Harvest Moon Walkthrough

Harvest Moon 64 - Tips/FAQ
by Matthew and David Lam - happycows@pallet-town.com
v1.3 - 1/9/00
http://acer.simplenet.com/games/hm64/index.htm - HM64 webpage!
*** Visit the bulletin board to leave questions and answers on the game! ***
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Table of Contents
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0.0 - Version History
1.0 - Introduction
1.1 - Backing Up Your Game
2.0 - Characters
2.1 - The Girls!
2.2 - Ann
2.3 - Elli
2.4 - Karen
2.5 - Maria
2.6 ñ Popuri
2.7 ñ Other Info
2.8 - Marriage
3.0 - Tools
3.1 - *** Tool Level-Up Trick! ***
3.2 - Level up descriptions
3.3 - House Additions
3.4 ñ Furniture/Decorations
4.0 - Farming Tips (How to make money)
4.1 - Hunting at the Mountain
4.2 - Turnips vs Potatoes vs Cabbages
4.3 - Tomatoes vs Corn
4.4 - Planting Tips
4.5 ñ Tip! Get the Greenhouse!
4.6 - Chickens
4.7 - Basic Livestock Info
4.8 - Sheep vs Cows
4.9 ñ Raising Cows from Scratch
5.0 - Price Guide
6.0 - Secrets
6.1 - Power Nuts
6.2 - Recipes
6.3 - Other
7.0 - Important Events
7.1 ñ Spring
7.2 ñ Summer
7.3 ñ Fall
7.4 ñ Winter
7.5 ñ Caring for Animals (Winning the Festivals)
8.0 - Contributors/Contact Info
9.0 - Copyright/Disclaimer
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0.0 - Version History
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v1.3 ñ Re-ordered section 4, added info on pregnant cows and greenhouse
Added section 3.4 ñ Furniture/Decorations
Added more info on girls/marriage
6.1 contains location of 4 power nuts
More recipes
Info on raising animals for festivals (dog, horse, cow) 7.5
Added to section 7 on events, divided into seasons
Included more info on festivals and racing
Lots of other things...
v1.2 - Added more precise info on house extensions
Corrected Spring crop info
v1.1 - Added the Tool Level-Up trick (section 3.0)
Added more recipes and pricing info
Added more crop raising and livestock info (particularly cows vs sheep)
Redefined the table of contents for subsections
More important dates to watch, more girl info
Removed the section on other important people, not important enough :)
Added info on backing up your games
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1.0 - Introduction
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Harvest Moon 64 is a farming simulation for the Nintendo 64. It's really fun to
play (although I suppose this depends on your tastes), and for the purpose of
this FAQ, I'll assume you already know what the game is. If you don't know,
either rent it or find a review in a magazine or somewhere on the web.
Check out our Harvest Moon 64 website at
http://acer.simplenet.com/games/hm64/index.htm
The site is currently under construction, and will contain information similar
to this document, except with graphics and organized into different pages.
I'll try to avoid spoilers as best I can. If there's something that I feel might
be considered a spoiler, I'll put in a warning beforehand.
Also, you should know that I haven't beaten the game yet, so I don't know
everything. However, there are a lot of things that I didn't understand in the
game, and since I couldn't find any useful FAQ out there yet, I want to document
the important stuff I've discovered so far.
Some of the stuff written here will be similar to what's in the instruction
booklet, or in other FAQ. If you want to skip to the important stuff, I suggest
reading the Farming Tips section.
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1.1 - Backing Up Your Game
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Since I doesn't say this anywhere in the instructions, I'll mention it here.
It's very annoying to play your game and find a typhoon is going to hit the next
day. Or to accidentally slash your livestock with the sickle, etc...
It's possible to copy your game into one of the 4 save slots! Just use the Move
button (next to delete), click on the game you want to copy (backup), then click
on another slot. Note that whatever was in the destination will be erased and
replaced by a copy of whatever you selected first, so be very careful with this
option.
I don't know why it's labeled Move and not Copy, but then again there are many
many spelling mistakes in this game. I wonder if it's a result of rushing it out
in time for X-mas...?
Note that typhoons can be avoided by playing games that were backed up from
before the typhoon was forecasted on TV. For this reason, check the weather
forecast before backing up your game. If it says a typhoon is coming, don't back
up the game, or you're stuck with it.
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2.0 - Characters
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There are lots of people to interact with in the game, and having a social life
is just as important as having money (unless you want live the life a stingy
miser during the game). Besides the shop keepers, the most important characters
are probably the 5 girls that you can go out with. It's probably best to pick
one girl early so that you can focus on developing a relationship from the
beginning. It seems to take longer than the SNES version of Harvest Moon.
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2.1 - The Girls!
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There are five different girls in the game that you can develop a relationship
with, so long as you talk to them, and give them the right kind of stuff. I
think they all pretty much like flowers (Popuri more so), food, and whatever
else you grow or find in the mountain.
It takes longer to get the girls to like you in Harvest Moon 64 (compared to the
SNES original). You can't read their diaries like before, so you can tell how
much they like you by the color of the heart at the end of their text-box. It
starts out white, and if you give them enough gifts, talk to them, meet them at
festivals, etc..., it will eventually change to a blue heart. Depending on how
well you treat them, it should be possible to get a blue heart by the end of
Spring, although sometime in the beginning to mid-summer is more likely.
The order of hearts, from beginning to true-love is:
white-blue-green-yellow-pink
Once you get a girl to like you, they will start coming by your farm to give you
gifts. They tend to come by in the afternoon, but not every day. You can only
talk to them when they come over, so be sure to come over earlier (or later,
depending on the time) so that you can give them gifts.
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2.2 - Ann
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Ann lives on the Green Ranch. Likes animals. I've heard that giving her animals
found in the mountain get her to really like you, but the reaction I've gotten
hasn't impressed me. Iíd have to say that these rumors are bogus. You're much
better off bringing your dog to see her. I think bringing chickens and chicks
works too.
Ann also really likes wool, which at $900-1,800 each would seem to give her the
most expensive tastes in the game! I can't tell by her picture whether she likes
it more than seeing your dog, but she definitely likes it more than flowers and
other foods.
When the ranch is closed Ann can usually be found at the mountain by the
fisherman's tent or the far left pond across the river. Sometimes she is also in
the inventorís shop, as Rick (the inventor) is her cousin.
Note that if you don't chase after Ann, Cliff the mountain wanderer will start
to develop a relationship with her. Although it sounds weird, I think some of
their meetings are triggered by how much wood you have cut. I don't think
there's any reason to stop cutting wood if you ARE chasing her, as encounters
seem to change depending on how much she likes you.
During the Fireworks (Summer 1st) she's at the Green Ranch. Just go through the
fence towards the barn.
Her birthday is on the 14th of Summer. Make sure to give her something.
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2.3 - Elli
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Elli lives at the bakery. She loves certain food items, particularly eggs and
milk. Elli also has a pleasant reaction to seeing your dog. On Wednesdays, when
the bakery is closed, she can usually be found in the Flower Shop at certain
times of day. She also tends to disappear on Sundays.
During the Fireworks (Summer 1st) she's at the bakery, her home. You'd be
surprised how much time I wasted looking elsewhere for her.
Elli's birthday is on the 1st of Fall.
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2.4 - Karen
---
Karen lives at the vineyard, and works at the bar at night. She also pops up on
the beach occasionally on Sunday (Note: You get to the beach by going right at
the Green Ranch, outside of the fence).
Karen really likes wild berries. Note that these only grow in the Spring and
Fall, so if you have a kitchen you might want to save them up. She also loves
tomatoes. She complains when you talk to her too much at the beginning. She
doesn't really care for your dog at the beginning either, but changes her
opinion later in the game. I donít know that showing her your dog at first will
decrease your love factor, but she does sort of insult it.
If you don't marry Karen, I'm told that she eventually leaves the town with her
mother.
During the Fireworks (Summer 1st) she's at the beach.
Her birthday sometime in Winter.
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2.5 - Maria
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Maria is the Mayor's daughter, and works at the library. Apparently, she likes
when you talk to her. I think she also likes bugs, and is scared of your dog.
Maria is a cabbage lover, so give her some if youíre chasing her. Supposedly it
gives you a better happy reaction.
The mailman is somewhat interested in her, so they get together if you donít
chase after Maria.
Mariaís birthday takes place on the 11th of Winter.
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2.6 - Popuri
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Popuri lives at the flower shop. Guess what, she likes flowers, so she might be
the easiest to get to like you. Like Ann, she has a "How cute!" reaction when
you bring her your dog. Sometimes shows up at the mountain, and also inside the
bakery.
I'm told that late in the game, Popuri will marry Ann's brother, Gray, if you
don't marry her.
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2.7 ñ Other Info
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This section contains information regarding events common to all girls in the
game. The events happen at certain points, but people who want to encounter
these for themselves should not read the rest of this section.
*** Warning! Possible spoiler follows!***
At a certain point in the game, whichever girl you are chasing will sprain her
leg. You are presented with the option of carrying her home, or running for
help. In this case, carry her home! If you run for help, you get her father and
he carries her home. The next time you see her, your love-rating will have
decreased! I tried this and dropped from a yellow to a green heart! If you carry
her home, she complains a bit, but deep down I think she appreciates it. Aww...
:)
Whichever girl you are chasing will also get sick at some point in the game. If
you walk into their home, whatever parent is there will tell you that she is
sick in bed, and that you should visit her. This seems to be the only time in
the game that you get to see the girlís room. You can talk to her and look
around at stuff, but thatís about it. Donít try to give anything to them in bed,
they wonít notice, and whatever gift you tried will be wasted. When you walk out
the door, it will trigger the girl to say thanks for your stopping by. The next
day they will be better.
Finally, you will also have a ìdream sequenceî at some point in the game. At
some time, once you are a sleep you will have a dream related to something that
happens in the past. Soon after (probably the same day), the girl you are
chasing will ask you questions regarding that event in the past. The dream and
situation is different for each girl.
The dream you get depends on the girl. Since you may not realize where to go
after having it, Iíll list what I know:
Ann ñ Head for the section of the mountain with the cave entrance and talk to
Ann under the tree.
Elli ñ Go to the southern section of town by the library and watch (talk to?)
the kids playing there. Elli will show up.
Karen ñ Go to the wine cellar in the vineyard.
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2.8 ñ Marriage
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Money isnít everything. Keep giving those gifts, and talk with the girl you want
to marry. Eventually, youíll get the pink heart rating.
Once youíve got a pink heart, check the inventorís shop until Rick has the Blue
Feather, Harvest Moonís sign of proposal. It may be a while till he has it
(maybe some house extensions are required first, etc?), but then you can buy it
for $1,000.
Use the Blue Feather on the girl you like. If everything goes well, 4-5 days
from when you use it you get married!
Once youíre married, the girl will help out on the farm. For example, Ann will
sometimes feed the chickens, or crate the eggs, so that you donít have to.
When you get up in the morning, your wife will be indoors. From 9am till noon
she will probably be outside somewhere. Between 3-6pm she will probably be
indoors again. Assuming you have a kitchen (perhaps this is required for
marriage), from 6pm to 8pm she will be in the kitchen, and will comment on
dinner when you talk to her.
*** Important! ***
From 8-9pm, your wife will be standing by the bed. Itís important that you go to
sleep at this time. If you do, she will join you after you write in your diary.
After 9pm, she will already be asleep in bed. Keeping the wife up late is a bad
practice, so if you want to get a baby, try to make it to bed on time as often
as possible.
If itís before 8pm, your wife will probably still be in the kitchen, so go
outside and let some time pass until sheís standing by the bed.
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3.0 - Tools
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The tools are explained well in the instructions, as well as the tutorial, so I
won't go into that.
One of the important things when it comes to tools is getting them to level up.
Using things a lot that makes them level up. This is kind of a vicious circle,
because for example, you can't water massive amounts of crops without a higher
level watering can, and yet you can't level up unless you water massive amounts
of crops.
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3.1 - *** Tool Level-Up Trick! ***
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Here's a way to get your level up your tools without wasting massive amounts of
time! Whenever you're indoors, time doesn't pass. However, if you use your
tools, they still gain experience!
Whenever you use a tool, you will still use up your stamina (energy). So do this
trick at the end of the day, in your house for example. Take out a hammer, axe,
or any other tool that levels up, and pound away at nothing! Tired of bad
weather reports? Bash the TV! Maybe whack your Invincible Katori a few times,
hoping it will tell you what it does! While it may not look like anything is
coming out of this, eventually you will raise your tool and it levels up!
Note that you do NOT need any water in your watering can for it to gain
experience. Using an empty watering can with the B button will still level it
up.
By using this trick you will get higher level tools sooner. Note that it takes a
LONG time to level up anything. In normal use, I gathered over 300 lumber by
chopping trees and it still didn't level up. It is likely you will have to take
many game nights to get a tool to level up. I started using this trick at the
beginning of Summer, and it still tool 3-4 nights per tool before my watering
can went up.
A good practice to do before sleeping, but don't over do it. After a while you
will start to collapse. The only real way to get your energy back is a good
night sleep. If you start to wake in the morning and you're tired (you pause and
sweat when doing work) as soon as you start working, then I would skip trying to
level-up that day. Otherwise, you may chance getting sick.
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3.2 - Level up descriptions
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Here's what leveled items do (that I know of):
Watering can
Level 2 - Waters the three squares in front of you (the one in front, and both
forward diagonals)
Level 3 - Waters 9 squares (in 3x3 formation) in front of you.
Sickle
Level 2 - Cuts the three squares in front of you (the one in front, and both
forward diagonals)
Level 3 - Cuts all 8 squares around you, plus the ninth youíre standing on.
Hammer
Level 2 - Can break rocks in 2 hits
Level 3 - Can break rocks in 1 hit, makes a loud noise :)
Axe
Level 2 - Can chop wood in 2 hits
Level 3 - Can chop wood in 1 hit
Hoe
Level 2 - Digs up 3 squares in front of you
Level 3 - Digs up 6 squares in front of you (assumed)
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3.3 - House Additions
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Yeah, I know it's odd to put this in the tools section, but I haven't figured
out a better place yet. Anyway, there are several additions you can add to your
home for a good deal of $$$ and lumber (from chopping tree trunks).
To get an addition, go to the cabin at the mountain area. Read the diagram on
the back wall with the A button to bring up the menu of things you can purchase.
Hit A again to select one. The carpenter will say he will come over to your
farm. Once you go back, if you have enough wood and $$$ he will tell you that
work will begin the next day. For the next several days you will see them work
around your house, until they tell you it is complete, and you will see
something new.
Detailed (to best of my ability) descriptions follow. If you want to be
surprised, don't read the rest of this section! On the other hand, spending a
week plus a lot of $$$ and wood only to get junk seems like a waste, so read on
if you want to know what it is you're buying...
*** Warning! Possible spoiler! ***
Additions include:
Kitchen $5,000 and 450 lumber
The kitchen is where you store your food. It has a freezer where you can store
up to 32 food items. There are also some charts/books on the kitchen wall where
you can see what recipes you've collect, as well as how many power nuts you've
gotten.
Bathroom $3,000 and 300 lumber
The bathroom has a sink that doesn't do anything, as well as a bathtub you can
soak in. Originally I thought the bathtub helps you recover energy, but it
doesn't. Finally, if you buy JUST the bathroom, note that it isn't connected to
your house. They install a side door that leads outside, and there's another
door outside that leads to the bathroom. The kitchen will connect them.
Stairway $2,000 and 250 lumber
Puts a stairway inside the right-side of your home which leads to the roof.
Afterward, you will be able to walk on your rooftop. It's kind of humorous to
leave your dog on the roof, and go about with your chores. :) Doesn't seem to be
a very useful purchase, however.
Greenhouse $30,000 and 580 lumber
The big purchase! The greenhouse is the ONLY way to grow crops in the winter.
Nothing grows at the mountain during this time, even in the caves. You
can also grow things in it the rest of the year, and since it counts as a
building, time doesn't pass while you're inside! This alone makes the
greenhouse a worthwhile project, even outside of winter. It contains enough
space to raise 16 3x3 crop fields (itís 16x16 squares of field), and has a
shipping bin and water supply. As long as you don't get tired, you could easily
harvest tomatoes year-round for a ton of money!
Note however, that the greenhouse is NOT typhoon friendly. If one hits, there's
a good chance your greenhouse will be totally obliterated. There may be ways to
ward or protect from this, such as the invincible Katori, but these may only be
rumors. Note that if you have your game backed up (read section 1.1), you can
replay through the same days and NOT encounter the typhoon. When replaying, you
must play from BEFORE you read on TV that a typhoon is coming. If it's in the
forecast, it's too late.
Log-terrace $7,000 and 350 lumber
This creates a rather large sort of back porch. There's a picnic table and
benches there, but other than that it doesn't seem to be useful.
Baby-bed $1,000 and 150 lumber
Seems like a lot of wood for one bed, but in any case, you need this before you
can have a baby.
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3.4 ñ Furniture/Decorations
---
Here are several items that you get get/win that you can put in your house. Most
donít do anything particularly important.
Dresser/Cabinet - $2,000 at Inventorís Shop
This has room to store extra items that normally go in your backpack. There are
32 spaces to store things. If youíre chasing Popuri, itís a good idea to store
flowers here for the Winter months when there arenít any. Note that you can NOT
store food here, although milk still works (since itís in a bottle).
Rug - $3,000 at Inventorís Shop
In my opinion, an ugly looking rug. Sits in the middle of your house, under the
table. Maybe your wife will appreciate it...
Invincible Katori ñ Win at Summer Sea Festival
Looks like some sort of yakís head. Doesnít seem to do anything. Rumored to
protect your greenhouse from being destroyed by typhoons and hurricanes.
Cute Clock (Moo Moo Watch) ñ 1,000 medals at Dog Festival
When you hit Start normally, thereís a clock and date at the upper left of the
screen. The cute clock replaces it with a cow (spotted black and white) clock.
For those familiar with things like Winamp and ICQ Plus, this is like a cow skin
for your clock. Doesnít do anything otherwise.
Awesome House ñ 3,000 medals at Dog Festival
No, this isnít for you, itís for your dog! :) Replaces the dogís house with a
nicer looking dog house. Maybe itíll improve his speed for the next yearís race.
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4.0 - Farming tips (How to make money)
---
So, you want to raise money. Unfortunately, time passes quickly. There's NO way
you'll be able to have several fields of crops, raise chickens, cows, and sheep,
hunt at the mountain, fish, AND date with girls. So, you'll have to pick a few
things to do so that you can make and spend your money efficently. I've spent a
lot of time crunching numbers to figure this out, and now I'm going to share my
data, so that you'll have more time to play the actual game :)
Before I get to the numbers, note that the shipping guy comes by a little after
5pm each day. If you want to get money for your stuff, you'll have to get
everything into the shipping box before then. However, unless you need to buy
something the next day, you can still put things in the box, and they'll be
automatically picked up the next day.
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4.1 - Hunting at the Mountain
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Yeah, I know this chapter is supposed to be about farming, but hunting for stuff
is a good way to make some quick cash, especially important at the beginning of
the game.
Pros
---
The pros to hunting is that you'll get money every day, unlike raising crops or
sheep. At least in the Spring and Summer, when things are growing all over, you
can get a pretty significant amount of money, too.
Lastly, you don't have to go hunting every day. This is a bonus in a way,
because if you have crops or animals, you need to spend time every morning or
night watering or feeding them.
Cons
---
The problems with hunting are that first of all, the amount of money you get per
day is limited. Except for fishing, there are only so many fruits and herbs that
you can find, after which you have to wait a day for them to grow back.
The biggest problem is the time factor. Every second that passes is several
minutes on the clock (unless you're in a building). The most valuable herbs are
found in the cave, and also all the way past the river. So the more items you
want to get, the more time you'll have to spend travelling from screen to
screen.
Still, you spend valuable time watering crops and feeding livestock too, so the
question is really whether you can make more money by having an extra field of
vegatables or another cow, rather than using your time hunting.
Bottom line
---
In the Spring, there are 3 medicinal herbs, 2 edible grass, and 4 berries. If
you were to get them all, you'd make $430. However, one of the berries is at the
top of the mountain, and you'd have to go up the winding path to get it, plus
come back down. I don't think it's worth the effort, especially time-wise. You
don't have room for 9 items anyway, so you'd have to carry one back to the
shipping box.
I also like to carry a flower along for the girl I'm chasing, so a safe
assumption is that you will get 3 herbs, 1 edible grass, and 3 berries.  At this
rate, you would get an income of $360 per day, which is pretty good.
($70 x 3 herbs) + ($30 x 1 grass) + ($40 x 3 berries) = $360
Unless you go at night (which might not be a bad idea), you'll probably be
strapped for time. A typical day (the way I play) is to water my crops, feed
livestock, brush the horse. Then I'll shop and give stuff to a girl, and then
hunt in the mountains. Since shops close and people go to sleep around 5-6pm, if
you need to cut your hunting short you can skip the area of the last herb and
berry, but this will cost you $110.
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4.2 - Turnips vs Potatoes vs Cabbages
---
Cabbages sell for more than Potatoes, which sell for more than Turnips, but take
longer to grow. So which is the best value for your time and money?
The math goes something like this:
Each one costs $200 for a bag of seeds. A problem with planting is that you
can't water the center square of a 3x3 field. So suppose you only plant/harvest
8 vegetables for every bag you plant.
There is a catch. You can only grow things until the end of Spring, since
whatever is planted (except grass and certain flowers) die when Summer starts.
Since there are 30 days in the season, you can harvest turnip 7 times, potatoes
5 times, and cabbages 4 times.
With turnips, you get: 8 turnips x $60 each = $480
$480 - $200 (cost of seeds) = $280 profit each bag
$280 x 7 harvests = 1960
With potatoes, you get: 8 potatoes x $80 each = $640
$640 - $200 (cost of seeds) = $440 profit each bag
$440 x 5 harvests = 2200
With cabbages, you get: 8 cabbages x $90 each = $720
$720 - $200 (cost of seeds) = $520 profit each bag
$520 x 4 harvests = 2080
Looking at these figures, potatoes will go for the most money. The problem with
this is that you start the game with only $300, and seeds are $200 a bag. It
would be impossible to plant more than one field of potato seeds in the first
day, and if you miss any day you will only collect 4 harvests in the season. To
get seeds as quickly as possible, make sure to collect some herbs at the
mountain to sell at the beginning of the game.
---
4.3 - Tomatoes vs Corn
---
Unlike cabbage vs turnips, the quicker growing vegetable, in this case tomatoes,
are worth more money! Here's why:
Seeds cost you $300 either way. Tomatoes grow in 9 days and sell for $90 each,
while corn grows in 13 days and sells for $120 each. Here's the catch, tomatoes
REgrow every 3 days, while corn regrows every 4 days after you pick it!
Assuming you buy and plant your seeds the first day of summer, tomatoes will
first grow on the 10th (1+9=10), and then regrow every 3 days, so you can also
pick them on the 13th, 16th, 19th, 22nd, 25th, and 28th. So tomatoes will grow
and regrow a total of 7 times (we will refer to this as 7 cycles).
Corn on the other hand will first grow on the 14th of summer, and regrow on the
18th, 22nd, 26th, and 30th. This is only a total of 5 cycles.
If you grow a single tomato, 7 cycles x $90 = $630 in a month
If you grow an ear of corn, 5 cycles x $120 = $600 in a month
The most you can grow is 8 per bag of seeds, so multiply each by 8.
Tomatoes ($630 x 8) = $5,040 - $300 (cost of seeds) = $4,740 per month
Corn ($600 x 8) = $4,800 - $300 (cost of seeds) = $4,500 per month
Finally, to compare with other vegetables, livestock, etc. let's find the
average value per day:
Tomatoes ($4,740 / 30) = $158 per day
Corn ($4,500 / 30) = $150 per day
Also note that the last harvest day of corn is the 30th, the last day of the
season. Since any vegetables not harvested by the end of the season are lost, to
get the last cycle of corn you MUST water the crops EVERY single day. If you
forget, run out of time, or whatever, the corn will not grow in time. For this
reason alone, it makes sense to raise tomatoes.
*** Greenhouse tip ***
Once you have the Greenhouse extension, crops donít die at the end of the
season, making corn and tomatoes equal. Forgetting the initial growing time,
corn will grow 3 times in 12 days, while tomatoes grow 4 times in 12 days.
$120 x 3 = $360 for corn
$90 x 4 = $360 for tomatoes
Since you can have massive amounts of crops in your greenhouse, it may be wiser
to go with corn, simply because you waste less real time picking it.
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4.4 - Planting Tips
---
Once vegetables sprout, you can't water seeds in the center of a 3x3 plowed
field. However, it is possible to get the full 9 vegetables you paid for when
you bought the seeds. If you water all of the outer vegetables, they will grow,
and once you pick them you can reach the center one again, and pick up watering
where you left off. This is a good strategy, except it makes replanting
difficult, as you'll have to plow another 3x3 field or wait until the center
vegetable is ripe.
In the Summer, plants regrow, so you'll never reach the center square. I think
the best planting formation looks like the following:
### ###
##   ##
### ###
...where each '#' is a crop square. Note that this formation is dangerous if
your horse has not grown up, because he/she has a tendancy to follow you. If you
stand in the the 'x' in the following diagram, the horse can trap you at '*'.
###
##x*
###
There's no way to get the horse to move, so until you can ride it, the horse can
trap you. The only escapes are to use the sickle to cut down an ungrown
vegetable, wait until 6am so you begin the next day (with no sleep), or reset.
The other bonus to the 8 crop formation is that it's fairly easy to water with a
leveled up watering can. At level 2, you water the 3 squares in front of you, so
you can water six of the squares by standing at the following 2 positions:
###     ###
>##  and ##<
###     ###
You can then water the 2 remaining squares individually, or by watering at level
2 standing at the following:
###
## <
###
An alternate (and possibly better method) is the following, sent in by DaleLord:
##
###
###
Since you can use diagonals, you can water and harvest all 8 squares, without
worrying about getting trapped. It works well, except it takes a little more
movement when watering. You also wonít get as large a gain with a level 2
watering can.
Once you level up the watering can, it may be easiest to just go with the
parallel rows:
### ###
### ###
Obviously, you waste the most seeds this way. However, during the Summer and
Fall, when crops regrow, seed co