reasonably priced. We both left satisfied with our purchases. While there she also found some wonderful carmel filled chocolates that are hard for vegans to find.

Tags:   shoes · veganNo Comments.

The way we currently produce our food is damaging both to ourselves and our planet. There is therefore a need to create gardens, woodlands and farms which are in harmony with nature. Natural ecosystems are good models, but many of the plants they contain are not necessarily edible. What we need is to discover and grow a wide variety of easily grown perennial and self-seeding annuals which provide delicious and healthy food, or are useful in other ways.

Describing plants such as these, both native to Britain and Europe and from temperate areas around the world, this book includes those suitable for: the ornamental garden, the edible lawn, shade, ponds, walls, hedges, agroforestry and conservation.

In this thoroughly useful book, Ken Fern shares his experiments and successes in growing herbs, vegetables, flowers, shrubs and trees. Packed with information, personal anecdote and detailed appendices and indexes, Plants for a Future: Edible & Useful Plants for a Healthier World takes gardening, conservation and ecology into a new dimension.

Content

1. The Practice: Some of the basic ideas of ecological gardening.
2. Trees and Shrubs: A wide range on common and more unusual trees and shrubs which form the basis of a woodland garden. Many of these have edible uses.
3. Woodland Plants: Climbing plants, bulbs and herbaceous perennials to grow in a woodland or other shady situation.
4. The Flower Garden: Ornamental herbaceous perennials and their uses.
5. Perennial Vegetable and Herbs: Productive herbaceous perennials.
6. The Pond and Bog Garden: The many useful plants that can be grown in a pond or bog garden.
7. The Edible Lawn: How to grow a more colourful lawn whilst reducing your workload and getting some food.
8. Walls and Fences: Plants that grow in them as well as against them.
9. Hedges, Screens and Shelterbelts: Useful plants that can give privacy, and shelter from the wind.
10. Ground Cover: How to reduce weeding in the garden and also get extra food.
11. A Few Annuals and Biennials: The less well known annual vegetable.
12. The Wild or Conservation Garden: How to provide habitats for our native flora and fauna, whilst still producing food for ourselves.
13. Further Possibilities: A look at some plants which look exciting but of which we do not yet have experience.

Plants For A Future is a resource centre for rare and unusual plants, particularly those which have edible, medicinal or other uses. We practise vegan-organic permaculture with emphasis on creating an ecologically sustainable environment based largely on perennial plants.

Tags:   Edible Plants · Medicinal Plants · Plant Database · Vegan OrganicsNo Comments.

Savannah’s Vegan Pancakes
2 1/2 cups flour
4 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
3 cups juice (any flavor)

Savannah’s Vegan Cornbread (a hit at potlucks, with vegan chili)
Combine:
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup cornmeal
1/4 cup sugar (this could be reduced a bit — it’s a fairly sweet cornbread)
4 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
Combine and add:
6 tbsp water
1 cup plain soymilk (could substitute almond milk, etc.)
1/4 cup cooking oil (I use canola)
Mix until smooth. Bake in a greased 8″ pan in 425º oven 20-25 minutes.

Recipes courtesy of Julie Johnston

Tags:   cornbread · pancakes · veganNo Comments.

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The Organic Center issued a press release a few months ago First-Ever Estimate of the Dramatic Reduction in Pesticide Risk Possible through the “Organic Option”.

Conventional Fruits and Vegetables with the Highest Pesticide Dietary Risk Index Scores: Domestic

Fruits
Cranberries: 178
Nectarines: 97
Strawberries: 56
Peaches: 54
Pears: 48

Vegetables
Green beans: 330
Sweet bell peppers: 132
Celery: 104
Cucumbers: 93
Potatoes: 74

Conventional Fruits and Vegetables with the Highest Pesticide Dietary Risk Index Scores: Imported

Fruits
Grapes: 282
Nectarines: 281
Peaches: 266
Pears: 221
Strawberries: 78

Vegetables:
Sweet bell peppers: 720
Lettuce: 326
Cucumbers: 317
Celery: 170
Tomatoes: 142

Part of the definition of food labeled organic is that it must be produced without most conventional pesticides and synthetic fertilizers and without antibiotics, growth hormones, genetic engineering or irradiation.

Tags:   Organic food · Pesticide RiskNo Comments.

Here’s a tip for non-vegan family and friends: eating less meat will save you money because meat is the most expensive item on the average food bill.

In an article in the NYT earlier this year author Mark Bittman wrote about how “meat factories consume enormous amounts of energy, pollute water supplies, generate significant greenhouse gases and require ever-increasing amounts of corn, soy and other grains, a dependency that has led to the destruction of vast swaths of the world’s tropical rain forests.” He went on to write, “Like oil, meat is subsidized by the federal government. Like oil, meat is subject to accelerating demand as nations become wealthier, and this, in turn, sends prices higher. Finally — like oil — meat is something people are encouraged to consume less of, as the toll exacted by industrial production increases, and becomes increasingly visible.”

In fact, Americans are already buying more environmentally friendly products, choosing more sustainably produced meat, eggs and dairy. The number of farmers’ markets has more than doubled in the last 10 years or so, and it has escaped no one’s notice that the organic food market is growing fast. These all represent products that are more expensive but of higher quality.

If those trends continue, meat may become a treat rather than a routine. It won’t be uncommon, but just as surely as the S.U.V. will yield to the hybrid, the half-pound-a-day meat era will end.

If more expensive meat doesn’t change your eating habits, perhaps the combination of deforestation, pollution, climate change, starvation, heart disease and animal cruelty will gradually encourage the simple daily act of eating more plants and fewer animals.

Tags:   Food and Related Products1 Comment

We tried the new Thai Dragon House in La Mesa last weekend.  Pretty good.  We ordered two dishes, one of the drunken noodles and one with stringbeans.  Got them both with veggies, although tofu or mock duck were also available.

Only got it a “5″ spicy, but we would probably go hotter next time, as it was a little mild for my taste.

Tags:   san diego vegan restaurants1 Comment