Farming FAQ

=================
Table of Contents
=================

0.0 - Version History
0.1 - Legal Rights
0.2 - Introduction

1.0 - Farming Overlook
1.1 - Weather
1.2 - Farming Tools
1.3 - Crop Formation
1.3.1 - Tree Formation
1.3.2 - Soil Quality
1.4 - Crops
2.0 - Rumors
2.1 - Tricks & Tips
3.0 - Frequenlty Asked Questions
3.1 - Contact Me
===================
0.0 Version History
===================

1.00 - February 18th, FAQ composed

================
0.1 Legal Rights
================

I do not own the rights to Harvest Moon Magical Melody.
The copyright lies with Natsume and Marvelous Interactive.

================
0.2 Introduction
================

This is CatMuto, real Name Louisa Beutler,
and this is my first FAQ, focused on Farming in Magical Melody.

I hope this FAQ is useful to you.

This FAQ isn't allowed to be uploaded anywhere than GameFAQs.

====================
1.0 Farming Overlook
====================

Farming means that you mostly focus on Crops
to gain Money. Crops are a big part in the game and - in the best Soil,
are the best way to get a lot of money very fast.

===========
1.1 Weather
===========

The weather in Harvest Moon can be seperated in
six kinds.

Sunny - Sun shines brightly, good weather to lead your
livestock to graze, you have to water your Crops yourself

Cloudy - Slightly cloudy screen, you can keep your livestock
outside for grazing, again, you have to water your Crops yourself

Rainy - Rain falls all day long,
you do not have to water your Crops, better keep your Animals inside

Snowy - Only appears in Winter, thick flakes fall all day long

Typhoon/Storm - Put your livestock inside one day before the typhoon,
you cannot do anything except stay in the house - hope that the storm
didn't affect your Crops too much

The weather can be checked when you turn your TV on.
It's best to check it right after starting a day, so you can,
in case of a Typhoon coming, put your livestock inside.

With a very simple trick you can 'control' the weather to a certain extent.

=====================
1.2 Tools for Farming
=====================

Watering Can - essential to get your Crops to grow,
unless it rains - get it up to Silver Level to water 9 squares in front of you

Hoe - essential to till the ground, so you can plant your Crops,
there are different Crop Formations you can do with this Tool

Sickle - needed to clear your Farm of Weeds or rotten/withered Crops

Hammer - needed to clear your Farm from Boulders and small Rocks

Axe - needed to clear your Farm from Trees, treestumps and branches

Seedbags - Bought at the Spring Farm, one Bag covers a 3x3 Grid of tilled soil

Tree Saplings - Bought at the Spring Farm,
one Sapling gets planted into one tile of tilled soil

==================
1.3 Crop Formation
==================

A seedbag covers a 3x3 Grid that you stand on,
but at the beginning you cannot reach the middle one,
so it's best to use one of the other formations

The Doughnut - 8 Spaces, good for beginning

XXX
X X
XXX

Pro:
You can access all of them
Gives you good money

Con:
Bad if you plant it next to a wall or fence

The Twin-Row - 6 Spaces, okay for getting Money

X X
X X
X X

Pro:
Easy access to all the spaces

Con:
You lose about a third of the full profit

The Full Grid - 9 Spaces, very good for later on

XXX
XXX
XXX

Pro:
Full profit of the Seedbag
Easy to water with the Silver Watering Can

Con:
You cannot access the middle one in the beginning
You cannot harvest the middle one, if the Crop is a regrowing one

The U-Shape - 7 Spaces, okay for starting

XXX
X
XXX

Pro:
Easy Access

Con:
You lose about a third of the full profit

The Bitten Doughnut - 8 Spaces, good for beginning

XXX    XXX    XXX
XX      XX    XXX
XXX OR XXX OR X X

Pro:
Good Access
Good Profit

Con:
Might be a bit hard to water in the beginning

So, in the beginning, you should mostly plant in a Doughnut shape,
because it gives you enough Money and is easy to water.
Once you have a good basis of Money or a high enough Tool,
you can go for the Fullgrid or the Twin Rows.

Exception is Grass.
Grass is ALWAYS planted in a Full Grid.
You don't need to water Grass and Soil Quality won't affect it, either.


====================
1.3.1 Tree Formation
====================

Trees are different from Crops, they only drop things in their season.
Trees drop their products around them, so they need room.
It's best to plant Trees like this.

----------
--T----T--
----------

At least 2 squares between each other, so they don't interfere.
It'd be best, if you plant them in an uneven formation,
far apart from each other.

==================
1.3.2 Soil Quality
==================

Unfertile - beige ground, gives you only a third of the Crop's normal profit,
mostly seen at the Ocean Lot

Fertile - grown ground, gives you the normal profit of a Crop,
seen at all Lots

Very Fertile - dark grown ground, gives you double the Crop's profit,
mostly seen at the Riverside Lot

You'll want to get the Very Fertile Soil mostly, since it gives you HQ Crops,
making much more profit, but if you don't have it, you have to buy Fertilizer.

Sold at the Spring Farm for 150 G a Bag each, it will up the soil quality
by One.
Unfertile -> Fertile -> Very Fertile
Fertilizer isn't sold from the beginning, you have to ship 10 Limestones
from the Moonlight Mine first.
Limestones are very pale, white ores - there's usually one on each floor,
for the first 10 Floors.

Potatoes,
Herbs,
Trees,
Flowers,
are NOT affected by Soil Quality!

=========
1.4 Crops
=========

Crops are sold at the Spring Farm, which is located to the south
of Flower Bud Village, close to the Beach,
run by Liz and Nina, a potential Spouse.

Aside from Seedbags, they sell Tree Saplings and some Crops of Normal Quality.
They sell

Turnip
Potato
Breadfruit
Cocoa
Corn
Onion
Pumpkin
Carrot
Spinach
Bell Pepper

10 of the 15 possible Crops,
the Crops sell for different prices, depending on the season you are.
In Winter, all of them will be more expensive, while in Summer Corn, Cocoa
and Onions will be cheaper.
If you can afford yourself to get one or two, use them as gifts,
stamina regainer or ingredients for cooking.

In Spring, they will sell

Turnip Bag - 20 G, 4 Days to Harvest
Potato Bag - 30 G, 6 Days to Harvest
Cabbage Bag - 40 G, 7 Days to Harvest
Breadfruit Bag - 60 G, 7 Days to Harvest, Regrow every 2nd Day
Green Herb Bag - 20 G, 4 Days to Harvest
Moondrop Flower Bag - 20 G, 5 Days to Harvest

at the beginning.
Once you ship at least 50 Cabbages, it will unlock

Strawberry Bag - 300 G, 7 Days to Harvest, Regrow every 2nd Day

Strawberries, which - when being High Quality - will sell for 400 G each,
reimbursing you right away for the 300 G you use to buy a bag.

Summer, the Crops are

Onion Bag - 20 G, 4 Days to Harvest
Corn Bag - 40 G, 9 Days to Harvest, Regrow every 2nd Day
Tomato Bag - 50 G, 8 Days to Harvest, Regrow every 4th Day
Cocoa Bag - 50 G, 9 Days to Harvest, Regrow every 4th Day
Pinkcat Flower Bag - 20 G, 6 Days to Harvest

it'd be best to plant Corn, they may take longest to grow,
but the regrow rate is much faster.

In Fall, she'll sell the last Crops,

Yam Bag - 30 G, 6 Days to Harvest
Bell Pepper Bag - 40 G, 5 Days to Harvest, Regrow every 3rd Day
Carrot Bag - 40 G, 5 Days to Harvest
Eggplant Bag - 40 G, 6 Days to Harvest, Regrow every 3rd Day
Spinach Bag - 40 G, 5 Days to Harvest
Pumpkin Bag - 70 G, 8 Days to Harvest
Orange Herb Bag - 20 G, 4 Days to Harvest

which seem to be the same, but you should plant either
Eggplants or Spinach, seeing as they give the most money.

All year Round, Liz will sell you Treesaplings.
There are six different types of Trees, three of which give you Fruit,
two that give you other things.

Mora Sapling - 350 G, in Fall you might find Truffles underneath
Chestnut Sapling - 350 G, in Fall they drop Chestnuts
Evergreen Sapling - 300 G
Grape Sapling - 370 G, in Fall they drop Grapes
Orange Sapling - 360 G, in Summer they drop Oranges
Apple Sapling - 380 G, in Fall they drop Apples

You don't have to plant all three fruit trees yourself,
there are Orange Trees at the lower right corner of the Village,
close to the beach.
If you plant a Tree on a free lot, there will be a red face
with a heart floating above you, saying Yaay!,
which makes the Villagers Affection for you rise.

Trees should be planted at the beginning of the season before they produce
fruit, because they take a while to fully mature.
Best plant Apple and Grape Trees in Summer, so they can drop fruit in Fall,
it might happen that one tree doesn't drop fruit at all in the season.

==========
2.0 Rumors
==========

This section might be small at the beginning,
but I'll list here any rumors you might've heard and/or tried out,
but are false.

"Shipping 50 Pumpkins Unlocks Bluemist Flower Seeds"

This is false, I tried it out myself and shipped over 50 Pumpkins,
but Liz did not start to sell Seeds for Bluemist Flowers.
The only Crop that can be "unlocked" is Strawberry,
which sells in Spring Only for 300 G after shipping 50 Cabbages.

=================
2.1 Tricks & Tips
=================

Little things that you can do to control the game a bit more
or make it easier for you.

The Weather Trick

Save your Game before you go to bed,
in the next morning, check the Weather Report.
If it gives you Rain or Typhoon or any kind of weather you don't want,
just load your game by the Diary again and go to bed again,
the Weather Report should've changed.

This is good if you're planning on Upgrading your Water Can with Tai,
which would take a few days and you don't want to lose your Crops.

Control the Mole

If you find a Mole close to your Lot where you want to plant Crops,
you can walk behind it, making it move the way you want.
The mole will always dig away from you.

This way, you can use the Mole to untile your soil where you might've
done a mistake and don't want to use a rock or fence piece for it.

Don't overdo it!

In the beginning, you hardly have enough Stamina,
so you shouldn't set yourself to tilling 8 fields for Crops,
planting and watering them all in one day.
Best to start with one or two fields - Liz gives you two bags of
Turnips in the beginning for free, which is a good start.

==============================
3.0 Frequently Asked Questions
==============================

Q: Liz isn't selling this Crop, what's wrong?

A: Are you in the right season for the Crop? She won't sell
Cabbages in Fall, nor Onions in Spring.
If you haven't unlocked Strawberries yet, she won't sell those, either.

Q: What Crop Formation should I use?

A: Check the Formation Part - use the one that appeals the most to you,
but which is also convient to you.

Q: My Weather won't change although I use the trick.

A: It can happen that Nami presents you the same Weather in a row,
just keep trying. Also, make sure you save the day BEFORE,
then go to bed and check the report.

Q: Where CAN I get Bluemist Flowers?

A: Make sure you have a lot of weeds, boulders and treestumps
gone at the close end of Summer. Bluemist Flowers are rare
and appear in Fall.
You still might only find 1 or 2.

Q: Where are Truffles?

A: Truffles you dig up from underneath Mora Trees.
Mora Trees are the ones that were Pink in Spring. There are a lot
of them north-west of Woody's Workshop.
Dig underneath them on Summer 30th or any day during Fall,
then check the next day if one of the tiles is untilled,
you should find a Truffle.
Originally, your Pig was supposed to be able to find them,
but don't rely on it. It takes much too long - you're faster on your own.

Q: My Fruit Tree didn't give me ANY fruit in it's season!

A: As said above, it might happen. Try to have at least 2 of each
Fruit Tree somewhere different, so if one doesn't give fruit, the other might.
Also make sure that the trees are far enough apart.

Q: I had potatoes in very fertile soil and I still only got 100 G, why?

A: Fertility doesn't affect Potatoes, nor Herbs, Flowers, Trees or Grass.

==============
3.1 Contact Me
==============

If you see I have a mistake, want to add something
or ask a question, send me an e-Mail at

louisaUNDERSCOREbeutlerATlouisabeutler.net

and put Harvest Moon Magical Melody Farming FAQ
or something like that into the Subject, otherwise I think
it's just spam and delete it.