Ally – Page 35 – A. L. Lester

Growing hydroponic greens

Hydroponics bed, straggly lettuce — Ebb and flow bed.

I’ve been meaning to write about my hydroponics bed for ages and haven’t got round to it. I started it in the winter and made a whole big deal about being able to grow my ‘Brexit lettuces’ because of the uncertainty about fresh food prices after the UK crashed out of the EU trade networks. It’s working pretty well now, so here’s a summary of what I did. It cost about £100 to set up.

Hydroponics bed under polythene — Wrapped up for night with heat pad underneath and polythene over the top. You can see the reservoir, the red bin, bottom right.

I took a plastic under-bed storage box that’s about eight inches deep.
I fitted ebb-and-flow fittings in two of the corners—an in and an out. They’re also sold as flood-and-drain fittings. I paid about £12.
I repurposed an old waste bin as my water reservoir. You need something that will hold more water than your under-bed storage box and if you can rig up a lid that’s good because it stops evaporation. It needs to be positioned lower than your grow bed.
I bought a small air pump and a small aquarium pump for about £10 each. These both go in your water reservoir. The air pump stops the water going horrible.
And I got a cheap LED grow-light for about £40.
I filled the storage box with clay pebbles to about an inch from the top. Don’t do this until you’ve got it in situ because of the weight. Wash them first because they’re dusty and that clagged up my little pump.
I bought four-inch mesh pots and some flat trays. The mesh pots I use for tomatoes etc and the flat trays for green leaves. I use coir in the flat trays and a grow-sponge surrounded by coir in the pots. The flat trays are only half an inch deep and aren’t ideal. I need something longer and deeper and narrower to fit my set-up, but haven’t got round to making anything yet—I’m thinking that old plastic milk cartons with lots of holes punched in them might work. You need it to be net-like so the roots can work their way out. The pots work fine, I start them in the bed and then when the plants get tall I move them into large individual jars on the floor. This needs changing regularly because it goes green.
I use Formulex liquid, on a 1:10 ratio. So my set-up takes 20 litres and I put in 200ml of liquid and change it every two or three weeks. It costs £12 per litre.
I set the pump on a timer. Over the winter I had it going for fifteen minutes four times a day. Now it’s got warmer, I have it going for a extra two slots during the daytime.
The light I initially had on for twelve hours a day. BUT I didn’t get very good growth and so I kept it on permanently and the lettuce seemed to really like that. Now we have more than 12 hours daylight, I’ve turned it off completely.

Hydroponics bed, lots of lettuce — Lettuce! Yay!

I also used an old vivarium heat pad during the coldest months—the set up is in my conservatory which gets pretty cold in the small hours. I slid that under the box, on top of the wooden surface and it kept the heat of the clay balls up sufficiently that the water flowing in was warmed and wasn’t a shock to the roots. If you have it in the house where it’s doesn’t get too cold at night, you won’t need that.

Tomatoes in cut-down 2l pop bottles. Not successful--too wobbly. — Tomatoes in cut-down pop bottles. Too unstable, I moved to big glass jars.

I read up a lot on EC levels—the mineral and nutrient content in the nutrient mix. Different plants need different kinds. It baffled me, quite frankly—I include links below so you can be baffled yourself. By random luck I seem to have hit on something that lettuce and tomatoes love, so I just change the solution every two or three weeks and it seems to be working.

Conclusions

I think this is one of those things that it’s quite easy to set up in a rough-and ready sort of way, which is my modus operandi, quite frankly. And harder to do precisely, which I have no interest in at all. My aim was to have fresh salad for the family that would survive even if I had three days unable to get out of bed and no-one else remembered to water it; and to avoid having half-liquid bags of leaves in the bottom of the fridge. I have achieved this.

The initial set-up cost was a bit eye-watering, largely because of the cost of the light. The ongoing cost is obviously the electric for the pumps/light and the Formulex, which costs about £5 per month, less if I change the solution every three weeks rather than two. You can make your own, but for me the cost offsets the faffing around.

Salad is £2 a bag and we buy a bag or more a week. So I’m £5 in hand a month and it will take two years to pay for the kit, ish. I’m happy with that—it wasn’t meant to be a cheap solution. I feel that I’m balancing my desire to have a proper permaculture garden and feed us all from scratch with what I can manage by myself with my physical and temporal limitations!

What I’d do differently

I’d probably not have such a deep container. For cut-and-come again and baby leaves, the eight inches isn’t necessary. Five would probably do, which would mean you could cut down on the clay pebbles needed, and therefore the amount of solution and the amount of nutrient.

These articles were helpful

Building an Ebb and Flow bed: https://somegardeningtips.com/building-a-compact-ebb-and-flow-table/
Starting Seeds for Hydroponics: https://www.epicgardening.com/starting-seeds-for-hydroponics/
Why is EC important? https://www.hydroponics.co.uk/news/why-ec-is-important-in-hydroponics/
PH and nutrient levels for vegetables: http://www.homehydrosystems.com/ph_tds_ppm/ph_vegetables_page.html

Am Reading

This week we’ve got a contemporary romance set on the US Carolina cost, a paranormal historical urban fantasy with talking familiars and a space opera romance with fantastic normative gender expression.

The First Step (Coastal Carolina #1) by Shira Anthony

This is a slow burn romance set against a background of the sea. One of the MCs is a pilot–a boat pilot–a skilled, dangerous job whether the sea is calm or rough. He’s part of a team who jump from little boats to the big vessels he brings safely into harbour from the open sea. The second MC is a disgraced reporter on a forced sabbatical from his sexy New York news position. He’s supposed to be writing an article about the seafood industry, but he becomes fascinated with the river pilots and their job. Justin, the pilot, isn’t out at work and their relationship grows against the background of each of the men’s past and insecurities.

I don’t usually get grabbed by stories where the romance is the main driver, but this had me from the start with its description of coastal life and the push and pull between the two MC’s personalities. The coastal setting is a personality in its own right, creating danger and tension that defines their relationship. I really enjoyed it.

Winter’s Orbit by Everina Maxwell

This began as an original work posted on AO3, which is where I first came across it. I loved it then. However, now, it’s even better. A beautifully crafted high-tech universe, normalised queerness, a diplomatic marriage to cement a difficult political situation, two people who think they are doing the best for each other but aren’t communicating very well, a murder to solve with the murderers still after them, and spaceships. What’s not to like? There’s also an ‘ooops, only one tent and it’s freezing’ incident, for which we should all give thanks. It’s a story about a relationship entwined with a complex political/diplomatic high-stakes plot and it is so, so good.

I particularly liked the gender expression, which IIRC is a new addition from when I read the AO3 version.

Honestly, this is brilliant. You should read it.

Marked by Death (Necromancer #1) by Kaje Harper

This ticks all my boxes…historical, paranormal, queer. It’s the first in a new series and it sets the scene for a complicated, magic-is-normal-but-whoah-dangerous universe. One of the MCs is a necromancer–clue in the title there–and the other is a childhood friend who is pretty much having a magic-induced breakdown and goes to him for help. Shenanigans ensue. Their relationship develops against a background of threatening dark things, a threatening magical council and a not quite 1950s USA where the gay is still illegal. There was a distinct whiff of Renaissance Italy in the politics of the magical council that I really loved.

Oh, and there are familiars. Talking familiars.

That’s it for this week!

Liz Faraim: Stitches and Sepsis

Liz Faraim is here today as part of her OWL blogtour for Stitches and Sepsis, the second in her brilliant Vivian Chastain series. Welcome back, Liz!

You can read her visit to talk about Canopy, the first in series here!

Howdy. My name is Liz Faraim. I am the author of the Vivian Chastain series. I thought I’d take a moment to answer some questions that I get asked a lot. Enjoy!

What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever done in the name of research?

While researching Stitches and Sepsis I had to do extensive research on how sepsis impacts the body and what types of medical intervention might happen while hospitalized with it. I spent many hours watching videos on how to insert and remove foley catheters, nasogastric feeding tubes, and IVs. Also, don’t do an internet search for images of septic wounds (or do?).

Have you ever taken a trip to research a story? Tell me about it.

Yes! I have hiked every single one of the trails that I write about, I have ridden my motorcycle on every one of the routes described in the series, and I have run every jogging route too. I like to write about places I can describe in detail, which is why Vivian stays mostly in northern California.

What do you do when you get writer’s block?

Writer’s block hits me every time I reach the midpoint and end of each manuscript. Breaking the writer’s block sometimes means taking a writing break for a few weeks to re-read familiar novels or just wallow in self-loathing before getting back to the keyboard.

Do you use a pseudonym? If so, why? If not, why not?

Yes, I use a pseudonym. I chose to do this because I work in a very conservative and heavily scrutinized field for my day job, and for me to feel truly free to write what I want to write, I need to do it under a different name.

If you could tell your younger writing self anything, what would it be?

Liz, just as you assumed, not everybody is going to like your work (including family). But do it anyway. You don’t have to please everyone. Write what you want, because someone out there will connect with it.

Do you ever base your characters on real people? If so, what are the pitfalls you’ve run into doing so?

Yes, I have based a few characters on people I have come into contact with over the years. The only pitfall I have run in to so far is that the person I based the character Bear on (who plays a much larger role in book three) passed away before my books were published. Bear was my best friend, and we used to do writing exercises where we’d each write an excerpt and pass the story back and forth, continually adding to it. I know she would be so proud of me for finally getting published. I just wish she had lived long enough to read about herself in my books.

How long on average does it take you to write a book?

It depends! Whatever project I happen to be working on during National Novel Writing Month gets wrapped up in about six to eight weeks. If I am writing any other time of the year it takes about six months. I balance a demanding day job and solo parenting, so I don’t have much time to dedicate solely to writing.

What do you do if you get a brilliant idea at a bad time?

This happens all the time! I have random notes stored in my phone, on sticky notes on my desk, and scribbled on note pads. One thing I have to get better about is giving more context when I make a note for myself, because the current sticky note on my desk just says “gloves,” “daffodils” and “foghorn.” I think I know what I was trying to say, but who knows!

Liz has a prize draw as part of the Stitches and Sepsis launch! Win a $20 giftcard!

Stitches and Sepsis

Contemporary, thriller, ff, lesbian, polyamory, poly, Dom/sub relationship, multiple partners, ex-military, bartender, LGBTQ, queer, thriller, new release, announcement

Adrenaline addicted veteran, Vivian Chastain, confronts the man who has been following her for days, only to find he has a message of dire consequence for her. Spurred into action by his news, she barrels head on into a tumultuous and violent series of events. Stoic and stubborn, Vivian lands in the hospital, fighting for her life.

During Vivian’s lengthy recovery, her partner is released from jail and the two reconnect, stoking up the flames of their toxic union all while Vivian dives into a blossoming relationship with a new love interest who offers fulfillment and love, if only Vivian can figure out how to allow it all in.

Still on the mend, she learns that the coast is not clear as former threats return and continue to endanger her. While she cannot rest easy; friends, her work crew, and customers at the night club where she tends bar provide her with much needed fun, comradery, and support.

Vivian wrestles with her temper, her penchant for physical violence, and her overwhelming emotional baggage. Struggles from within and without threaten her existence, and in the moment when death is just a breath away, Vivian’s brother shows up and changes everything.

Warnings: This book contains sexually explicit content which is only suitable for mature readers, graphic violence, self-harm, references to PTSD, domestic abuse, animal abuse, homophobic slurs, sexual assault (reference to past), death of a secondary character

Buy Stitches & Sepsis

Meet Liz

Liz has a full plate between balancing a day job, parenting, writing, and finding some semblance of a social life. In past lives she has been a soldier, a bartender, a shoe salesperson, an assistant museum curator, and even a driving instructor. She focuses her writing on strong, queer, female leads who don’t back down.

Liz transplanted to California from New York over thirty years ago, and now lives in the East Bay. She enjoys exploring nature with her wife and son.

Website : Facebook : Twitter : Goodreads : QueeRomance Ink

Banner. Stitches and Sepsis by Liz Faraim

Some different audiobook options

It will quickly become clear that this is a blatant promo post about my new audiobook set-up, but I’m combining it with some info about the different listening platforms out there too, as I know a growing number of listeners are looking to move away from Audible. I hope it’s useful from that point of view.

I’ve recently moved the three books I have with Callum away from Audible and they should now be available via local library services as well as other places like Chirp and Kobo. I get as much money from borrows from your local library as I do from Audible credit sales, so knock yourselves out with that and don’t think you’re ever doing any author down by legitimate borrowing rather than buying!

Because of /technical reasons I don’t understand/ I don’t seem to be able to ALSO distribute them via Audible at the moment, but I’m hoping that when I have a free weekend and a bottle of gin handy I can plough through what I need to do to make that happen, as a matter of fairness to people who may have bought the first ones with Audible credits but perhaps haven’t yet got to the rest in the series. For the same reason, I think I will put The Hunted and the Hind up with Audible as well as everywhere else when it comes out in the summer.

HOWEVER, having said that, Audible set their own, quite high, prices for all the audiobooks they sell to people who don’t subscribe in some way. On the non-Audible platforms I have been able to set the price of Lost in Time and Shadows on the Border to $9.99 and the stand-alone, Inheritance of Shadows, to $5.50. A lot of places like Kobo and Google Play will add sales and reductions of their own to those prices and on Authors Direct I am able to directly control pricing without negotiating with anyone else, so I have made the prices $7.99 and $4.40, respectively. The Flowers of Time is still available from Audible and I won’t be moving that away from the platform.

These are some of the different audio platforms out there:

Alternative audiobook platforms are all gradually growing. It’s definitely worth checking the different platforms for your favourite authors.

Plus: Binge Books

And then we have Authors Direct:

Authors Direct is part of Findaway Voices, the audio arm of Draft2Digital, which is the service I use to distribute my self-published books. Each author can set up a little shop of their own for their audiobooks and direct readers/listeners to it. It’s quite new I think, but so far it seems really sensible and flexible. I load up the audio files Callum sends me, they check them for quality and then they send them out to all the different platforms I’ve selected as retailers. And at that point I can also add them to my own shop. Listeners download the app onto their phone and bosh, off they go.

It has an easy-to-use app (as do a lot of the other options) and it’s ad free. And apparently it has a safe-for-work mode where you can blank out your screen so no-one can see what you’re listening to :).

They have a handy infographic to explain how simple it is!

The downside as far as I can see is that there’s no main storefront where you can search for eg LGBTQ books or cook books or books about llamas. Listeners find each author’s books via a direct link to the author’s ‘shop’.

Anyway. I hope that makes sense…speaking as a creator this is much more transparent—the sales information is laid out clearly with a straightforward relationship between units sold, what platform they have been sold via and the sale price. Plus we get seventy percent of the list price of sale rather than roughly forty at the other platforms and twenty-five of whatever price they decided to set themselves at Audible, which is obviously very attractive.

So there we are. I really hope some of these non-Audible alternatives suit some of you, too. As a consumer I find the Amazon machine very convenient; and as a seller it is to some extent too. I just think that there should be alternatives should people choose to use them and this is my little effort to bring notice to the audio options. And sell more books!

Happy listening, whichever platform you choose!

Am Reading

This time I have some queer sci-fi and a non-fiction book about the First World War.

A Memory Called Empire and A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine, Sub Zero by Angel Martinez and Elsie and Mairi Go to War by Diane Atkinson.

A Memory Called Empire & A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine

Cover, A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine

Cover, A Memory Called Empire, Arkady Martine

So, I’m late to the party with this duology. I have read both in the last week and been blown away by them. The world-building is amazing, the character development is fascinating and the way everything pulls against each other…the different cultures, the different expectations…is perfect.

In the first book there is the tension between the Stationer culture and the ever-expanding Teixcalaan empire, which have radically different values and ways of being. They are both human, but the Teixcalaan’s don’t really see non-Teixcallaanim as being real people. In book two, the human cultures are thrown against aliens who are so completely <i>other</i> that the Sationers and the Teixcallaani need to put aside their differences to learn to communicate with them and survive as a species.

Interwoven with the big, space-opera story of both books is a delicate, touching, personal story of the tentative relationship growing between the Stationer ambassador to Teixcalaan and her Teixcallaan translator. They struggle with their feelings and cultural differences against a background of violence, attempted rebellion and political maneuvering.

I found the whole thing completely absorbing and I’ll be going back to them in a few months, as I’m sure there’s stuff I’ve missed. It’s rich, textured and absorbing. Read them. They’re good.

Elsie and Mairi Go to War by Diane Atkinson

I read this as part of research into women doctors and nurses in the First World War for a story I’m writing. It started off a bit of a mad dash though the pages, extracting information to use as background colour. However, I soon got sucked into the story for its own sake…they were amazing women who saw a job that needed doing and did it. They spent a great deal of time running a first aid post very close to the Belgian lines in the cellar of a bombed out building and went out every night looking for wounded who had been overlooked on the battlefield. Their story is told through letters and photos and recollections and is a very easy read.

Elsie was quite a bit older than Mairi and I took an instant dislike to her…she was clearly an adventuress who thrived on adrenaline. She lied about being a divorcee and having a child to the Belgian nobleman she went on to marry during the war. Afterwards when he found out and they parted, she flitted from one thing to another…for example setting up a first aid post in the East End of London during the General Strike and actually causing more problems than she solved.

Mairi on the other hand settled back to post-war life with comparative ease. She, a close friend and a couple of other women opened a chicken-breeding farm in Scotland, temporarily moved the whole shebang to Guernsey and from thence back to Scotland again.

I found it a really interesting, colourful book that brought the protaganists to life. I also came away with a distinct feeling that Mairi had a crush on Elsie. She never married although she and her close friend lived together for decades after the war. Although that isn’t surprising for women of that generation, I guess, because of the swathes of men lost in the trenches.

Sub Zero (The ESTO Universe) by Angel Martinez

I loved this queer SFF story. It has a really well defined sense of place–a planet colonized by humans not once, but twice. The first colonizers abandoned their genetically engineered slaves who then became indigenous and more and more undervalued in the eyes of the second wave of humans when they arrive.

The main protagonists are a human and a not-quite-human, one sent to solve a murder, one accused of it. They fall in love, they solve the mystery, they bring a better sense of balance to the world. It sounds so simple.

But the universe is deeply textured, the details are painted with a bright, engaging brush and the relationship between the MCs grows at a steady, tender pace. It’s lovely and you should read it.

That’s it for this time!