Farming in Cataclysm can be a rewarding way of providing sustenance for your character. It takes a bit of work, but the returns are well worth it come harvest time.
Some of the information present here might not apply to future versions.
Farming in Cataclysm can be a rewarding way of providing sustenance for your character. As of {{inlineVer|0.C}}, farming has received some solid updates and is now more than capable of providing all the food your character will need - despite the farming system being a work-in-progress (like everything else). Finding an actual [[farm]] in-game can be both tricky, and helpful - but is not necessary. If you can find a [[farm]], it's a good thing, as the earth is already dug up for easy planting, and you can often find relevant tools, or vehicles - plus fruits, veggies, grains, herbs and occasionally seeds just sitting out in the fields (assuming they haven't rotted away yet). Otherwise you can just make your own garden in any old vacant lot or field.
== Getting set up ==
The process of farming is pretty easy. It occurs in three steps - Planting, growing (read: waiting), and harvest.
You will need: A shovel, hoe, digging stick, or paws. Snow shovels won't work, unfortunately, so toss 'em out.
You can currently farm anywhere that has dirt as long as the weather is warm enough. Usually by day 75 of Spring you're good to go, but it can sometimes take a bit longer. Start by wielding your farming implement of choice, then activate it. Choose the "upturn earth" option to create a mound of dirt. This is where you'll be planting your seeds.
[[File:2 farming apply hoe.png|frame|none|A screen shot of using the hoe tool in Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead.]]
== Planting ==
== Planting ==
The first order of business is to find yourself some [[Seeds]]. [[Seeds]] can be found in Gardening Supply buildings, Home Improvement Superstores, Hardware Stores, in [[Farm]]s themselves, rarely in Houses, and some can be crafted by the player, using the crafting menu {{k|&}}. They also drop when a grown plant is successfully harvested. To get you started, you can get some early seeds by foraging underbrush in forests ({{k|e}}xamine [[underbrush]]) - [[wild vegetables]] or [[rhubarb]] you find can be crafted into [[wild vegetable stems]] or [[rhubarb stems]] (requires Survival 2), which can be planted like seeds. In summer, you can find strawberry or blueberry bushes in open fields that can be harvested for seeds & fruit as well.
You do have [[seeds]], right?. [[Seeds]] can be found in Gardening Supply buildings, Home Improvement Superstores, Hardware Stores, in [[Farm]]s themselves, rarely in Houses, and some can be crafted by the player, using the crafting menu {{k|&}}, or by deconstructing some fruits. To get you started, you can get some early seeds by foraging underbrush in forests ({{k|e}}xamine [[underbrush]]) - [[wild vegetables]] or [[rhubarb]] you find can be crafted into [[wild vegetable stems]] or [[rhubarb stems]] (requires Survival 2), which can be planted like seeds. In summer, you can find strawberry or blueberry bushes in open fields that can be harvested for fruit, which can then be deconstructed for seeds as well. Small fruits, like berries, will generally be destroyed when you do this, but larger ones such as pumpkins or tomatoes will still be edible afterwards.
To plant seeds, you must {{k|e}}xamine a dirt mound with seeds in inventory. You can find some [[Mound of dirt|dirt mounds]] at a [[farm]], but be wary of monsters if you're visiting the farm for the first time. Clear the farm first then look around for some tools, if the farm has some farming tools or seeds then you can start right there.
To plant seeds, you must examine a dirt mound with seeds in inventory. You can find some pre-dug [[Mound of dirt|dirt mounds]] at a [[farm]], but be wary of monsters if you're visiting the farm for the first time. Clear the farm first then look around for some tools, if the farm has some farming tools or seeds then you can start right there.
[[File:1 farming location.png|frame|none|A screen shot of a farm in Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead.]]
[[File:1 farming location.png|frame|none|A screen shot of a farm in Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead.]]
So find a nice set of [[Mound of dirt|dirt mounds]] on your farm to work with or just create your own [[Mound of dirt|dirt mounds]]. You can accomplish this with any digging tool, but the ideal implement by far would be a [[hoe]]. If you can't find or craft one, you can use a [[Shovel]], [[Entrenching Tool]] or even a simple [[Digging stick]] (any tool with Digging of 1 or higher). Make mounds by entering the {{k|*}}Construction menu and choosing Till Soil. This process takes about 30 minutes per mound, a steep price to pay. A hoe is quicker.
Either way, once you have dirt mounds, you must apply the seeds by examining the chosen mound. This will pop up a menu of seeds in your inventory - just choose the applicable seed and hit enter. Once the seeds are planted, the growing process begins.
http://i.imgur.com/4QV1DR9.png
It's much faster to use the [[hoe]], if you can find or build one; simply {{k|a}}pply it and have your dirt mound ready in a minute.
[[File:2 farming apply hoe.png|frame|none|A screen shot of using the hoe tool in Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead.]]
Once you have dirt mounds, you must apply the seeds by {{k|e}}xamining the chosen mound. This will pop up a menu of seeds in your inventory - just choose the applicable seed and hit enter. Once the seeds are planted, the growing process begins.
One note: '''You can only plant seeds when the temperature is 50F (10C) or greater.''' Otherwise you'll get the message, {{igs|"It is too cold to plant anything now."|light_blue}} So planting season begins in Spring, around day 6 or so. You may even find a small window between 2-4PM on day 5 if you really want to get started early.
[[File:3 farming examine mound.png|frame|none|A screen shot of examining a mound of dirt in Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead.]]
[[File:3 farming examine mound.png|frame|none|A screen shot of examining a mound of dirt in Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead.]]
Line 35:
Line 28:
== Growing ==
== Growing ==
Now, just sit back and wait for the seeds to sprout. They don't pop up overnight - growth takes place in four stages: planted seeds, seedling, mature plant, and fruiting plant. The time to finish the full growth cycle varies by plant, but generally takes a week or two. There are three speeds at which plants grow: Fast, Medium and Slow.
Now, just sit back and wait for the seeds to sprout. They don't pop up overnight - growth takes place in four stages: planted seeds, seedling, mature plant, and fruiting plant. The time to finish the full growth cycle varies by plant. If you've adjusted season length in the options, grow times will be proportionally adjusted as well.
Fast-growing plants would be [[oats]] and [[zucchini]]; they each take exactly two days per growth stage, fruiting in 6 total days. You're in luck if you can find these seeds early on - if you get started early in the year, you could potentially squeeze 5 back-to-back harvests into one growing season, providing enough oatmeal for years to come.
You will know when your crops are done by their appearance (bright green #), and their description tag (harvestable plant).
Medium-speed plants take three days per stage, fruiting in 9 days - these plants are [[barley]], [[broccoli]], [[chili pepper]], [[carrot]], [[cucumber]], [[garlic bulb|garlic]], [[onion]], and [[tomato]].
One important thing to note is that the growth a plant experiences won't actually be reflected until you leave the plant's reality bubble and return, so if you think it should be harvest time but nothing looks ready, try leaving the area and coming back.
Slow-growing plants take 4 days per stage, fruiting in 12 days, including: [[blueberry]], [[blackberry]], [[bee balm]], [[buckwheat]], [[cannabis]], [[canola]], [[cabbage]], [[cranberry]], [[corn]], [[fungal]], [[dandelion]], [[datura]], [[dogbane]], [[lettuce]], [[marloss]], [[morel mushroom]], [[mugwort]], [[mushroom]], [[pumpkin]], [[raspberry]], [[beans]], [[rhubarb]], [[potatoes]], [[strawberry]], [[sugar beet]], [[sunflower]], [[thyme]], [[wheat]], [[wild herbs]] and [[wild vegetables]].
Another thing to keep in mind is that your crops are vulnerable must be protected. Zombies stumbling through crops can sometimes trample and destroy them, and other things like [[deer]], [[cow|cattle]], and [[aphid|aphids]] love to snack on them. [[portal_storm|Portal storms]] tend to wreak havoc on crops, and unfortunately for now the best fix for that is to simply leave the area until the storm is over.
You will know when they are done by their appearance (bright green #), and their description tag (harvestable plant). Fruited plants will stay harvestable for a good period of time, a week or more - if you do not harvest them within the available span, the plot will go back to seed and begin growth again starting from the seedling stage.
Each plant has its own growth speed. Vegetables like Zucchini are fast-growing, and can fruit in 47 days. Oats are the fastest-growing grain at 65 days, while many other plants will take anywhere from 80-95 days.
One important thing to note is that the growth a plant experiences won't actually be reflected until you leave the plant's reality bubble and return - a quick trip up and down a set of stairs will do it. So if you think it should be harvest time but nothing looks ready, try leaving and coming back.
== Fertilizer ==
Another thing to keep in mind is that your crops are vulnerable at this stage and must be protected. Firstly from monsters - a zombie stumbling through your patch will ruin any planted crops he staggers across. Secondly from cold - be sure to harvest before winter, as the first day of winter will automatically kill off any growing plants and render them into [[withered plant]]s.
Fertilizer can be used to boost the speed of crop growth. It can be found in places like hardware stores, or crafted out of certain chemicals. In older versions, fertilizer reduced crop yields, but this no longer appears to be the case. If you have fertilizer in your inventory and examine a plant, you'll be given the option to fertilize it. This can even be done after it's planted.
=== Fertilize your plants - Or don't! ===
==={{InlineVer|0.C}}===
('''This step is optional - fertilized seeds will grow much faster but yield much less crop!''')
Fertilization is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, your crops will be finished much faster - fast-growing crops ([[oats]] and [[zucchini]]) will grow to the next phase of growth instantly, while medium-speed crops will take only 5 hours to advance to the next stage. The slowest crops will still take a few days between stages. The drawback is that you will almost certainly harvest the minimum amount possible at harvest time. This is usually one for veggies/fruits and 4 for grains, compared to 10-12 or 48 or so if they are left to grow the full time. You will, however, receive a few seeds, so for purposes of multiplying low seed stores, the fertilizer you spend could be worth it.
In {{InlineVer|0.C}} (note that this version had shorter seasons), there are three speeds at which plants grow: Fast, Medium and Slow. Growth time generally takes a week or two.
Liquid fertilizer can be easily found (it may be on the farm itself, or in a garden supply store, hardware store, etc), but you may have to craft it. It requires a cooking skill of 3 and survival skill of 2. If you've these skills then you can craft it using 1 [[water]] or 1 [[clean water]], 2 [[bone meal]]s, 1 [[chitin powder]] and 1 [[ammonia]] or 100 [[lye powder]] or 50 [[Saltpeter]]. [[Chitin powder]] can be ground from chunk of chitin using a [[quern]], [[ammonia]] is commonly found in [[gallon jug]]s in most houses and [[bone meal]] can be created from bones using a [[quern]] or [[food processor]].
Fast-growing plants take 2 days per stage, fruiting in 8 total days. These are [[oats]] and [[zucchini]].
Medium-speed plants take 3 days per stage, fruiting in 12 days. These plants are [[barley]], [[broccoli]], [[chili pepper]], [[carrot]], [[cucumber]], [[garlic bulb|garlic]], [[onion]], and [[tomato]].
Slow-growing plants take 4 days per stage, fruiting in 16 days. These plants are [[blueberry]], [[blackberry]], [[bee balm]], [[buckwheat]], [[cannabis]], [[canola]], [[cabbage]], [[cranberry]], [[corn]], [[fungal]], [[dandelion]], [[datura]], [[dogbane]], [[lettuce]], [[marloss]], [[morel mushroom]], [[mugwort]], [[mushroom]], [[pumpkin]], [[raspberry]], [[beans]], [[rhubarb]], [[potatoes]], [[strawberry]], [[sugar beet]], [[sunflower]], [[thyme]], [[wheat]], [[wild herbs]] and [[wild vegetables]].
When fertilizing, don't {{k|a}}ctivate the [[plant food]] ({{k|a}}ctivating or {{k|E}}ating the substance can prove harmful, don't do it!).
[[File:5 farming apply fertilizer NO.png|frame|none|A screen shot of activating fertilizer in Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead.]]
== Harvest ==
Instead, {{k|e}}xamine a seed with some [[liquid fertilizer]] in your inventory, just as with planting.
Once they are ready, {{k|e}}xamine your plants to harvest them. Some plants, such as wheat, will require you to use a sickle or other tool with the grass-cutting quality.
[[File:7 farming fertilized.png|frame|none|A screen shot of applied fertilizer in Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead.]]
Your yield will vary greatly based on your survival skill, in some cases it will be ten times what you planted! Some plants will only give fruits, others will yield withered plants, straw, or seeds. Some of this stuff will be ready to eat right away, other items will need further processing.
[[File:6 farming examine seed YES.png|frame|none|A screen shot of examining a seed in Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead.]]
== Grain Processing ==
Plants can be fertilized once at every stage of growth (seed, seedling, and mature) for cumulative effect.
Most grains will be harvested as stalks. These are still green and prone to rotting, so they'll need to be dried ASAP. The easiest way is to place a stooking spot via the construction menu. You can then drop stalks of grain into the stooking spot, and examine it when it's full. This will cause your character to stand up the grain in an A-frame shape so that it can dry. Doing this requires 2 [[survival]] ranks, but takes no time or materials other than the stalks themselves.
== Crops list ==
You can examine the stook to see how it's coming along, it should take several days. Once it's all dry, you will take it down and receive nonperishable dried grain stalks. But you're not done yet!
<!-- Based on the reddit post by Zaldarr, used with permission : https://www.reddit.com/r/cataclysmdda/comments/8ltg89/crops_ranked_by_tier_table_inside/ -->
We have a list of carious crops for {{InlineVer|0.D}}. The tiers are subjective, and subject to change.
These dried stalks must be threshed, which you can easily do with a [[stick]], but it'll go a bit faster with something like a peasant flail. You can find the recipes for threshed grain in the crafting menu. Once you have your threshed grain, it will need to be winnowed, which can be done by hand via the crafting menu.
<tr style="background-color:lightgreen">
<th style="border: 1px solid #aaa; border-left-color: white"> Name </th>
Some grains, such as lentils, get to skip a step in the above process, so don't be too confused if your plant is already dry when you pick it. That's just how they work. As long as you understand the general process, you'll be in good shape.
Once winnowed, most grains are ready to be cooked. You can't eat them raw unless you're some kind of [[mutant]], but they can be milled, made into porridge, used in soup, or even replanted!
Since grains are seeds, you can plant them as-is. You can also craft them into seeds (and vice-versa), which is really just for organizational purposes. You'll have fewer incidents with people eating the corn you intended to plant if you craft it into seed corn first.
One of the biggest worries with farming is that most of your crop will all come in at once, and it can be hard to know what to do with it before it all spoils. Sure, you could stand in the field and eat 1000 raw zucchini like a dumb beast, but it might be a good idea to get familiar with [[food_preservation|food preservation]] before your crops come in.
-->Weed and plant fibre, seeds turn into oil.</td>
</tr>
<tr id="Canola" style="text-align:right">
The following vehicle ([https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/harvesting-crops/16950/5 source]) would allow you to reap, plow and drill (seed) two lines of tiles:
* All berries and fruits will give you [[yeast]] as a byproduct if turned into must and [[brewing|fermented in a vat]]. Berry bushes can be harvested multiple times. Can also make longlasting [[pemmican]]. Great for mass production of booze and/or biodiesel.
* Flour was non-perishable in {{InlineVer|0.C}}, and last a long time in {{InlineVer|0.D}} and is used in a lot of recipes. Flour-making foods are a godsend, so pay attention to them.
* Some crops are only for medical purposes ('''M''' tier). It is usually best to convert these into non perishable variants, so you don't have the situation where you are sick but all your medical plants have rotted away.
== Harvest ==
Once they are ready, {{k|e}}xamine your plants to harvest them. You'll receive some produce, some seeds, and straw/withered plants. Different types of plants will produce in different quantities. Grains like barley and buckwheat will produce at a high rate, averaging around 46-48 grains per plant and somewhere around 6-12 seeds. [[Lettuce]] and [[carrot]]s produce in high amounts in the 60s and 70s, while other plants like [[cabbage]] produce more in the 10-12 veggie range, and more like 18-24 seeds. For a breakdown of average yields, see the [[seeds]] page.
Make sure you are ready to eat/preserve any perishables, because the spawned items will start to go to rot as soon as they are harvested. Congratulations! You've just farmed your first homegrown produce.
== Powered Farming ==
In {{InlineVer|0.D}} you can find and build farm equipment that [[plow|plows]], [[seed drill|seeds]], and [[reaper|harvests]] respectively. As of yet, there is no fertilizer attachment for vehicles and the chemical sprayer doesn't accept liquid fertilizer. Details to follow.
== Animal Farming ==
As of the most recent experimentals, you can also farm various animals such as [[cow]]s. More details to follow.
=== Healing animals ===
[[File:CDDA power farming.gif|frame|none|A screen shot of a tractor vehicle in Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead.]]
It is in {{InlineVer|0.E}} not yet possible to heal animals directly, but animals will heal damage over time. So just keep the biters away, or install the [[Magiclysm]] [[Gameplay Mods|mod]], and use spells.
Farming in Cataclysm can be a rewarding way of providing sustenance for your character. It takes a bit of work, but the returns are well worth it come harvest time.
Getting set up
You will need: A shovel, hoe, digging stick, or paws. Snow shovels won't work, unfortunately, so toss 'em out.
You can currently farm anywhere that has dirt as long as the weather is warm enough. Usually by day 75 of Spring you're good to go, but it can sometimes take a bit longer. Start by wielding your farming implement of choice, then activate it. Choose the "upturn earth" option to create a mound of dirt. This is where you'll be planting your seeds.
A screen shot of using the hoe tool in Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead.
Planting
You do have seeds, right?. Seeds can be found in Gardening Supply buildings, Home Improvement Superstores, Hardware Stores, in Farms themselves, rarely in Houses, and some can be crafted by the player, using the crafting menu &, or by deconstructing some fruits. To get you started, you can get some early seeds by foraging underbrush in forests (examine underbrush) - wild vegetables or rhubarb you find can be crafted into wild vegetable stems or rhubarb stems (requires Survival 2), which can be planted like seeds. In summer, you can find strawberry or blueberry bushes in open fields that can be harvested for fruit, which can then be deconstructed for seeds as well. Small fruits, like berries, will generally be destroyed when you do this, but larger ones such as pumpkins or tomatoes will still be edible afterwards.
To plant seeds, you must examine a dirt mound with seeds in inventory. You can find some pre-dug dirt mounds at a farm, but be wary of monsters if you're visiting the farm for the first time. Clear the farm first then look around for some tools, if the farm has some farming tools or seeds then you can start right there.
A screen shot of a farm in Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead.
Either way, once you have dirt mounds, you must apply the seeds by examining the chosen mound. This will pop up a menu of seeds in your inventory - just choose the applicable seed and hit enter. Once the seeds are planted, the growing process begins.
A screen shot of examining a mound of dirt in Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead.
Your dirt mounds become planted seeds.
A screen shot of a planted seed in Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead. For use on the CDDA wiki.
Growing
Now, just sit back and wait for the seeds to sprout. They don't pop up overnight - growth takes place in four stages: planted seeds, seedling, mature plant, and fruiting plant. The time to finish the full growth cycle varies by plant. If you've adjusted season length in the options, grow times will be proportionally adjusted as well.
You will know when your crops are done by their appearance (bright green #), and their description tag (harvestable plant).
One important thing to note is that the growth a plant experiences won't actually be reflected until you leave the plant's reality bubble and return, so if you think it should be harvest time but nothing looks ready, try leaving the area and coming back.
Another thing to keep in mind is that your crops are vulnerable must be protected. Zombies stumbling through crops can sometimes trample and destroy them, and other things like deer, cattle, and aphids love to snack on them. Portal storms tend to wreak havoc on crops, and unfortunately for now the best fix for that is to simply leave the area until the storm is over.
Each plant has its own growth speed. Vegetables like Zucchini are fast-growing, and can fruit in 47 days. Oats are the fastest-growing grain at 65 days, while many other plants will take anywhere from 80-95 days.
Fertilizer
Fertilizer can be used to boost the speed of crop growth. It can be found in places like hardware stores, or crafted out of certain chemicals. In older versions, fertilizer reduced crop yields, but this no longer appears to be the case. If you have fertilizer in your inventory and examine a plant, you'll be given the option to fertilize it. This can even be done after it's planted.
In 0.C (Cooper) (note that this version had shorter seasons), there are three speeds at which plants grow: Fast, Medium and Slow. Growth time generally takes a week or two.
Fast-growing plants take 2 days per stage, fruiting in 8 total days. These are oats and zucchini.
Once they are ready, examine your plants to harvest them. Some plants, such as wheat, will require you to use a sickle or other tool with the grass-cutting quality.
Your yield will vary greatly based on your survival skill, in some cases it will be ten times what you planted! Some plants will only give fruits, others will yield withered plants, straw, or seeds. Some of this stuff will be ready to eat right away, other items will need further processing.
Grain Processing
Most grains will be harvested as stalks. These are still green and prone to rotting, so they'll need to be dried ASAP. The easiest way is to place a stooking spot via the construction menu. You can then drop stalks of grain into the stooking spot, and examine it when it's full. This will cause your character to stand up the grain in an A-frame shape so that it can dry. Doing this requires 2 survival ranks, but takes no time or materials other than the stalks themselves.
You can examine the stook to see how it's coming along, it should take several days. Once it's all dry, you will take it down and receive nonperishable dried grain stalks. But you're not done yet!
These dried stalks must be threshed, which you can easily do with a stick, but it'll go a bit faster with something like a peasant flail. You can find the recipes for threshed grain in the crafting menu. Once you have your threshed grain, it will need to be winnowed, which can be done by hand via the crafting menu.
Some grains, such as lentils, get to skip a step in the above process, so don't be too confused if your plant is already dry when you pick it. That's just how they work. As long as you understand the general process, you'll be in good shape.
Once winnowed, most grains are ready to be cooked. You can't eat them raw unless you're some kind of mutant, but they can be milled, made into porridge, used in soup, or even replanted!
Since grains are seeds, you can plant them as-is. You can also craft them into seeds (and vice-versa), which is really just for organizational purposes. You'll have fewer incidents with people eating the corn you intended to plant if you craft it into seed corn first.
Oh my God there's too many tomatoes
One of the biggest worries with farming is that most of your crop will all come in at once, and it can be hard to know what to do with it before it all spoils. Sure, you could stand in the field and eat 1000 raw zucchini like a dumb beast, but it might be a good idea to get familiar with food preservation before your crops come in.
A screen shot of a tractor vehicle in Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead.
Healing animals
It is in 0.E (Ellison) not yet possible to heal animals directly, but animals will heal damage over time. So just keep the biters away, or install the Magiclysmmod, and use spells.
