Utility Crops

[Kajin]

I wouldn't really consider it a crop, but I am very supportive of the idea of making compost heaps. Compost is a really valuable substance. If any of your food goes bad, just throw it all in a pile. Eventually it'll turn into super rich soil that you can add to existing crop tiles to make the soil deeper and more fertile.

[syfy]

rotten foods are just crops gone bad

[Kajin]

Baaaaaad to the bone!

*starts playing guitar*

[ApolloDiaspora]

Growing mushrooms for food and toxin/medicinal purposes could be useful, depending on the variety. At the very least, they're stupidly easy to grow, simply leave spore-laden soil it in a cool, damp, dark place and wait. In Australia, I've seen plastic-lined cardboard boxes of dirt you can take home to grow your own mushrooms. The soil's pre-loaded with spores, so all you need to do is water them and you're good to go. As an added bonus, spores of any type are resilient little fuckers. That bone-dry box of soil you found in the hardware store a few months after the outbreak should still yield mushrooms if you simply rewater it. The same could be said about ferns. If you can find some spores, they should almost always be viable.

 

Pumpkin and melon vines would also be quite useful. What starts as a small plant can quickly cover a wide area, give fruit as a source of food, and hollowed out gourds could make a good substitute for bowls and cups if necessary.

 

If we're going for decorative plants, I'd like the ability to plant cacti, both in the ground, and in little pots. Who doesn't like cacti? I've got a small potted cactus that I've had for years now. I only water it every other month, and it's still alive. Apart from the potential of wielding a potted cactus as a weapon (admit it, it'd be funny as hell), I'm fairly certain some varieties of cacti grow needles large enough to be used for sewing and other activities requiring something small and sharp.

 

Finally, growing plants of any sort in any form of container, indoors or out, would be a great addition to the game. The other day, I cleared out a row of small shops in West Point, and was considering smashing out the dividing walls to make a large indoor base. But why would I need such a long, open space indoors? Plants. Being able to set up tables with potted plants indoors, possibly needing to scrounge for reticulation parts and sun lamps, would be a great project. Grow your food inside your fortress for security reasons, hide that tobacco other survivors are coveting, and so on. Setting up a proper greenhouse wouldn't be that much of a stretch from there. At the very least, rooftop farming makes more sense if the crops are growing in a large container of dirt, instead of a pile of sand you emptied on the roof.

 

If we take the idea of decorative plants to an extreme, growing something, anything, gives the player something to do. For the player's character, growing a flower in a mug of dirt in their safehouse could provide a much needed distraction from the crippling loneliness and boredom that are the hallmarks of a dead and dying world.

[Valdee]

Coffee can be made from burned chickory and barley. Quite nice tbh, you have chickory extract in most of supermarkets

[Pridelost]

Baaaaaad to the bone!

*starts playing guitar*

I think you're in the wrong forum. 

[OnewiththeGun]

The only trouble I see with some of the proposed crops is the availability of seeds. How many home and garden stores would carry flax or cotton? Most of the seed probably comes from huge agri-chemical companies like Monsanto.

[mikaelkerensky]

There are still local farmers, presumably you could find them there if the map extends that far. Or when they implement the starting packages for professions perhaps the "farmer" could start with one or two seed packs of random "trade crops"

[Valdee]

Rape and sunflower, for making margarines, substitute of butter.

[Kajin]

The only trouble I see with some of the proposed crops is the availability of seeds. How many home and garden stores would carry flax or cotton? Most of the seed probably comes from huge agri-chemical companies like Monsanto.

We have a bunch of warehouses whose only purpose for existing is seemingly to store large quantities of entirely unrelated items. If that continues to be a thing for the rest of development, I don't see any reason why you wouldn't find all manner of seeds in those warehouses. They could probably be rare finds in houses and sheds as well since you never know what you'll find in someone's house. And there are probably some specialty gardening and farming supply stores you can find any sort of seed inside of.

 

There are still local farmers, presumably you could find them there if the map extends that far. Or when they implement the starting packages for professions perhaps the "farmer" could start with one or two seed packs of random "trade crops"

I don't see why not. There's a professions balance planned for later in development and having some sort of job-related starting items might be a part of that.

 

Rape and sunflower, for making margarines, substitute of butter.

I keep forgetting there's a plant called rapeseed... Who in the hell would name anything that? But yeah, depending on how complicated it is being able to make a butter substitute might not be half a bad idea. Sunflower seeds are easy to identify and would be a great deal more common I think, so it might be a good idea to go with that.

 

Later this evening I'll add some of these things to the list.