Field Types
You place farms, orchards, vineyards, pastures, and flower gardens by clicking four corners to define a polygon. The field fills in from those corners. Bigger fields mean more yield, but also more workers to tend them. Right-click while placing to back out a corner; Escape cancels entirely. Fields must have at least 4 cells and no more than 100.
| Field type | Replant each year? | First harvest | Workers per cells |
|---|---|---|---|
| Farm | Yes, every Spring | Same year (Autumn) | 1 per 4 cells |
| Orchard | No — trees are permanent | After 1 full year | 1 per 6 cells |
| Vineyard | No — vines are permanent | After 1 full year | 1 per 6 cells |
| Flower Garden | Yes, every Spring | Same year (Summer) | 1 per 8 cells |
Flower Gardens require the Floriculture research to unlock. Unlike food crops, flowers actually restore soil fertility — a useful rotation crop for worn-out land. The harvested blooms are converted into flower vases at the potter.
The Seasonal Cycle
Farms follow a strict rhythm across the year. Workers physically walk to each cell to plant or harvest — a farm with no workers does neither.
| Season | What happens |
|---|---|
| Spring | Workers plant cells one by one. If an overwintering crop (rye) is already in the ground from last autumn, growth resumes — no replanting needed. |
| Summer | The crop grows. Summer-harvest crops (barley, rye) ripen now — workers harvest them this season. |
| Autumn | Autumn-harvest crops are ripe. Workers harvest cell by cell. Any unpicked summer crop remains harvestable. Overwintering crops (rye) are sown on empty fields this season, ready to lie dormant through winter. |
| Winter | Most unharvested cells die off and the field goes fallow. Frost-tolerant crops (turnips, carrots, onions) survive into the second half of winter, giving extra time to pick stragglers. Overwintering crops lie dormant and are unaffected. Orchards stay planted. |
Out-of-Season Growing
Not everything in the fields follows the standard spring-plant, autumn-harvest cycle. Two mechanics extend what's possible at the edges of the growing year.
Frost-tolerant crops
Some crops are cold-hardy enough that they don't die the moment winter arrives. Turnips, carrots, and onions survive into the second half of winter before the frost finally takes them — giving your farmers extra time to finish a harvest that ran long into autumn. If your workers are still picking when winter begins, don't panic immediately; there's a window to finish the job.
Overwintering crops
Rye is a winter crop. Unlike every other grain, it is planted in autumn rather than spring. The young plants go dormant through the cold months, then resume growing in spring and ripen in summer — a full year from sowing to harvest. The yield is higher than standard grain to reflect the longer commitment.
The practical upside is flexibility. A rye field doesn't compete for workers during the spring planting rush, and its summer harvest lands before the autumn crush. The downside is the year-long wait: a field you commit to rye won't produce anything until next summer.
If you build a farm in autumn and select rye immediately, it will sow that same season — you don't have to wait until next autumn to start the cycle.
Crop Selection
Temperature matters. A crop produces nothing if the temperature at harvest falls outside its range. On colder maps (highlands, riverlands), warm-season crops like corn and coffee beans may never produce. The Farming Calendar (press F8) shows a colour-coded grid of which crops work on your current map, with P and H marks showing when each crop is planted and harvested.
Farm crops
| Crop | Food group | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Wheat | Ingredient | Must be milled into flour before use; flour → bakery → bread (Grain) |
| Corn | Grain (direct) | High yield, warm season; edible as-is or milled into flour |
| Barley | Ingredient | Summer-harvest crop — ripens in summer, one season earlier than other grains. Mills into flour, or goes to the brewery for ale or premium ale |
| Rye | Ingredient | Winter crop — planted in autumn, dormant through winter, harvests in summer. Higher yield than wheat. Must be milled into flour before use |
| Potatoes | Vegetable | Highest yield of any crop; edible directly. Nightshade — avoid planting after tomatoes |
| Pumpkin | Vegetable | Autumn-harvest, warm season. Edible directly or baked into pie at the bakery (Prepared food group) |
| Tomato | Vegetable | Summer-harvest, warm season. Nightshade — avoid planting on soil that recently grew potatoes |
| Carrots | Vegetable | Frost-tolerant — survives into early winter if not yet harvested; edible directly |
| Turnips | Vegetable | Frost-tolerant; edible directly; also used as livestock fodder |
| Onions | Vegetable | Frost-tolerant; good all-rounder; edible directly |
| Lettuce | Vegetable | Reliable in cooler seasons; edible directly |
| Coffee beans | Ingredient | Hot season only; input for the coffeehouse |
Orchard crops
| Crop | Food group | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Apples | Fruit | Most temperature-tolerant fruit; safe bet on most maps |
| Peaches | Fruit | Moderate warmth required |
| Oranges | Fruit | Warm season fruit |
Vineyard crops
| Crop | Notes |
|---|---|
| Grapes | Not eaten directly — used by the winery to produce wine. Requires Grape Cuttings from the travelling merchant to plant. |
| Hops | Not eaten directly — used by the brewery to produce premium ale. Requires Hop Rhizomes to plant; starts from the travelling merchant. |
Leaving a Field Fallow
The first option in every farm's crop dropdown is (Leave fallow — rest the field). Selecting it means no crop is sown that Spring — workers don't plant, and the field produces nothing that year.
A resting field slowly recovers soil fertility on its own, and breaks the crop rotation counter that builds up blight risk. It's the simplest rotation strategy: alternate between fallow and your main crop to keep fertility from bottoming out on smaller fields. For more active soil management, see the Soil & Rotation guide.
Food Variety Bonus
Your villagers track how many food groups they've eaten from over the past year. Eating from more groups gives compounding health and happiness bonuses per meal.
| Unique food groups | Health per meal | Happiness per meal |
|---|---|---|
| 4 or more | +3 | +6 |
| 3 | +2 | +3 |
| 2 | +1 | +1 |
| 1 (all the same) | +0 | +0 |
The six food groups are: Grain, Protein, Fruit, Vegetable, Dairy, and Prepared (bread, smoked meat, etc.).
Farm Upgrades
| Upgrade | Effect |
|---|---|
| Compost Heap | +20% yield at harvest |
| Root Cellar | +20 storage capacity in the farm building |
| Second Furrow | Extends the effective work radius, letting workers cover more ground |
Tips for New Players
- Assign enough workers. An understaffed farm won't finish harvesting before Winter arrives. Aim for one worker per four cells.
- Plant early in Spring. Workers need time to plant every cell. Yield is proportional to actual time in the ground — a farm placed mid-Spring gets roughly half yield that year; one placed in Summer gets a quarter or less. Plant and staff as early as possible.
- Diversify early. Aim for at least 2–3 food groups by year two. The variety bonus pays for itself quickly.
- Plant turnips for fodder. Once you have livestock, turnips double as feed — great for colder maps where fodder options are limited.
- Check the Farming Calendar (F8). Before committing to a crop, verify it actually grows on your map's climate.