Farming and crops
Crops
Every seed you can plant, what it gives and the weather it needs. Growing time is real minutes at full speed in open ground; a crop stops growing below its minimum temperature, grows at full speed from its best temperature upward, and is killed by frost at or below its frost limit.
| Cucumber Seeds |  Cucumber | 42 min | 4 | 8 | 59 °F | 77 °F | 95 °F | 32 °F | High | No | Yes |
| Herb Seeds |  Wild Herbs | 45 min | 4 | 8 | 43 °F | 64 °F | 93 °F | 27 °F | Low | No | Yes |
| Carrot Seeds |  Carrot | 50 min | 3 | 5 | 39 °F | 59 °F | 86 °F | 25 °F | Normal | No | Yes |
| Seed Peas |  Pea Pods | 50 min | 3 | 6 | 39 °F | 61 °F | 82 °F | 25 °F | Normal | No | Yes |
| Eggplant Seeds |  Eggplant | 56 min | 2 | 4 | 61 °F | 79 °F | 97 °F | 32 °F | Normal | No | Yes |
| Onion Sets |  Onion | 60 min | 3 | 5 | 39 °F | 59 °F | 90 °F | 25 °F | Normal | No | Yes |
| Seed Potatoes |  Potato | 60 min | 3 | 6 | 41 °F | 59 °F | 86 °F | 30 °F | Normal | No | Yes |
| Watermelon Seeds |  Watermelon | 64 min | 1 | 2 | 64 °F | 82 °F | 100 °F | 32 °F | High | No | Yes |
| Chili Seeds |  Chili Peppers | 65 min | 3 | 6 | 54 °F | 75 °F | 97 °F | 32 °F | Normal | No | Yes |
| Seed Barley |  Barley | 68 min | 2 | 4 | 37 °F | 63 °F | 90 °F | 18 °F | Low | No | Yes |
| Strawberry Runners |  Strawberries | 68 min | 2 | 4 | 46 °F | 68 °F | 90 °F | 18 °F | High | Yes | Yes |
| Sunflower Seed |  Sunflower Head | 68 min | 1 | 2 | 46 °F | 75 °F | 97 °F | 28 °F | Low | No | Yes |
| Berry Cuttings |  Wild Berries | 70 min | 3 | 6 | 41 °F | 64 °F | 93 °F | 5 °F | Normal | No | Yes |
| Tomato Seeds |  Tomato | 70 min | 3 | 6 | 50 °F | 72 °F | 95 °F | 32 °F | Normal | No | Yes |
| Corn Seeds |  Corn Cob | 75 min | 2 | 4 | 50 °F | 75 °F | 100 °F | 32 °F | High | No | Yes |
| Cabbage Seeds |  Cabbage | 80 min | 1 | 2 | 39 °F | 59 °F | 82 °F | 21 °F | Normal | No | Yes |
| Hop Rhizome |  Hop Cones | 90 min | 2 | 4 | 43 °F | 68 °F | 93 °F | -4 °F | High | Yes | No |
| Seed Wheat |  Wheat Sheaf | 90 min | 4 | 8 | 37 °F | 64 °F | 93 °F | 18 °F | Low | No | Yes |
| Pumpkin Seeds |  Pumpkin | 110 min | 1 | 2 | 50 °F | 72 °F | 95 °F | 32 °F | High | No | Yes |
| Cotton Seed |  Cotton Bolls | 120 min | 3 | 6 | 59 °F | 81 °F | 100 °F | 32 °F | Normal | No | Yes |
| Aloe Pup |  Aloe Leaf | 150 min | 2 | 4 | 50 °F | 75 °F | 104 °F | 28 °F | Low | Yes | Yes |
| Apple Sapling |  Apple | 180 min | 5 | 10 | 41 °F | 64 °F | 93 °F | -13 °F | Normal | No | Yes |
| Papaya Seedling |  Papaya | 200 min | 3 | 6 | 61 °F | 81 °F | 100 °F | 32 °F | Normal | Yes | No |
Above its heat stress temperature a crop grows at 33% speed. Frost kills a crop after 30 minutes at or below its frost limit.
A crop with a high water need grows at 50% speed while dry and withers after 8 hours without water. A crop with a low water need gets no bonus from watering and no penalty for going dry.
Crops that bear again stay in the ground after a harvest and regrow from part of the way, so the next harvest comes sooner.
A greenhouse keeps the air inside 14 °F warmer and its crops grow x1.1 faster, but no rain gets in, so you water them yourself.
Growing rules
The numbers behind watering, feeding, beds and weeds. They apply to every crop in the table above.
| Watering bonus | +35% growth for 30 minutes after watering |
| Rain | Rain waters every crop that is out in it, but not crops under glass |
| Feeding a crop | Each feeding moves the crop 20% of the way to harvest |
| Garden bed growth | x1.35 growth speed for crops planted in a bed or planter |
| Plants in open ground | 12 per survivor |
| Plants in beds | 36 per survivor |
| Untended crops | Anyone may harvest a crop its owner has not tended for 4 hours |
| Watering Can | Holds 2.6 gal, weighs 2.6 lb empty, and pours 34 fl oz on each of up to 4 crops within 5 ft 3 in |
| Weeds in a bed | Up to 0.5 weeds for each plant space, rounded up; beds with fewer than 3 spaces never get weeds |
| Weed growth | A seedling is full size in 2 hours in warm, moist soil and sets seed 3 hours later |
| Weed temperature | Weeds sprout from 41 °F and grow fastest from 68 °F |
| Weeds and crop growth | Each full-size weed within 2 ft 2 in slows a crop by 12%, down to 40% speed at worst |
| Weeds and watering | Each full-size weed shortens the watering bonus by 15%, down to 35% at worst |
| Drip line reach | A bed within 13 ft of a water store drinks from it directly; one drip line covers 33 ft and a run can be 82 ft at most |
| Water a crop drinks | 17 fl oz (low need), 34 fl oz (normal) or 61 fl oz (high) every 2 hours at 68 °F, and 2.2% more for each degree warmer |
Dirty water and river water are fine for watering crops and for a drip line.
Feeds, sprays and mulch
What you can put on a crop or a bed. A sack, bag or bottle holds several doses; each use takes one dose and the container gets lighter until it is empty.
| Fertilizer | Feed | 40 | 2 oz | Moves one crop 20% of the way to harvest. |
| Bone Meal | Feed | 8 | 2 oz | Moves one crop 20% of the way to harvest. |
| Compost | Feed | 1 | One shovelful | Moves one crop 20% of the way to harvest. |
| Vinegar Weed Spray | Weed spray | 4 | 8 fl oz | Kills weeds under 60% of full size and burns bigger ones back to 30% of their size. No new weeds come up for 4 hours, while the crops grow at 90% speed. |
| Weed Killer Concentrate | Weed spray | 10 | 3 fl oz | Kills every weed in the bed. No new weeds come up for 12 hours, with no harm to the crops. |
| Straw | Mulch | 1 | 2 per bed | Cuts new weeds to 25% and makes a watering last x1.3 as long. It rots away after 12 hours. |
When you carry several feeds, the one listed first is used first.
Beds and planters
Garden pieces you can build and how many plants each holds. Crops in any of them grow x1.35 faster than in open ground and can be planted closer together.
| Long Planting Bed | 16 | 8 | Yes | 400 |
| Raised Garden Bed | 15 | 8 | No | 400 |
| Planting Frame | 12 | 6 | No | 350 |
| Square Garden Bed | 9 | 5 | No | 350 |
| Plank Trough Planter | 3 | 2 | Yes | 300 |
| Grow Bucket | 1 | 0 | Yes | 120 |
| Planter | 1 | 0 | Yes | 500 |
A greenhouse is 14 °F warmer inside than the air outside, which carries tender crops through a light frost, and adds a further x1.1 to growth.
Compost
What a compost bin takes and how much each thing is worth. Every 4 points rot down into one compost in 20 minutes, and a bin holds 40 points.
Livestock
The animals you can keep, where they live and what they need. Water is fluid ounces for each animal every game day.
| Rabbits |  Rabbit Hutch Kit | 6 | 8 fl oz | 24 animal-days of feed, 3.2 gal of water | Meat and pelts. A pair breeds: a litter of 3 to 6 kits arrives after about 2.0 hours and the kits are grown after about 5.5 hours. | A game day without feed or without water costs one animal. |
| Hens |  Hen House Kit | 6 | 8 fl oz | 24 animal-days of feed, 3.2 gal of water | One egg from each hen every game day. | A game day without feed or without water costs one animal. |
| Sheep |  Rail Pen Kit | 6 | 68 fl oz | 30 sheep-days of feed, 16 gal of water | One fleece every 48 real hours, ready to shear once it is 90% grown. A ram and a ewe in one pen have one or two lambs (twins 40% of the time) after about 19 hours, and a lamb is grown after about 39 hours. | A sheep dies after 4 game days without feed or 2 without water, and a hungry or thirsty sheep stops growing wool. |
| Sheep |  Small Pen Kit | 3 | 68 fl oz | 30 sheep-days of feed, 16 gal of water | One fleece every 48 real hours, ready to shear once it is 90% grown. A ram and a ewe in one pen have one or two lambs (twins 40% of the time) after about 19 hours, and a lamb is grown after about 39 hours. | A sheep dies after 4 game days without feed or 2 without water, and a hungry or thirsty sheep stops growing wool. |
A game day is 120 real minutes.
A live animal carried in a sack lasts 12 hours without food or water.
The open trough in a sheep pen catches 8 fl oz of rain a minute.
A loose sheep can be caught with a rope from within 8 ft 6 in. The chance is 30%, or 85% when you carry wheat, barley, oats, corn cob or apple to tempt it with.
Animal feed
What each kind of animal eats and how long one item feeds one animal, in animal-days. A day here is a game day, which is 120 real minutes. An empty cell means the animal will not eat it.
| Apple | 2 days | 0.25 days | |
| Barley | 2 days | 1 days | |
| Cabbage | 2 days | 0.5 days | |
| Carrot | 2 days | 0.25 days | |
| Corn Cob | 2 days | 0.5 days | |
| Lettuce | 2 days | 0.25 days | |
| Oats | 2 days | 2 days | 1 days |
| Potato | 2 days | 0.25 days | |
| Spent Grain | 2 days | 1.5 days | |
| Wheat | 2 days | 2 days | 1 days |
| Wild Berries | 2 days | 2 days |
Rabbits and hens kept beside a pen forage for themselves and eat 50% as much.
Sheep graze 50% of their ration off the grass when it is at least 39 °F and there is no snow on the ground.
Beekeeping
How a beehive works, from the first swarm to jars of honey.
| Getting bees | An empty hive can draw a wild swarm on a warm day: about a 12% chance each game day with plenty of flowers nearby. A nucleus of bees put into the hive starts it at once. |
| Flying weather | Bees fly between 54 and 100 °F, from 6:00 to 20:00, and never in rain. |
| Forage | Crops in flower within 197 ft each add to the nectar flow. Desert country gives about 56% of the wild forage of the coast and hills. |
| Building up | New bees reach full strength in about 6 real hours of good foraging. |
| Honey | A full-strength hive caps one frame about every 6 real hours on a good flow. The hive holds 8 frames. |
| Swarming | When the hive is full of honey and the bees are strong, half of them swarm off. Take the honey in time. |
| Cold | Below 50 °F the bees cluster and eat their stores over about 12 hours. Out of stores, the bees die within about 3 hours. |
| Feeding | Sugar and water mixed into syrup refill 50% of the bees' stores. |
| Stings | Opening a live hive without a smoker gets you stung 70% of the time, or 15% when you wear a veil. |
| Splitting | A strong hive (at least 90% strength) can be split to fill a nucleus box. The bees live 12 hours shut in the box. |
| Extracting | One honey frame crushed and strained gives 2 jars of honey and 1 beeswax, and needs 2 empty bottles. It takes 12 seconds. |
| Tools |
