partial harvesting

[thecexpanther]

I was thinking that players should be able to take as much or as little of a farm crop as wanted. I have a small backyard farm IRL and when my tomatoes come in I don't go "well I better grab ALL of them" I take what I need and leave the rest on the vine because they keep longer and taste better.

And if greens are introduced you should be able to do the same and let the rest of the plant grow. I have a kale plant that's almost a year old and nearly 6 feet tall because taking the outter leaves stimulates the plant to grow more and get taller. This would be realistic and help when the power goes out and preservation of fresh food is difficult.

[migulao]

I like this, but im not sure whether the fruit/veggies spoil slower while part of the plant. I assume they do.

[thecexpanther]

I'm just saying from my time growing tomatoes, picked ones mold in about a week, but they will stay on the vine for a least a couple after turning red before falling on their own and starting the decomposition porsosses in the dirt.

[Kajin]

Not a bad idea. Not every fruit or vegetable on the plant can be harvested at once. They all ripen at different times, so you won't necessarily be picking everything worth eating at once. Maybe make it so that harvesting a plant gets you only a portion of what you normally get but it reverts back to the mature growth stage after harvest once or twice before finally becoming exhausted of all edible materials.

[Houski]

Yeah, this is absolutely true. But to be fair, if you want to make the agriculture system "realistic" you're probably going to starve. You can get may 2 staggered tomato harvests in a year. Broccoli is more forgiving, carrots and potatoes too. But being able to get a harvest of veg in a couple days isn't exactly realistic, you know?

I think it might be a trade-off. You could revamp the system and have plants take longer to harvest, but be able to harvest them longer...or keep the current system where you get one harvest in a relatively short period of time.

[Kajin]

Honestly, I'd quite like the idea of extending crop cycles to maybe half realistic times. Make it so the player has to have a lot more land if they want to be completely self sufficient on crops alone. That way you'd have to rely on other methods of food gathering in order to survive.

[thecexpanther]

I agree that crop growth time should be both seasonal and a little longer, with some staple crops growing year round( carrots, potatoes, onions, garlic, greens, herbs etc) that would be balanced a little by the staggered harvesting.

It would force players to think more when planting, perhaps perhaps even adding the ability to tell the best season for each plant at high farming skills. I think that farming should be a component of survival, not a ticket to self sufficient living. Players should have to trap, fish, pickle and loot for cans to survive. No more cruise control after you build some rain barrels and get a trowel.

[King jjwpenguin]

I am all for this idea but then when you harvest would they still be able to change. tomatoes and some other foods can still ripen when off but not very much. Would this be applied as well?