Lisa
asked
Fran Wilde:
Loooooooved Updraft. Such an interesting world! How do they get resources like food and such to sustain their population? Seems like farming would be tough on the towers, haha. Although I do remember a bit about potted apple trees and guano, but what about wheat for cakes? Or are those made out of something else? And cloth, how do they get that? I'm so curious! Thanks!
Fran Wilde
Hi Lisa! Thank you for saying so - I love hearing back from readers.
> How do they get resources like food and such to sustain their population? Seems like farming would be tough on the towers, haha.
Great question -- farming *is* tough on the towers. It's a scarcity environment, though the people living in it think all is normal. The food grown must survive at high altitude and in recycled soil. (a *lot* gets recycled, like guano) - so instead of wheat for the cakes, it's a "grain" like quinoa; the apples are tiny & fist-sized, the stone fruits, ditto, & they have really strong tastes. Berries -- cloudberries & etc. -- grow on vines & shrubs, all in planters or divots in the tiers' balconies.
Above the clouds, there are garden tiers on each tower, plus every family maintains its own gardens. There are particular towers given over to certain crops -- honey is a good example, & tea leaves -- just as certain towers are known for what crafts they produce.
This is part of the reason why traders are so important -- shifting goods between the towers that need them, both in emergencies, and for markets in each quadrant and in the center of the city.
For more on this, Elizabeth Bear interviewed me at Cooking The Books last month! (You know how long it took me to realize that by writing a food-in-fiction blog, I was setting myself up to be grilled? A *long* time!). Here's the interview: https://franwilde.wordpress.com/2015/...
> And cloth, how do they get that? I'm so curious!
Kirit's seen feeding the family silkspiders in the first few chapters of Updraft, but the major sources of silk comes from a set of towers in the south that are almost entirely focused on silk production (though a lot of the finer weaving is done elsewhere)... you'll see those towers in the next book. There's also flax, but it's not as durable or comfortable to wear. Down, for linings, is as plentiful as the birds bred for food and those the hunters take out of the sky.
> How do they get resources like food and such to sustain their population? Seems like farming would be tough on the towers, haha.
Great question -- farming *is* tough on the towers. It's a scarcity environment, though the people living in it think all is normal. The food grown must survive at high altitude and in recycled soil. (a *lot* gets recycled, like guano) - so instead of wheat for the cakes, it's a "grain" like quinoa; the apples are tiny & fist-sized, the stone fruits, ditto, & they have really strong tastes. Berries -- cloudberries & etc. -- grow on vines & shrubs, all in planters or divots in the tiers' balconies.
Above the clouds, there are garden tiers on each tower, plus every family maintains its own gardens. There are particular towers given over to certain crops -- honey is a good example, & tea leaves -- just as certain towers are known for what crafts they produce.
This is part of the reason why traders are so important -- shifting goods between the towers that need them, both in emergencies, and for markets in each quadrant and in the center of the city.
For more on this, Elizabeth Bear interviewed me at Cooking The Books last month! (You know how long it took me to realize that by writing a food-in-fiction blog, I was setting myself up to be grilled? A *long* time!). Here's the interview: https://franwilde.wordpress.com/2015/...
> And cloth, how do they get that? I'm so curious!
Kirit's seen feeding the family silkspiders in the first few chapters of Updraft, but the major sources of silk comes from a set of towers in the south that are almost entirely focused on silk production (though a lot of the finer weaving is done elsewhere)... you'll see those towers in the next book. There's also flax, but it's not as durable or comfortable to wear. Down, for linings, is as plentiful as the birds bred for food and those the hunters take out of the sky.
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