Handy Tips for Farming in the Sims 2: Seasons

There have been a few reviews on the quality of The Sims 2: Seasons expansion pack, but unless you have the Prima Guide or the time to search through forums, finding out how to make your Sims successful in Seasons can be a bit of a daunting task. In a compilation of tips for the farming aspect of game-play introduced in Seasons, readers can easily take advantage of the many new features, aside from the great weather effects.

Farming/Gardening Basics

Farming, or Gardening, can be a very lucrative business for Sims. Whether your Sims need some extra cash, want to save up for that great new skating rink, or are just lazy and don't want to leave the house, farming can do them wonders. While you can plant seeds at any time of the weather cycle, outdoor plantations can only thrive during certain seasons. For this reason, a greenhouse is recommended for maximum farming profit; however, greenhouses are expensive, and with greenhouses you will need certain equipment to help maintain your garden plots.

Apart from greenhouse-specific walls, doors, and a roof for your greenhouse, you will also need sunlamps, and perhaps a sprinkler or two depending on your garden size. To keep bugs away from your plants, you can either spray them with pesticides, which will put your Sim at risk of turning into a "PlantSim", or buy ladybug houses - found in the same area as the other farming tools - and place them near your plots and fruit trees to keep the bugs away.

Outdoor Gardening and Harvest Times

If you find that your Sims cannot afford greenhouses, then you might want to initially begin your farming adventures in the great outdoors. Fruit trees can be "planted" at any time, since they have set cycles. Fruit trees also become dormant and do not produce in Winter, whether they are outdoors or in a greenhouse. As stated before, you can plant vegetables at anytime, but if you want to reach harvest, certain vegetables must be planted at certain times:

- Tomatoes: plant seeds no later than the 5^th day of Summer, by 5pm - they will take 5 days and 6 hours to harvest.

- Strawberries: plant seeds no later than the 5^th day of Spring, by 5pm - they will take 5 days and 6 hours to harvest.

- Pole Beans: plant seeds no later than the 5^th day of Summer, by 11pm - they will take 4 days and 9 hours to harvest.

- Peppers: plant seeds no later than the 4^th day of Spring, by 8pm - they will take 6 days and 3 hours to harvest.

- Cucumbers: plant seeds no later than the 5^th day of Summer, by 11pm - they will take 4 days and 9 hours to harvest.

- Eggplants: plant seeds no later than the 4^th day of Spring, by 8pm - they will take 6 days and 3 hours to harvest.

Keep in mind that once you harvest a plant or sell its produce, it will disappear since each plant is one-harvest only. This does not apply to fruit trees. Fruit trees, if maintained properly, will generally harvest after 3-4 days.

Fruit and Vegetable Types and Growth Requirements

There are 9 different types of fruits and vegetables your Sims can grow: Apples, Oranges, and Lemons are grown on fruit trees, and Strawberries, Tomatoes, Eggplants, Pole Beans, Peppers and Cucumbers are to be planted on garden dirt plots. At first, you may find your Sim can only plant Tomatoes - this is normal. Your Sim will have to do work in their garden, such as tending to plants, in order to raise their Garden Badge, which basically displays your skill level at Gardening; your Sim's Charisma skill is also tied in with the Garden Badge, so the higher their Charisma, the faster they can get the next badge level. There are 3 levels of the Garden Badge: Bronze, Silver, and Gold being the highest. With no badge, your Sim can only plant Tomatoes; with a Bronze badge, your Sim can plant Strawberries and Cucumbers; with a Silver badge, your Sim can plant Pole Beans and Peppers; finally, with a Gold badge, your Sim can plant Eggplants. Fruit trees do not require any badges for growing or harvesting.

Compost vs. Fertilizer

When you click on a garden plot, you will see an option to Fertilize, which will branch out into either Compost for free, or Fertilizer from a bag, which will cost money. In order to fertilize with free compost, you will need to purchase a compost machine, and basically fill it with garbage, leaves, and anything for Sim can throw away or recycle. Once the machine has composted the contents, you can click on a garden plot and select Compost as the fertilizer choice. Remember to fertilize with compost before you plant seeds, otherwise your plant itself will be composted and will disappear! Fertilizing the soil with the bag may cost money, but it can be more convenient if you don't want the hassle of remembering to fill up your compost with garbage, wait for it to compost contents, or check compost levels to see if you have enough. Otherwise, it does not appear to make a difference to use compost over bagged fertilizer, in terms of plant health and growth.

Harvest Ratings

If you take care of your plants and trees, you will notice that their health level affects their "rating". When a plant's needs are perfectly met, they will have a health level of "Thriving", which will produce a "Mouthwatering" harvest. The highest rating is Mouthwatering, the middle rating is Tasty, and the last rating is Bland, and the sell price will depend on the produce's rating. If your Sim has a Gold Garden Badge, you can click on plants or trees and have your Sims "Talk To" them. When they use the "Talk To" option on plants and trees, you will notice that their health level jumps to Thriving.

Using Produce for Some Beneficial Juices

Your Sims can stock their brand new $800 juicer with fruits and vegetables to create certain juice combinations, which can help them with certain aspects of their Sim lives. Juice recipes and effects are as follows:

- Apple Juice: requires 3 apples, and allows for faster Homework completion

- Orange Juice: requires 6 oranges, and cures colds

- Lemonade: requires 6 lemons, and cools Sims down - good for Summer

- Strawberry Juice: requires 3 strawberries, and will erase the Sim's furious states

- Tomato Juice: requires 6 tomatoes, and warms Sims up - good for Winter

- Eggplant Juice: requires 2 eggplants, and will randomly raise a skill by one point

- Orangeade: requires 4 oranges, 2 lemons, and will increase a badge level - requires the Sim to have at least a Bronze level in at least 1 badge

- Beauty Cocktail: requires 2 oranges, 2 cucumbers, and acts as a Love Potion for Sims

- Vegetable Cocktail: requires 1 tomato, 1 cucumber, 1 pepper, 1 pole bean, and will allow Sims to increase skills at a faster rate for a period of time

- Strawberry Lemonade: requires 2 lemons, 2 strawberries, and will raise Sim to Platinum Mood

- Pepper Punch: requires 2 peppers, 1 pole bean, 1 apple, and will boost Sim's energy level

- Puréed Boot: requires 1 boot, and causes a random effect such as sputtering, coughing, etc.

Garden Club

Finally, after all this effort in gardening, you might want your Sim to join the Garden Club, to get discounts on plant supplies, such as fertilizer. You can contact the Garden Club by having your Sim go to the phone, and select the Services option. Once a member of the Garden Club arrives on your lot, simply greet them, and have your Sim "Request an Inspection". If they are pleased, you can generally become a member right away - but you might want to call them again after becoming a member. Why? Because as a member, each time you ask the Garden Club to inspect your garden, you can get certain rewards, ranging from a few hundred dollars to the highly elusive and coveted Wishing Well. In order to get the Wishing Well, your garden must be in near-perfect condition, and have a score of at least 700 points. Unfortunately, there is no way to see exactly how many points you have earned during each inspection, so just ensure your plants and trees are at a Thriving health level, and leave no empty soil plot un-fertilized, since unplanted plots get rated by the Club. You will also need a fairly large, spacious garden, with decorative objects such as sculptures and fountains, landscaping objects such as shrubs and flowerbeds, and make sure any trash is in a garbage can or compost. All of this can become pretty costly, but you should be rewarded with the incredibly sought-after Wishing Well.

Have Fun

Having your Sims farm can be frustrating and tiresome at times, but can generate a good income, and is fun and interesting. Just remember that practice makes perfect, and that in the end, the Sims is a game to experiment with and enjoy. The Sims 2: Seasons has brought many new features to our Sims, and while the weather is fascinating, don't forget to take the time to explore the other major aspects, such as gardening, which has proven to be a very entertaining part of the Seasons game-play. Have fun!