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Table of Contents
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0.0 - Version History
1.0 - Introduction
1.1 - Backing Up Your Game
2.0
- Characters
2.1 - The Girls!
2.2 - Ann
2.3 - Elli
2.4 - Karen
2.5 - Maria
2.6 Popuri
2.7 Other Info
2.8 - Marriage
3.0 - Tools
3.1 - *** Tool Level-Up Trick! ***
3.2 - Level up descriptions
3.3 - House Additions
3.4 Furniture/Decorations
4.0 - Farming Tips (How
to make money)
4.1 - Hunting at the Mountain
4.2 - Turnips vs Potatoes vs Cabbages
4.3 - Tomatoes
vs Corn
4.4 - Planting Tips
4.5 Tip! Get the Greenhouse!
4.6 - Chickens
4.7 - Basic
Livestock Info
4.8 - Sheep vs Cows
4.9 Raising Cows from Scratch
5.0 - Price Guide
6.0 - Secrets
6.1 - Power Nuts
6.2 - Recipes
6.3 - Other
7.0 - Important Events
7.1 Spring
7.2
Summer
7.3 Fall
7.4 Winter
7.5 Caring for Animals (Winning the Festivals)
8.0 - Contributors/Contact
Info
9.0 - Copyright/Disclaimer
---
0.0 - Version History
---
v1.3 Re-ordered section 4, added info on
pregnant cows and greenhouse
Added section 3.4 Furniture/Decorations
Added more info on girls/marriage
6.1 contains location of 4 power nuts
More recipes
Info on raising animals for festivals (dog, horse, cow) 7.5
Added to section 7 on events, divided into seasons
Included more info on festivals
and racing
Lots of other things...
v1.2 - Added more precise info on house
extensions
Corrected Spring crop info
v1.1 - Added the Tool Level-Up trick (section 3.0)
Added more recipes and pricing info
Added more crop raising and livestock info (particularly
cows vs sheep)
Redefined the table of contents for subsections
More important dates to watch, more girl info
Removed the section on other important
people, not important enough :)
Added info on backing up your games
---
1.0
- Introduction
---
Harvest Moon 64 is a farming simulation for the Nintendo 64. It's really fun to
play (although
I suppose this depends on your tastes), and for the purpose of
this FAQ, I'll assume you already know what the game is.
If you don't know,
either rent it or find a review in a magazine or somewhere on the web.
Check out our Harvest
Moon 64 website at
http://acer.simplenet.com/games/hm64/index.htm
The site is currently under construction, and will
contain information similar
to this document, except with graphics and organized into different pages.
I'll try
to avoid spoilers as best I can. If there's something that I feel might
be considered a spoiler, I'll put in a warning
beforehand.
Also, you should know that I haven't beaten the game yet, so I don't know
everything. However, there
are a lot of things that I didn't understand in the
game, and since I couldn't find any useful FAQ out there yet, I want
to document
the important stuff I've discovered so far.
Some of the stuff written here will be similar to what's
in the instruction
booklet, or in other FAQ. If you want to skip to the important stuff, I suggest
reading the Farming
Tips section.
---
1.1 - Backing Up Your Game
---
Since I doesn't say this anywhere in the instructions, I'll
mention it here.
It's very annoying to play your game and find a typhoon is going to hit the next
day. Or to accidentally
slash your livestock with the sickle, etc...
It's possible to copy your game into one of the 4 save slots! Just use
the Move
button (next to delete), click on the game you want to copy (backup), then click
on another slot. Note that
whatever was in the destination will be erased and
replaced by a copy of whatever you selected first, so be very careful
with this
option.
I don't know why it's labeled Move and not Copy, but then again there are many
many spelling
mistakes in this game. I wonder if it's a result of rushing it out
in time for X-mas...?
Note that typhoons can
be avoided by playing games that were backed up from
before the typhoon was forecasted on TV. For this reason, check the
weather
forecast before backing up your game. If it says a typhoon is coming, don't back
up the game, or you're stuck
with it.
---
2.0 - Characters
---
There are lots of people to interact with in the game, and having a social
life
is just as important as having money (unless you want live the life a stingy
miser during the game). Besides
the shop keepers, the most important characters
are probably the 5 girls that you can go out with. It's probably best
to pick
one girl early so that you can focus on developing a relationship from the
beginning. It seems to take longer
than the SNES version of Harvest Moon.
---
2.1 - The Girls!
---
There are five different girls in the game
that you can develop a relationship
with, so long as you talk to them, and give them the right kind of stuff. I
think
they all pretty much like flowers (Popuri more so), food, and whatever
else you grow or find in the mountain.
It
takes longer to get the girls to like you in Harvest Moon 64 (compared to the
SNES original). You can't read their diaries
like before, so you can tell how
much they like you by the color of the heart at the end of their text-box. It
starts
out white, and if you give them enough gifts, talk to them, meet them at
festivals, etc..., it will eventually change
to a blue heart. Depending on how
well you treat them, it should be possible to get a blue heart by the end of
Spring,
although sometime in the beginning to mid-summer is more likely.
The order of hearts, from beginning to true-love is:
white-blue-green-yellow-pink
Once you get a girl to like you, they will start coming by your farm to give you
gifts.
They tend to come by in the afternoon, but not every day. You can only
talk to them when they come over, so be sure to
come over earlier (or later,
depending on the time) so that you can give them gifts.
---
2.2 - Ann
---
Ann
lives on the Green Ranch. Likes animals. I've heard that giving her animals
found in the mountain get her to really like
you, but the reaction I've gotten
hasn't impressed me. Id have to say that these rumors are bogus. You're much
better
off bringing your dog to see her. I think bringing chickens and chicks
works too.
Ann also really likes wool, which
at $900-1,800 each would seem to give her the
most expensive tastes in the game! I can't tell by her picture whether she
likes
it more than seeing your dog, but she definitely likes it more than flowers and
other foods.
When the
ranch is closed Ann can usually be found at the mountain by the
fisherman's tent or the far left pond across the river.
Sometimes she is also in
the inventors shop, as Rick (the inventor) is her cousin.
Note that if you don't chase
after Ann, Cliff the mountain wanderer will start
to develop a relationship with her. Although it sounds weird, I think
some of
their meetings are triggered by how much wood you have cut. I don't think
there's any reason to stop cutting
wood if you ARE chasing her, as encounters
seem to change depending on how much she likes you.
During the Fireworks
(Summer 1st) she's at the Green Ranch. Just go through the
fence towards the barn.
Her birthday is on the 14th
of Summer. Make sure to give her something.
---
2.3 - Elli
---
Elli lives at the bakery. She loves certain
food items, particularly eggs and
milk. Elli also has a pleasant reaction to seeing your dog. On Wednesdays, when
the
bakery is closed, she can usually be found in the Flower Shop at certain
times of day. She also tends to disappear on
Sundays.
During the Fireworks (Summer 1st) she's at the bakery, her home. You'd be
surprised how much time I wasted
looking elsewhere for her.
Elli's birthday is on the 1st of Fall.
---
2.4 - Karen
---
Karen lives at
the vineyard, and works at the bar at night. She also pops up on
the beach occasionally on Sunday (Note: You get to the
beach by going right at
the Green Ranch, outside of the fence).
Karen really likes wild berries. Note that these
only grow in the Spring and
Fall, so if you have a kitchen you might want to save them up. She also loves
tomatoes.
She complains when you talk to her too much at the beginning. She
doesn't really care for your dog at the beginning either,
but changes her
opinion later in the game. I dont know that showing her your dog at first will
decrease your love
factor, but she does sort of insult it.
If you don't marry Karen, I'm told that she eventually leaves the town with
her
mother.
During the Fireworks (Summer 1st) she's at the beach.
Her birthday sometime in Winter.
---
2.5
- Maria
---
Maria is the Mayor's daughter, and works at the library. Apparently, she likes
when you talk to her.
I think she also likes bugs, and is scared of your dog.
Maria is a cabbage lover, so give her some if youre chasing her.
Supposedly it
gives you a better happy reaction.
The mailman is somewhat interested in her, so they get together
if you dont
chase after Maria.
Marias birthday takes place on the 11th of Winter.
---
2.6 - Popuri
---
Popuri
lives at the flower shop. Guess what, she likes flowers, so she might be
the easiest to get to like you. Like Ann, she
has a "How cute!" reaction when
you bring her your dog. Sometimes shows up at the mountain, and also inside the
bakery.
I'm
told that late in the game, Popuri will marry Ann's brother, Gray, if you
don't marry her.
---
2.7 Other Info
---
This
section contains information regarding events common to all girls in the
game. The events happen at certain points, but
people who want to encounter
these for themselves should not read the rest of this section.
*** Warning! Possible spoiler
follows!***
At a certain point in the game, whichever girl you are chasing will sprain her
leg. You are presented
with the option of carrying her home, or running for
help. In this case, carry her home! If you run for help, you get
her father and
he carries her home. The next time you see her, your love-rating will have
decreased! I tried this
and dropped from a yellow to a green heart! If you carry
her home, she complains a bit, but deep down I think she appreciates
it. Aww...
:)
Whichever girl you are chasing will also get sick at some point in the game. If
you walk into
their home, whatever parent is there will tell you that she is
sick in bed, and that you should visit her. This seems
to be the only time in
the game that you get to see the girls room. You can talk to her and look
around at stuff,
but thats about it. Dont try to give anything to them in bed,
they wont notice, and whatever gift you tried will be wasted.
When you walk out
the door, it will trigger the girl to say thanks for your stopping by. The next
day they will be
better.
Finally, you will also have a dream sequence at some point in the game. At
some time, once you are a sleep
you will have a dream related to something that
happens in the past. Soon after (probably the same day), the girl you
are
chasing will ask you questions regarding that event in the past. The dream and
situation is different for each
girl.
The dream you get depends on the girl. Since you may not realize where to go
after having it, Ill list what
I know:
Ann Head for the section of the mountain with the cave entrance and talk to
Ann under the tree.
Elli
Go to the southern section of town by the library and watch (talk to?)
the kids playing there. Elli will show up.
Karen
Go to the wine cellar in the vineyard.
---
2.8 Marriage
---
Money isnt everything. Keep giving those gifts,
and talk with the girl you want
to marry. Eventually, youll get the pink heart rating.
Once youve got a pink heart,
check the inventors shop until Rick has the Blue
Feather, Harvest Moons sign of proposal. It may be a while till he has
it
(maybe some house extensions are required first, etc?), but then you can buy it
for $1,000.
Use the Blue
Feather on the girl you like. If everything goes well, 4-5 days
from when you use it you get married!
Once youre
married, the girl will help out on the farm. For example, Ann will
sometimes feed the chickens, or crate the eggs, so
that you dont have to.
When you get up in the morning, your wife will be indoors. From 9am till noon
she will probably
be outside somewhere. Between 3-6pm she will probably be
indoors again. Assuming you have a kitchen (perhaps this is required
for
marriage), from 6pm to 8pm she will be in the kitchen, and will comment on
dinner when you talk to her.
***
Important! ***
From 8-9pm, your wife will be standing by the bed. Its important that you go to
sleep at this time.
If you do, she will join you after you write in your diary.
After 9pm, she will already be asleep in bed. Keeping the
wife up late is a bad
practice, so if you want to get a baby, try to make it to bed on time as often
as possible.
If
its before 8pm, your wife will probably still be in the kitchen, so go
outside and let some time pass until shes standing
by the bed.
---
3.0 - Tools
---
The tools are explained well in the instructions, as well as the tutorial,
so I
won't go into that.
One of the important things when it comes to tools is getting them to level up.
Using
things a lot that makes them level up. This is kind of a vicious circle,
because for example, you can't water massive
amounts of crops without a higher
level watering can, and yet you can't level up unless you water massive amounts
of
crops.
---
3.1 - *** Tool Level-Up Trick! ***
---
Here's a way to get your level up your tools without wasting
massive amounts of
time! Whenever you're indoors, time doesn't pass. However, if you use your
tools, they still gain
experience!
Whenever you use a tool, you will still use up your stamina (energy). So do this
trick at the end of
the day, in your house for example. Take out a hammer, axe,
or any other tool that levels up, and pound away at nothing!
Tired of bad
weather reports? Bash the TV! Maybe whack your Invincible Katori a few times,
hoping it will tell you
what it does! While it may not look like anything is
coming out of this, eventually you will raise your tool and it levels
up!
Note that you do NOT need any water in your watering can for it to gain
experience. Using an empty watering
can with the B button will still level it
up.
By using this trick you will get higher level tools sooner. Note
that it takes a
LONG time to level up anything. In normal use, I gathered over 300 lumber by
chopping trees and it
still didn't level up. It is likely you will have to take
many game nights to get a tool to level up. I started using
this trick at the
beginning of Summer, and it still tool 3-4 nights per tool before my watering
can went up.
A
good practice to do before sleeping, but don't over do it. After a while you
will start to collapse. The only real way
to get your energy back is a good
night sleep. If you start to wake in the morning and you're tired (you pause and
sweat
when doing work) as soon as you start working, then I would skip trying to
level-up that day. Otherwise, you may chance
getting sick.
---
3.2 - Level up descriptions
---
Here's what leveled items do (that I know of):
Watering
can
Level 2 - Waters the three squares in front of you (the one in front, and both
forward diagonals)
Level 3 -
Waters 9 squares (in 3x3 formation) in front of you.
Sickle
Level 2 - Cuts the three squares in front of you (the
one in front, and both
forward diagonals)
Level 3 - Cuts all 8 squares around you, plus the ninth youre standing on.
Hammer
Level
2 - Can break rocks in 2 hits
Level 3 - Can break rocks in 1 hit, makes a loud noise :)
Axe
Level 2 - Can chop
wood in 2 hits
Level 3 - Can chop wood in 1 hit
Hoe
Level 2 - Digs up 3 squares in front of you
Level 3 -
Digs up 6 squares in front of you (assumed)
---
3.3 - House Additions
---
Yeah, I know it's odd to put this
in the tools section, but I haven't figured
out a better place yet. Anyway, there are several additions you can add to
your
home for a good deal of $$$ and lumber (from chopping tree trunks).
To get an addition, go to the cabin at
the mountain area. Read the diagram on
the back wall with the A button to bring up the menu of things you can purchase.
Hit A again to select one. The carpenter will say he will come over to your
farm. Once you go back, if you have enough
wood and $$$ he will tell you that
work will begin the next day. For the next several days you will see them work
around
your house, until they tell you it is complete, and you will see
something new.
Detailed (to best of my ability)
descriptions follow. If you want to be
surprised, don't read the rest of this section! On the other hand, spending a
week
plus a lot of $$$ and wood only to get junk seems like a waste, so read on
if you want to know what it is you're buying...
***
Warning! Possible spoiler! ***
Additions include:
Kitchen $5,000 and 450 lumber
The kitchen is where you
store your food. It has a freezer where you can store
up to 32 food items. There are also some charts/books on the kitchen
wall where
you can see what recipes you've collect, as well as how many power nuts you've
gotten.
Bathroom
$3,000 and 300 lumber
The bathroom has a sink that doesn't do anything, as well as a bathtub you can
soak in. Originally
I thought the bathtub helps you recover energy, but it
doesn't. Finally, if you buy JUST the bathroom, note that it isn't
connected to
your house. They install a side door that leads outside, and there's another
door outside that leads
to the bathroom. The kitchen will connect them.
Stairway $2,000 and 250 lumber
Puts a stairway inside the right-side
of your home which leads to the roof.
Afterward, you will be able to walk on your rooftop. It's kind of humorous to
leave
your dog on the roof, and go about with your chores. :) Doesn't seem to be
a very useful purchase, however.
Greenhouse
$30,000 and 580 lumber
The big purchase! The greenhouse is the ONLY way to grow crops in the winter.
Nothing grows
at the mountain during this time, even in the caves. You
can also grow things in it the rest of the year, and since it
counts as a
building, time doesn't pass while you're inside! This alone makes the
greenhouse a worthwhile project,
even outside of winter. It contains enough
space to raise 16 3x3 crop fields (its 16x16 squares of field), and has a
shipping
bin and water supply. As long as you don't get tired, you could easily
harvest tomatoes year-round for a ton of money!
Note
however, that the greenhouse is NOT typhoon friendly. If one hits, there's
a good chance your greenhouse will be totally
obliterated. There may be ways to
ward or protect from this, such as the invincible Katori, but these may only be
rumors.
Note that if you have your game backed up (read section 1.1), you can
replay through the same days and NOT encounter the
typhoon. When replaying, you
must play from BEFORE you read on TV that a typhoon is coming. If it's in the
forecast,
it's too late.
Log-terrace $7,000 and 350 lumber
This creates a rather large sort of back porch. There's a picnic
table and
benches there, but other than that it doesn't seem to be useful.
Baby-bed $1,000 and 150 lumber
Seems
like a lot of wood for one bed, but in any case, you need this before you
can have a baby.
---
3.4 Furniture/Decorations
---
Here
are several items that you get get/win that you can put in your house. Most
dont do anything particularly important.
Dresser/Cabinet
- $2,000 at Inventors Shop
This has room to store extra items that normally go in your backpack. There are
32 spaces
to store things. If youre chasing Popuri, its a good idea to store
flowers here for the Winter months when there arent
any. Note that you can NOT
store food here, although milk still works (since its in a bottle).
Rug - $3,000 at
Inventors Shop
In my opinion, an ugly looking rug. Sits in the middle of your house, under the
table. Maybe your wife
will appreciate it...
Invincible Katori Win at Summer Sea Festival
Looks like some sort of yaks head. Doesnt seem
to do anything. Rumored to
protect your greenhouse from being destroyed by typhoons and hurricanes.
Cute Clock
(Moo Moo Watch) 1,000 medals at Dog Festival
When you hit Start normally, theres a clock and date at the upper left of
the
screen. The cute clock replaces it with a cow (spotted black and white) clock.
For those familiar with things
like Winamp and ICQ Plus, this is like a cow skin
for your clock. Doesnt do anything otherwise.
Awesome House 3,000
medals at Dog Festival
No, this isnt for you, its for your dog! :) Replaces the dogs house with a
nicer looking dog
house. Maybe itll improve his speed for the next years race.
---
4.0 - Farming tips (How to make money)
---
So,
you want to raise money. Unfortunately, time passes quickly. There's NO way
you'll be able to have several fields of crops,
raise chickens, cows, and sheep,
hunt at the mountain, fish, AND date with girls. So, you'll have to pick a few
things
to do so that you can make and spend your money efficently. I've spent a
lot of time crunching numbers to figure this
out, and now I'm going to share my
data, so that you'll have more time to play the actual game :)
Before I get
to the numbers, note that the shipping guy comes by a little after
5pm each day. If you want to get money for your stuff,
you'll have to get
everything into the shipping box before then. However, unless you need to buy
something the next
day, you can still put things in the box, and they'll be
automatically picked up the next day.
---
4.1 - Hunting
at the Mountain
---
Yeah, I know this chapter is supposed to be about farming, but hunting for stuff
is a good way
to make some quick cash, especially important at the beginning of
the game.
Pros
---
The pros to hunting
is that you'll get money every day, unlike raising crops or
sheep. At least in the Spring and Summer, when things are
growing all over, you
can get a pretty significant amount of money, too.
Lastly, you don't have to go hunting every
day. This is a bonus in a way,
because if you have crops or animals, you need to spend time every morning or
night
watering or feeding them.
Cons
---
The problems with hunting are that first of all, the amount of money you get
per
day is limited. Except for fishing, there are only so many fruits and herbs that
you can find, after which you
have to wait a day for them to grow back.
The biggest problem is the time factor. Every second that passes is several
minutes on the clock (unless you're in a building). The most valuable herbs are
found in the cave, and also all the
way past the river. So the more items you
want to get, the more time you'll have to spend travelling from screen to
screen.
Still,
you spend valuable time watering crops and feeding livestock too, so the
question is really whether you can make more
money by having an extra field of
vegatables or another cow, rather than using your time hunting.
Bottom line
---
In
the Spring, there are 3 medicinal herbs, 2 edible grass, and 4 berries. If
you were to get them all, you'd make $430.
However, one of the berries is at the
top of the mountain, and you'd have to go up the winding path to get it, plus
come
back down. I don't think it's worth the effort, especially time-wise. You
don't have room for 9 items anyway, so you'd
have to carry one back to the
shipping box.
I also like to carry a flower along for the girl I'm chasing, so a
safe
assumption is that you will get 3 herbs, 1 edible grass, and 3 berries. At this
rate, you would get an
income of $360 per day, which is pretty good.
($70 x 3 herbs) + ($30 x 1 grass) + ($40 x 3 berries) = $360
Unless
you go at night (which might not be a bad idea), you'll probably be
strapped for time. A typical day (the way I play)
is to water my crops, feed
livestock, brush the horse. Then I'll shop and give stuff to a girl, and then
hunt in the
mountains. Since shops close and people go to sleep around 5-6pm, if
you need to cut your hunting short you can skip the
area of the last herb and
berry, but this will cost you $110.
---
4.2 - Turnips vs Potatoes vs Cabbages
---
Cabbages
sell for more than Potatoes, which sell for more than Turnips, but take
longer to grow. So which is the best value for
your time and money?
The math goes something like this:
Each one costs $200 for a bag of seeds. A problem with planting
is that you
can't water the center square of a 3x3 field. So suppose you only plant/harvest
8 vegetables for every
bag you plant.
There is a catch. You can only grow things until the end of Spring, since
whatever is planted (except
grass and certain flowers) die when Summer starts.
Since there are 30 days in the season, you can harvest turnip 7 times,
potatoes
5 times, and cabbages 4 times.
With turnips, you get: 8 turnips x $60 each = $480
$480 - $200 (cost
of seeds) = $280 profit each bag
$280 x 7 harvests = 1960
With potatoes, you get: 8 potatoes x $80 each = $640
$640
- $200 (cost of seeds) = $440 profit each bag
$440 x 5 harvests = 2200
With cabbages, you get: 8 cabbages x $90
each = $720
$720 - $200 (cost of seeds) = $520 profit each bag
$520 x 4 harvests = 2080
Looking at these figures,
potatoes will go for the most money. The problem with
this is that you start the game with only $300, and seeds are $200
a bag. It
would be impossible to plant more than one field of potato seeds in the first
day, and if you miss any day
you will only collect 4 harvests in the season. To
get seeds as quickly as possible, make sure to collect some herbs at
the
mountain to sell at the beginning of the game.
---
4.3 - Tomatoes vs Corn
---
Unlike cabbage vs turnips,
the quicker growing vegetable, in this case tomatoes,
are worth more money! Here's why:
Seeds cost you $300 either
way. Tomatoes grow in 9 days and sell for $90 each,
while corn grows in 13 days and sells for $120 each. Here's the catch,
tomatoes
REgrow every 3 days, while corn regrows every 4 days after you pick it!
Assuming you buy and plant your
seeds the first day of summer, tomatoes will
first grow on the 10th (1+9=10), and then regrow every 3 days, so you can
also
pick them on the 13th, 16th, 19th, 22nd, 25th, and 28th. So tomatoes will grow
and regrow a total of 7 times
(we will refer to this as 7 cycles).
Corn on the other hand will first grow on the 14th of summer, and regrow on the
18th, 22nd, 26th, and 30th. This is only a total of 5 cycles.
If you grow a single tomato, 7 cycles x $90 = $630
in a month
If you grow an ear of corn, 5 cycles x $120 = $600 in a month
The most you can grow is 8 per bag of seeds,
so multiply each by 8.
Tomatoes ($630 x 8) = $5,040 - $300 (cost of seeds) = $4,740 per month
Corn ($600 x 8) = $4,800
- $300 (cost of seeds) = $4,500 per month
Finally, to compare with other vegetables, livestock, etc. let's find the
average value per day:
Tomatoes ($4,740 / 30) = $158 per day
Corn ($4,500 / 30) = $150 per day
Also note
that the last harvest day of corn is the 30th, the last day of the
season. Since any vegetables not harvested by the end
of the season are lost, to
get the last cycle of corn you MUST water the crops EVERY single day. If you
forget, run
out of time, or whatever, the corn will not grow in time. For this
reason alone, it makes sense to raise tomatoes.
***
Greenhouse tip ***
Once you have the Greenhouse extension, crops dont die at the end of the
season, making corn and
tomatoes equal. Forgetting the initial growing time,
corn will grow 3 times in 12 days, while tomatoes grow 4 times in
12 days.
$120 x 3 = $360 for corn
$90 x 4 = $360 for tomatoes
Since you can have massive amounts of crops
in your greenhouse, it may be wiser
to go with corn, simply because you waste less real time picking it.
---
4.4
- Planting Tips
---
Once vegetables sprout, you can't water seeds in the center of a 3x3 plowed
field. However,
it is possible to get the full 9 vegetables you paid for when
you bought the seeds. If you water all of the outer vegetables,
they will grow,
and once you pick them you can reach the center one again, and pick up watering
where you left off.
This is a good strategy, except it makes replanting
difficult, as you'll have to plow another 3x3 field or wait until
the center
vegetable is ripe.
In the Summer, plants regrow, so you'll never reach the center square. I think
the
best planting formation looks like the following:
### ###
## ##
### ###
...where each '#'
is a crop square. Note that this formation is dangerous if
your horse has not grown up, because he/she has a tendancy
to follow you. If you
stand in the the 'x' in the following diagram, the horse can trap you at '*'.
###
##x*
###
There's
no way to get the horse to move, so until you can ride it, the horse can
trap you. The only escapes are to use the sickle
to cut down an ungrown
vegetable, wait until 6am so you begin the next day (with no sleep), or reset.
The other
bonus to the 8 crop formation is that it's fairly easy to water with a
leveled up watering can. At level 2, you water
the 3 squares in front of you, so
you can water six of the squares by standing at the following 2 positions:
###
###
>## and ##<
### ###
You can then water the 2 remaining squares individually,
or by watering at level
2 standing at the following:
###
## <
###
An alternate (and possibly better
method) is the following, sent in by DaleLord:
##
###
###
Since you can use diagonals, you can water and
harvest all 8 squares, without
worrying about getting trapped. It works well, except it takes a little more
movement
when watering. You also wont get as large a gain with a level 2
watering can.
Once you level up the watering can,
it may be easiest to just go with the
parallel rows:
### ###
### ###
Obviously, you waste the most
seeds this way. However, during the Summer and
Fall, when crops regrow, seed cost is less of a factor. Perhaps the more
important thing to consider is time. If you try it for a while, you'll see what
I mean. Plus, the less time you spend
watering, the more time you have for
livestock and other things.
---
4.5 Tip! Get the Greenhouse!
---
I
dont think I emphasized this enough in the house additions section, so Ill
say it again. The Greenhouse is your ticket
to big money! Its 16x16 squares of
field, which is more than enough to grow 16 3x3 size fields of vegetables. And
best
of all, *time doesnt pass inside!*
Since time doesnt pass, you can wake up, head inside, and spend however much
time
you need to raise a huge crop of tomatoes! Once you come out, it will still
be only 6:15 AM, or however long it took you
to walk to the Greenhouse! If you
raise your chickens strictly inside as well, you can be done with all your
morning
chores by 9:00 AM, leaving you plenty of time to chase girls, chop wood,
fish, etc!
Of course, the problem is that
the Greenhouse is so darn expensive ($30,000 and
580 lumber! Ouch!). But if you save up for it, you can easily get the
$$$ for
the other extensions, plus 8 livestock, and whatever else you want! And since
you save time, chopping wood
wont be a problem either!
I saved up and was able to get the Greenhouse in early-mid Fall. By mid-winter I
had
most of the extensions (minus the baby bed and stairway). I had well over
$20,000, and no longer had the pressure of feeling
rushed for time!
Two things to note. First, it is a major pain to pick all your vegetables in one
day! So I timed
my planting so that I would pick vegetables on alternating days.
Second, the Greenhouse is big! While you can plant 16
3x3 fields of crops and
not eat up your game time, it still takes up a lot of real time (playing the
game) to actually
water and pick it all. Therefore, I only use half of the
Greenhouse, and still have more than enough money.
---
4.6
- Chickens
---
Your first chicken will cost $1500. You don't need to buy more than one because
you can hatch new
ones from eggs. As long as you feed them, chickens lay one egg
per day.
If you put an egg in the incubator, it
will hatch in 3 days, producing a yellow
chick. Note that you do NOT need to feed chicks, just chickens.
Chicks
grow up in 7 days from when they hatch, and become full grown chickens,
after which they will start laying eggs.
If
you put a chicken outside, you do not need to feed it. Unlike cows and sheep,
chickens will NOT eat up your grass, yet
will still be counted as fed. Do NOT
leave them in the rain or skip feeding them. This will cause them to stop laying
eggs until you take care of them again. You can't talk or brush chickens.
If you keep chickens inside, you will
have to give them chicken feed, which
costs $10 a bag. Chicken eggs sell for $50 each, so on rainy days you still make
$40 per chicken, for a maximum of 6 chickens.
If it were to rain every day, with 6 chickens you would make:
$40
x 6 chickens = $240
If it never rains, you can keep them outside and not feed them, so you'd get:
$50 x 6 chickens =
$300
The problem with rain is that you need to bring the chickens in the day BEFORE
it rains, otherwise when you
wake up your chicken will already be wet. So you
need to feed chickens (and other animals) two times for every one day
it rains
(unless it rains twice in a row). The good news is that you don't have to water
crops, so it balances out
timewise.
You can sell grown chickens for $500 each. However, you're probably better off
keeping the full 6 chickens,
rather than keeping 5 and always selling the 6th.
Since it takes 10 days from an egg to a chicken, you could have made
the same
$500 if you sold that 6th's chicken's egg each of the 10 days. If you have to
feed it, you could make as
little as $400. However, to sell a chicken you must
run down to the Green Ranch, which seems to be too much trouble.
Conclusion:
Keeping
6 chickens gets you $240-300 per day, which isn't bad. However, you
won't get rich either, so do more than just raising
chickens. When you start
getting many fields of crops, or start raising livestock, you may want to
consider either
selling off your chickens, or stopping your hunting at the
mountain. Otherwise you will likely be pressed for time.
Remember
we said that mountain hunting will get you about $360 per day. In the
Spring, 3 fields will get you about $225, and 4
would get you close to $300 per
day, but that's a lot of watering to do. At some point you'll have to stop doing
something,
so keep these numbers in mind.
*** Tip! The Time-Freeze-Feed-The-Chickens Trick! ***
A different approach is to
stock up on chicken feed, and feed the chickens
indoors EVERY day. This means you will make $240 per day. While this isn't
as
good as $300, the benefit is that you can feed the chickens inside, where time
doesn't pass. Chickens don't have
a happy factor like cows (meaning they don't
give better eggs if they're happy), so leaving them inside doesn't effect
anything other than their cost of maintance (6 bags of feed a day).
Chickens particularly eat up your time when
you have to bring them in when it
rains. So if you leave them in, you'll spend 15 minutes of your day walking to
the
chicken coop, and can spend the rest of your time on more worthy things. 15
minutes of time for $240 doesn't seem too
bad. For the $60 you spend on feed,
you get back time you can use to raise more livestock or crops.
---
4.7
- Basic Livestock Info
---
Sheep cost $4,000 to start with, while cows cost $6,000. When you buy one for
the first
time, the owner of the Green Ranch gives you a free bell to call your
livestock (don't forget you can push them, too).
After
you have a sheep, you need to buy Wool Clippers from the inventor, Rick,
for $1,000. With the cow, the Milker cost $1,800.
Add this up, and it will cost
you $5,000 to start raising sheep, and $7,800 for cows.
You won't need to buy the
tools right away, however, since young sheep and cows
don't give wool or milk until they grow up (2 weeks for sheep, and
3 weeks for
cows). So you can buy a sheep or cow as soon as you have the cash, and as long
as you continue with chickens,
crops, or hunting, you'll probably the money for
the tools when they have grown up.
Make sure to brush and talk
to livestock EVERY day. I'm not sure if it makes
them grow faster, but either way you get much more money from selling
wool and
milk taken from happy sheep and cows. Wool gets you more money, but you can milk
a cow every day. I haven't
figured the numbers yet, but I would assume that
since cows cost more, they would give you more money, similar to the
turnips vs.
cabbage pricing.
---
4.8 - Sheep vs Cows
---
The short version is that Sheep will get you
money sooner, but in the long run,
Cows will give you twice as much $$$. Since you can only have 8 livestock in
your
barn, the ideal would be to go with cows over sheep. However, cows will
require a larger investment, so it's kind of a
preference thing.
Note that young sheep and cows do NOT give wool or milk, so you don't have to
buy clippers or
a milker right away. However, young livestock are NOT like
chicks! You MUST feed them every day. Unlike chickens, you
must have fully grown
grass in order to leave them outside.
Sheep
---
Sheep cost $4,000 each. The clippers
will cost you $1,000. After 2 weeks, the
sheep will be big enough for you to start clipping its wool, which you get $900
for. However, the wool won't grow back for a full week, or 7 days. Once you get
the quality of wool up (talk to and
brush your sheep every day, let it outside
sunny days, make sure it gets food), "good" wool sells for $1,800! Note that
it
took me probably around 6-8 weeks to get up to good wool from regular sheered
wool. This may be influenced by the
Winter months, as I have to leave the sheep
inside.
Cows
---
Cows cost $6,000 each. The milker will cost
you $1,800. After 3 weeks, the cow
will grow up and start giving you milk. At this point, the cow is big enough to
become
pregnant, so you can get the Miracle Potion for $3,000. Cows will be
pregnant for 3 weeks, after which you will have a
new cow. Pregnant cows give
less milk (cows that give small milk will still give small milk, though), so
this timing
should be taken into account. Consider whether it would easier to
simply buy a new cow for $3,000 more than the potion.
When a cow is pregnant,
the feed for it goes in the birthing box to the upper right corner of the barn,
where the
pregnant cow will start to hang out.
Like sheep, the quality, or rather quantity with cows, will increase over time
as you care for it. From $100 per bottle of milk will increase to $150, $300,
and finally $500 per day. In order for
a cow to give $500 milk, it will need to
win the Cow Festival on Fall 4th.
The Controversy
---
If you had
a cow that gave $500 milk, in 7 days you would get $3,500. Compare
this to a sheep that gives the more expensive wool
at $1,800 every 7 days. Since
you are limited to 8 livestock total, 8 super cows would give almost twice as
much money
than 8 super sheep.
However, the cost to get 8 super cows is much higher. First off, the cost per
cow is $6,000
compared to $4,000 per sheep. Timewise, there are many more
intervals of milk quality, and it will take longer to get
$500 milk.
On the otherhand, you can breed new cows for $3,000. The only way to get new
sheep is to buy them for
another $4,000. However, don't forget that a pregnant
cow will give less milk during this time, though not any less than
the small
$100 bottle.
Conclusion
---
Cows will definitely get you WAY more money in the end. However, the
cost of 8
cows or sheep is very daunting. Either way will take a lot of time and money. In
the end, it may come down
to preference. Which one is more fun? This is a game
after all. :) Going with cows AND sheep is also quite possible, although
it
might be a good idea to focus on one before the other.
---
4.9 Raising Cows from Scratch
---
If you
get a cow pregnant using the Miracle Potion, you can get a new cow
without having to buy one! What could be better than
that? My suggestion? Just
buy a new one.
There are many problems with getting your cows pregnant. First off, the
Miracle
Potion costs $3,000, which is half the cost of a new cow ($6,000). Second, it
takes 21 days for the pregnant
cow to give birth. And Third, pregnant cows give
less milk.
By less milk, this means your pregnant cow will probably
give you the small $100
milk. If it already gives small milk, thats still what youll get, it cant
give less. On the
other hand, the day after the cow gave birth, it started
giving medium sized ($150) milk.
The time factor is the
big problem. Once the 21 days are over, youll have a
new, small cow. But if you bought it brand new, by 21 days it would
already be
giving milk. Instead, you'll have to wait another 21 days for it to start
getting milk.
Im not sure
what the time interval is between small and medium milk, but I
started out with two cows, and got the first one pregnant.
Before the first cow
gave birth, the second one was already giving medium milk. So if I didnt get
the first cow pregnant,
it would have been giving medium milk too. So I lost out
on more money there.
On the other hand, the $$$ is going
to come out fairly close either way. And if
you buy a new cow from scratch, youll have to feed it sooner. So its really
up
to you. Its also possible that a pregnant cow will become happier than a cow
than never gets pregnant, which would
be useful for the cow festival.
The bottom line is dont assume that saving $3,000 by buying the cow potion is
such
a great bargain.
---
5.0
---
Here's a list of selling prices:
Non-seasonal
---
Eggs - $50 each
Wool
- $900, grows back in 7 days
Premium Wool - $1800, grows back in 7 days
Small Milk - $100
Medium Milk - $150
Large
Milk - $300
Gold/Special Milk - $500 (only cows that won the cow festival give gold milk)
Spring
---
Turnips
- $60 each, grow in 4 days
Potatoes - $80 each, grow in 6 days
Cabbages - $90 each, grow in 7 days
Very-berry
berries - $40
Edible grass - $30
Medicinal herbs - $70
Summer
---
Edible grass - $30
Medicinal herbs
- $70
Walnut - $40
Tropical Fruit - $70
Tomatoes - $90 each, grow in 9 days, regrow every 3 days after picking
Corn
- $120 each, grow in 13 days, regrow every 4 days after picking
Fall
---
Mushrooms - $60
Poisonous Mushrooms
- $100 (!)
Wild Grapes - $50
Edible grass - $30
Medicinal herbs - $70
Eggplant - $60 each, grow in 8 days,
regrow every 3 days after picking
Winter
---
Strawberries - $150 each, grow in 6 days
---
6.0 -
Secrets
---
If you want to find everything by yourself, don't read this section, as it may
spoil it for you. However,
there are many hidden items in the game that you can
get, depending on what you do. Personally, I don't think these are
really
spoilers. It would be like someone telling you where the heart pieces are in
Zelda. But for those who like
to explore, don't read on!
***Warning! Possible spoilers!***
---
6.1 - Power Nuts
---
There are four red
Power Nuts that I know of, and one *blue* one. The red ones
increase your maximum stamina so that you can work longer
each without getting
tired. I think there are supposed to be five or ten red nuts in the whole game.
You can get
one red power nut by going fishing at the mountain. Catch a big fish
from the river, and throw it into the small pond
to the right (the one by the
fisherman's tent).
I screwed this up a few times, so I suggest standing on the left
side, and
throwing it down-right. You'll see the fish's shadow on the pond before you
throw it. If the fish makes
a splash when you throw it in, you did it right. If
it crumbles and flashes, you missed, meaning the game thought you
threw it on
the ground somewhere.
If you throw in a big fish, a green water spirit (that looks like a troll or
something) comes out of the water and gives you a red power nut. Big fish are
blue. If you hit the Z button while
you're holding it, it will identify as a big
fish, I believe.
If you catch a small green fish, toss it in the same
pond near the fisherman's
tent. The green water spirit pops up, and gives you a *blue* power nut! He says
it keeps
you from getting tired in the rain (i.e. you won't get more tired or
sick than if you were working in clear weather).
Note: You cannot get the blue
and red nuts on the same day! The water spirit will only show once a day!
You can
get another red power nut by buying one at the first Spring Flower
Festival on the 23rd.
Another power nut can
be won at the Fall Egg Festival on the 20th. You simply
need to get enough eggs to win, which isn't very hard.
During
the winter, the pond by the fishermans tent freezes over. If you have
the level 3 hammer, you can crack the huge boulder
there and get another red
power nut. Note that your hammer MUST be gold level 3 for this to work.
Supposedly, theres
a power nut buried somewhere in the field, and you can dig
it up with the hoe. I cant confirm this since I havent found
it myself, but
several people have talked about it, so it's probably out there. Following the
treasure map doesnt
seem to help, but I guess its out there somewhere...
I've also heard a rumor that there's a power nut in the mines
while you're
digging. Supposedly on one of the lower levels (uncover a hole and go down).
---
6.2 - Recipes
---
There
are 34 recipes in the game. You get them by giving people certain items.
I've gotten several e-mails about them, but haven't
had time to put them all up
yet. Unfortunately, recipes don't do anything. There's a list of all the ones
you have
collected on the kitchen wall, once you get it.
You get the Miso Soup recipe from the Potion maker by giving him
edible
grass.
You get Bread Pudding from Elli by giving her an egg.
You get Vegetable Tomato Stew by giving a tomato
to Popuris Mom.
You get Strawberry Champagne by giving strawberries to Karen.
You get another recipe from Kai,
the worker at the vineyard with the purple hat,
by giving him very-berry berries.
You get another recipe from Karen's
father by giving him the Fall berries to him
at the bar during the night.
You get a fish recipe from the fisherman
by giving him a fish.
---
6.3 - Other
---
There's a treasure map hidden in the tree at the right side
of your farm. Use
the A button to find it. I'm not sure what it refers to.
---
7.0 - Important Events
---
This
section is mainly to prepare you for certain events in the game. Most of
the information is given to you from channel
2 on the TV, which tells you about
upcoming events. It's annoying to read every day since it's often the same, but
it
does change several times a month, and some things are important, so I would
recommend reading every few days at least.
Game time doesn't pass while you're
in the house, anyway.
All of the events described in this section 7 will be
based on the first year of
the game.
***Warning! Possible spoilers!***
---
7.1 Spring
---
Planting
Festival: Spring 8th You dont need to do anything special here. Just
talk to everyone at least once.
Spring 16th
- The first year, forget about registering for the horse race. I
know you get the letter in the mail, but your horse isn't
old enough. Normally
someone will come over to your house in the morning, but you won't be able to
the first Spring.
Read on for how it works.
Horse Race: Spring 17th During the first year, as far as I know it is
IMPOSSIBLE to race
your horse in the first race of the year. I got the horse on
the first day, talked to it and brushed it everyday, and
it still wasnt big
enough to race. I dont think its possible to get the horse big enough in time,
and even if you
could, it wouldnt have the energy you need to win. Instead,
just talk to everyone.
I started the game over because
I thought I missed something, but here's how
horse registration works once the horse is old enough. The day before the
event,
someone (the Green Ranch owner) will come over and ask if you want to register.
This only happens if you have
an eligible animal, meaning your horse is big
enough, or your cow for the cow festival, etc.
You can also bet
on the races, but this early in the game you are unlikely to
have the $$$ needed to win the expensive prizes. For more
info, read the horse
racing section (7.5)
Spring 18th - A new guy (Cliff) shows up on your doorstep (pretty much).
He says
he's hungry, so make sure you keep some food in your backpack from the day
before. Anything will do, so you
might as well give him some cheap $30 edible
grass.
If you check your mail at this point, you will find you can
vote for one of the
girls as Queen for the Flower Festival on the 23rd. There's kind of catch here.
The Queen automatically
dances with the King of the year, which is still the
Potion Shop owner. So if you vote for the girl you like, you won't
get to dance
with her. I think it might be better to vote for someone else, but I didn't go
back to change my vote.
Flower
Festival: Spring 23rd The Queen of the festival (whoever you voted for
in the previous days) will dance with the King
of the year. The Potion Shop
owner is king for the first year, so vote for someone else so that you can
choose the
girl you want as your future wife as you dance partner.
End of Spring - On Summer 9th the Vegetable Festival is held.
Crops still
planted from the Spring die at the beginning of Summer, and you can't grow
anything in 8 days, so you
need to save something from the Spring. Just pick
whatever vegetable you're growing, and keep it in your bag until the
festival.
If you don't keep something, you can be a judge for the event, but you don't
really get to do anything.
However, I havent been able to win this even when I
saved something, so I dont know that its possible to win the first
year.
---
7.2 Summer
---
Fireworks: Summer 1st - A fireworks display is put on at night. Each of the
girls
can be found at a different location, so go where the girl is that you're
chasing:
Karen is at the beach (go right
from the Green Ranch).
Elli is at her home at the bakery (I looked around 1000 times before I figured
this
out. Too obvious for me...:)
Ann is at the Green Ranch, head through the fences towards the barn.
Maria is at the village
square.
Popuri is at the top of the mountain, but there's a trick to getting there. To
get where she is,
you'll have to climb the tree to the left of the mountain
cave entrance using the A button. This puts you
at the other side of the
broken bridge
Vegetable Festival: Summer 9th You can submit any vegetables
you have left
over from the Spring harvests. However, I dont think you can win during the
first year. Either way,
you get to judge the event, not that it counts for
anything. Just make sure to talk to everyone.
Firefly Festival:
Summer 17th This takes place on the beach at night (after
6pm, I believe). Just make sure to talk to everyone there.
Sea
Festival: Summer 24th To win the swimming race, press the A button as fast
as you can. My brother was able to do this
by hitting the button as fast as he
could and won easily. When I tried it for some reason I didnt swim that fast. I
think
I was pushing the button fast, but too erratically. When I switched my
technique and went at a more steady pace I won
easily. It may have something to
do with timing yourself with the kicking on the screen. I suggest just hitting
as
fast as you can, but if you have trouble make sure youre not going nuts on
the button too much.
---
7.3 Fall
---
Cow
Festival: Fall 4th You must have a fully grown cow (it gives milk) to
enter it. I dont think youll be able to win this
the first year either. If you
manage to win (next year), your cow will be able to give the $500 milk.
Harvest Festival:
Fall 12th This is when the King for the next year is picked.
Every time I tried, Kai kept getting selected as King. I
think this is
predetermined, so theres not much you can do about it. Just talk with everyone.
After a while, Ann will
be by the mayor, and you get a cake from her.
Egg Festival: Fall 20th This is an egg hunt. Just look around the boxes
to
find the matching color egg. You do have a limited time for each match, but its
usually more than enough. You can
miss a few matches and still win. It doesnt
seem very hard. If you win, you get a red power nut which increases your total
energy.
Fall 23rd I might be a day or two off here. Anyway, at some point the
carpenters will come by to tell
you that they are rebuilding the bridge across
the mountain, and would like your help. Every day after, until the 27th,
go to
the mountain to help out. Each day you work you get paid $1,000. No matter how
early you start you end work
at 3:00pm. However, I think you can get a photo for
the album if you come early enough every day (anytime before noon,
I think).
Horse Race: Fall 28th You can only race in 1 of the 3 races, and you cannot
bet on the one youre participating
in. The race youre in seems to be selected
somewhat randomly.
Racing is somewhat tricky. Pressing A makes you run,
but also uses up your
stamina. A good tactic is to press A at a moderate speed, just enough to keep up
with the leader.
Near the end of the race, when the crowd starts cheering, hit
the button faster, maybe as quick as you can. Assuming you
dont run out of
energy, you should be able to win. Your speed and total energy is determined by
how well you take
care of your horse. Read section 7.5 for details.
Fall 30th The head of the Green Ranch (Anns dad) will come over and
as you to
take care of some extra cows. If you say yes, he will bring them over at the
start of Winter until the 4th
or 5th. If you take good care of the 3 cows he
brings, youll get $1,000 at the end.
---
7.4 - Winter
---
Winter
7th An earthquake strikes at night! If you have the Greenhouse already,
it will probably knock down some of your crops,
reducing the squares to plowed
fields. I lost only 2 vegetables, but my brother lost closer to 6.
Thanksgiving:
Winter 10th Girls who like you will give you a cake. Just make
sure you talk to the girl you like to get a cake from her.
Winter
11th Marias birthday. Make sure to give her cake if youre chasing
her.
Winter 13th I might be day or two off, but
near this date the carpenters will
come over to tell you theyre building a spa from the spring the appeared after
the
earthquake. Like the bridge, youll get $1,000 per day you show up the
mountain. Work ends at 3:00pm each day, until the
18th. I was able to get photo
after this was over, which may be determined by whether you show up early enough
each
day.
Dog Race: Winter 19th Unlike horse racing, you have no control over how fast
your dog runs. How well it does
is determined by how well you take care of your
dog (see section 7.5). Sometimes I came in 3rd, and other times I came
in 6th.
It may be somewhat random, but I was never once close to beating the leader.
Either I didnt take good enough
care of my dog, or its not possible to win the
first year.
Starry Night: Winter 24th This takes place at the church.
Just talk with
everyone before the music begins.
---
7.5 Caring for Animals (Winning the Festivals)
---
To
win festival events, you need to take care of your animals. Note that you
probably cannot enter the first horse race on
Spring 17th.
Dog:
To care for your dog, put food in his dish as often as possible. You should also
whistle for
him (so Im told, I neglected to do this most of the year) and pick
him up at least once a day. You also need to bring
him inside during bad
weather. Im not sure what to do during the winter. At first I was leaving him
outside, but the
Potion Shop owner brings his dog, Taro, inside every day. On
the other hand, Taro usually loses in the races.
Once
I got married to Ann, there were some occasions where my dog appeared
outside, so maybe she let him out. This may be a
sign that you are to leave him
out.
I wasnt able to win the Dog Races the first year, so Im not sure whether I
was
doing something wrong. I did forget to whistle for him most of the year, and I
was leaving him outside during
the Winter, which Im not sure is good or bad.
Horse:
The key to a happy horse is to brush it and talk to it every
day. The brush is
$600 at the inventors shop. Buy it as soon as you have extra cash. Once your
horse is big enough
for you to ride and put crops on, make sure you ride on it
every day (since you can no longer talk to him).
The
better you treat your horse, the more total energy he will have when you
race. In the following year you should have him
in good enough condition to push
the A button quickly without wearing him down too much, making it easier to win.
Cow:
To
win the Cow Festival, you must have a cow in great condition. I would assume
this means it must give large $300 milk.
Make sure to brush and talk to your
cows every day. Once they are large enough, also make sure to milk them. It may
also
be possible that a cow that has given birth may be in somewhat better
condition, although this is only a theory.
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