> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://harvest-vale.gitbook.io/harvest-vale-docs/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://harvest-vale.gitbook.io/harvest-vale-docs/farming-and-homestead/farming-plant-water-and-harvest.md).
# Farming: Plant, Water & Harvest
Welcome to the Harvest Vale **Farmer's Field Guide**. Cultivate your own land in Vale Village, raise six types of crops and grow your farm from a small 6 × 6 plot into a full 16 × 16 field.
{% hint style="info" %}
**THE FARMING LOOP:** Prepare Soil → Plant Seed → Water → Wait for Growth → Harvest → Plant Again
Every completed planting or harvest can also contribute to your Vale Voucher collection while the Farming reward pool has supply.
{% endhint %}
## 1. Your Farming Toolkit
Basic farming tools are available in your **Equip** inventory from the beginning. Select a tool and use it on an eligible farm tile.
| Tool | Hotkey | Action | Energy / Stamina |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | :----: | -------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------ |
| 
**Hoe** | **1** | Prepare an empty, unlocked soil tile for planting | **3 Energy / 2 Stamina** |
| 
**Watering Can** | **2** | Water planted crops that need watering | **3 Energy / 2 Stamina** |
| 
**Sickle** | **3** | Harvest crops that are mature and currently watered | **3 Energy / 2 Stamina** |
| 
**Hammer** | **4** | Reset a prepared but unplanted tile back to its original state | **0 Energy / 1 Stamina** |
These are the standard costs for a successful action. **Hoe, Water and Sickle charge once per action, not once per tile** when an upgraded area of effect covers multiple valid tiles. An action that changes no tiles does not spend these tool costs. Hammer soil-reset actions can have a higher Stamina cost at night.
**Plant Seed** is a separate action costing **3 Energy and 2 Stamina per seed/tile**. Planting one seed consumes one seed from your inventory.
## 2. The Complete Planting Tutorial
{% stepper %}
{% step %}
### Step 1 — Prepare Your Soil
Select **Hoe** (key **1**), move into an actionable position by an **unlocked, empty farm tile**, then use the in-game farming action. The tile becomes prepared soil. You cannot plant on a locked, occupied or unprepared tile.
{% endstep %}
{% step %}
### Step 2 — Choose a Seed
**Click the prepared, empty soil tile** to open the **Choose Seed to Plant** menu. Pick one of your available seeds and press **PLANT NOW**. Planting consumes one matching seed, Energy and Stamina. The game checks that the selected tile belongs to your own unlocked farm.
{% hint style="info" %}
You do not need to equip a seed as a tool. On your own farm, click the prepared tile and use the **planting popup**. If you have no seeds, the popup will indicate that no seeds are available.
{% endhint %}
{% endstep %}
{% step %}
### Step 3 — Water Your Crop
Select **Watering Can** (key **2**), approach the planted patch and water it when needed. **Watering is temporary:** the watered status expires after the set watering interval. If it has expired, water the crop again before trying to harvest.
{% endstep %}
{% step %}
### Step 4 — Harvest and Collect
Wait until the crop has finished its growth time and has a valid watered status. Use **Sickle** (key **3**) on the ready crop, or open its **Crop Status** panel and select **HARVEST NOW** when offered.
A successful harvest sends the produce directly into your inventory, awards Player EXP and Farm EXP, and may grant Vale Vouchers while the Farming reward pool has supply. **The harvested soil remains prepared**, so you can plant another seed without hoeing it again.
{% endstep %}
{% endstepper %}
## 3. Crop Encyclopedia — Six Growable Crops
Each seed grows into the crop shown below. **Growth Days are based on the crop growth clock**: the game default is 24 real-world hours per growth day, but game settings may change this duration.
| Seed & Crop | Growth Days | Harvest Yield / Tile | Player EXP | Farm EXP | USDG Preview\* |
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ----------: | -------------------: | ---------: | -------: | -------------: |
| 
**Turnip** | 1 | 1–4 | +10 | +1.5 | 0.02 |
| 
**Tomato** | 1 | 1–4 | +10 | +1.5 | 0.02 |
| 
**Potato** | 1 | 1–4 | +10 | +1.5 | 0.02 |
| 
**Corn** | 2 | 2–5 | +15 | +2.5 | 0.04 |
| 
**Cabbage** | 2 | 2–4 | +15 | +2.5 | 0.03 |
| 
**Watermelon** | 3 | 2–5 | +20 | +3 | 0.04 |
*The USDG Preview column is **Coming Soon** information only. It is not a live harvest payment or a guarantee that tokens will become claimable.*
**EXP is earned per successfully harvested tile**, not per individual produce item. Crop Player EXP and Farm EXP are fixed for each crop type and are not reduced by higher player levels.
{% hint style="success" %}
New players start with **one seed of every crop type**. Additional seeds are sold at the **Farm Shop** (default catalog price: 250 Gold per seed, subject to live shop settings).
{% endhint %}
For the compact reference table, visit the [Crop Encyclopedia](https://harvest-vale.gitbook.io/harvest-vale-docs/farming-and-homestead/crop-encyclopedia).
## 4. Understanding Crop Growth and Water Status
### The Four Growth Stages
This visual example shows the **original Turnip growth artwork** used in Harvest Vale. Every supported crop uses four visual growth stages.
| Stage 1 · Sprout | Stage 2 · Growing | Stage 3 · Developing | Stage 4 · Mature |
| :------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------: | :-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------: | :------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------: | :------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------: |
|  |  |  |  |
* Growth advances with **elapsed real-world time**, not the Vale Village day/night animation.
* Planting starts the crop timer. **Watering does not restart the timer or speed up growth.**
* A crop must be **fully mature AND have fresh water** before the game permits a successful harvest.
* Water normally stays fresh for **24 hours**. If the interval has expired, the crop needs watering again.
* You can check progress and the remaining growth time through the crop's status panel.
### Read the In-Game Crop Indicators
| Indicator | What It Means | Player Action |
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------ |
| 
**Needs Water** | The crop currently lacks fresh water, even if its timer is complete | Equip **Watering Can** and water the patch |
| 
**Ready to Harvest** | The crop is mature and has fresh water | Harvest with **Sickle** or the crop panel |
{% hint style="warning" %}
**A mature crop is not necessarily harvestable.** If the status says **WATER BEFORE HARVEST**, water it first, then harvest. The game checks the freshness of the watering timestamp rather than simply whether the plant was ever watered.
{% endhint %}
## 5. Farming Rewards and Currencies
{% tabs %}
{% tab title="Produce & EXP" %}
Every successful harvest grants a random number of produce items within that crop's **Yield / Tile** range. Those items enter your inventory, along with the crop's fixed **Player EXP** and **Farm EXP**.
Produce does **not** automatically turn into Gold. You can sell your harvested items through the Farm Shop.
| Crop | Base Farm Shop Sell Price / Item |
| ---------- | -------------------------------: |
| Turnip | 60 Gold |
| Tomato | 50 Gold |
| Potato | 75 Gold |
| Corn | 50 Gold |
| Cabbage | 75 Gold |
| Watermelon | 150 Gold |
*Prices listed here are the base catalog's Gold sell prices. Live shop settings may modify them.*
{% endtab %}
{% tab title="Vale Voucher" %}
Farming has its own **finite Vale Voucher reward allocation**.
* **Successful planting:** up to **+1 Vale Voucher** per planted tile.
* **Successful harvesting:** up to **+1–3 Vale Vouchers** per harvested tile.
* **Availability:** these grants depend on the remaining Farming reward-pool supply.
Vale Vouchers are in-game collectible rewards and **are not the same as immediately receiving VALE tokens**. Actual awards are determined by the game's reward pool.
{% endtab %}
{% tab title="USDG Preview" %}
Some crop information panels display a **USDG Harvest Reward** estimate with a **Coming Soon** status. The values are previews only.
**Harvesting currently does not credit, transfer or pay USDG tokens.** The reward feature remains disabled until a separately approved release. Do not treat preview values as a guaranteed earning rate.
{% endtab %}
{% endtabs %}
## 6. Expand Your Farm
Farm expansion is driven by **Farm Level**, which increases from **Farm EXP** earned by harvesting.
| Farm Level | Unlocked Farm Area | Unlocked Tiles |
| ---------- | :----------------: | -------------: |
| **1–4** | 6 × 6 | 36 |
| **5–9** | 8 × 8 | 64 |
| **10–14** | 10 × 10 | 100 |
| **15–19** | 12 × 12 | 144 |
| **20–24** | 14 × 14 | 196 |
| **25+** | 16 × 16 | 256 |
### Unlock a Larger Tool Area
**Player Level** separately improves the size of area-based farming tools (Hoe, Watering Can and Sickle). This is different from unlocking land through Farm Level.
| Player Level | Tool Action Area |
| ------------ | :--------------: |
| 1–19 | 1 × 1 |
| 20–29 | 3 × 3 |
| 30–39 | 5 × 5 |
| 40+ | 8 × 8 |
Only eligible tiles within your **unlocked farm** are affected. **Planting remains a single-tile action** even if other tools have a larger area of effect.
## 7. Common Farming Problems
| What You See | Why It Happens | How to Fix It |
| -------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Tile not prepared** | Soil has not been tilled | Select **Hoe** and prepare the tile first |
| **Tile occupied** | Another crop is already planted | Use a different empty prepared tile |
| **Tile locked** | The patch lies outside your current Farm Level area | Earn Farm EXP and unlock additional land |
| **No seeds available** | No matching seed is in your inventory | Obtain seeds from the Farm Shop |
| **Needs Water / Water Before Harvest** | Water is absent or its freshness has expired | Use **Watering Can** on the crop |
| **Crop Not Ready** | Growth time is incomplete, or fresh water is missing | Check the crop timer and watering status |
| **Not enough Energy / Stamina** | Resources are below the action's required cost | Restore Energy or recover Stamina before trying again |
| **Cannot interact with farm tile** | You are not in an allowed position, or are viewing another player's farm | Return to your own Vale Village farm and move into the tool's valid interaction range |
{% hint style="info" %}
**Farmer's tip:** Check your crop notifications and status panel before using tools. You save resources by watering only when necessary and harvesting when both the growth timer and water status are ready.
{% endhint %}
For your initial supplies and tools, see [Your First Day](https://harvest-vale.gitbook.io/harvest-vale-docs/getting-started/your-first-day).
---
# Agent Instructions
This documentation is published with GitBook. GitBook is the documentation platform designed so that both humans and AI agents can read, navigate, and reason over technical content effectively. Learn more at gitbook.com.
## Querying This Documentation
If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation by asking a question.
Perform an HTTP GET request on the following URL with the `ask` and `goal` query parameters:
```
GET https://harvest-vale.gitbook.io/harvest-vale-docs/farming-and-homestead/farming-plant-water-and-harvest.md?ask=&goal=
```
`ask` is the immediate question: it should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
`goal` is what the user is ultimately trying to achieve, the reason they need the answer. Sharing it helps GitBook give you a better, more relevant answer. A goal is most helpful when it describes the outcome the user wants rather than restating the question. For example, with `ask=how do I create an API token`, a goal like `automate deployments from our CI pipeline` lets GitBook tailor the answer to that use case.
The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.
Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.