Have you ever had the want, nonetheless fleeting, to drop out of your busy metropolis job and escape to the countryside? Go the place you possibly can choose up a pitchfork, shove on some wellies, and begin your hardworking nation life away from the massive smoke. This quiet life is one I can vicariously dwell by way of Stardew Valley, a game the place the principle character quits their workplace job to take over the household farm.
If Stardew Valley is to be believed, a bountiful harvest is just a few clicks away. Wake up early, water your crops, choose any which are ripe, and throw them right into a field to be bought on the town, and while you’re executed for the day you may even have time to speak to that cute physician with the glasses you’ve had your eye on. Sounds like the straightforward life, on display screen anyway, however what does it truly take to be farmer?
To discover out if I might ever make my Stardew dream a actuality, I reached out to Timothy Danley, a Californian farmer and Stardew Valley fan, to ask how shut the farming life in Stardew Valley is to that of an actual farmer. Unlike the character within the game, Danley didn’t depart a job within the metropolis to change into a farmer, he’s labored on his household farm for years. “As cliche as it sounds my family has been farming here for generations,” Danley tells me, “mostly rice and varying row crops, only recently in my lifetime have we started planting trees.”
Like Danley’s farmstead, the farm in Stardew Valley has been handed down by way of generations. At the request of a deceased grandfather, the principle character decides to go away their workplace job, departing town to begin their new farming life. It’s a romantic thought, one which I’m very keen on, however is that this a practical ambition? Can somebody simply uproot themselves like this? “No,” Danley says. “Farming could be very costly. Even in the event you inherited the land, you’ll be paying property taxes and more than likely an property tax as effectively. If you’re shopping for the land, naked floor goes for almost $10okay an acre in my space.
Farming could be very costly… naked floor goes for almost $10okay an acre
“Even you probably have the cash for the land and gear, there’s a ton of data – most of which is casual and discovered on the undergo years of expertise – wanted to farm correctly. There’s a cause most farms are generational. I keep in mind a Reddit thread years in the past cautioning folks towards quitting every little thing and transferring to NYC to strike it huge. The similar factor goes for farming.”
Unfortunately, I don’t come from a farming household or have $10okay in my again pocket so my desires of a farming life have been dashed. But that’s to not say Stardew Valley has all of it mistaken. “The small town simple life correlates perfectly with Stardew,” Danley says. “Waking up where I work, knowing everyone in town, working all day, and seeing the fruits of my labour immediately – I love all of these things about the game and my own personal life. One facet is making your own pickles and alcohol. My wife and I are very much into making our own food by catching fish in the river, pickling and canning fruits and veggies – being self sufficient is a very liberating feeling.”
This feeling is on the coronary heart of Stardew Valley and is a part of why so many gamers fall in love with it. It captures the pleasant small city life and combines it with the gratification that comes with rising and harvesting.
Community Cuties
Romancing one of many neighborhood cuties from Pelican Town is a distinguished function in Stardew Valley, and one Danley hasn’t ignored. “I actually roleplay different farms for different romance options,” he says. “I’m bringing The Witcher to Stardew by playing as a white-haired swordsman on the wilderness farm who’s very interested in Abigail. I always seem to find my way back to Leah though. I seem to have a thing for redheads who like wine and nature both in game and real life.”
You can plant your beets on Monday they usually’ll be totally grown and able to harvest by Thursday. That’s not a lot the case with actual farming, although, as crops don’t develop in days, however months. “In spring you’ll likely find us working up the ground and planting, summer is mostly spent irrigating and handling pests, autumn is our busiest time of the year since that’s when we start harvest, and winter is when we usually have plenty of time off. But we also catch up on maintenance and repair of our equipment in winter as well.”
Danley’s farm stretches to 1800 acres complete, which he crops with almonds, rice, and row crops, like corn, sunflowers, and cotton. To get a way of the size, 1800 acres works out to in regards to the measurement of round 900 soccer pitches. That’s rather a lot of land, all of which wants fixed upkeep: “Crows, turkeys, and coyotes all peck or chew holes in our irrigation system, while squirrels eat our almonds and moles and wild pigs tear up our fields.” This is one space Danley needs dwell have been extra like Stardew Valley: “If I could solve my pest problems with a scarecrow I’d love it.”
You is perhaps questioning when Danley finds the time to play Stardew Valley between farming 1800 acres, pickling greens, and coping with pesky coyotes. It’s not like he can simply eat a blueberry and recuperate 45 vitality. Well, it seems tractor know-how has far surpassed what I had imagined.
“The majority of our tractors for ground work use GPS technology to drive themselves in a straight line set by the operator, so without something to do such as reading, listening to the radio or podcasts, or even playing the Switch you’ll go crazy pretty quickly. Breath of the Wild came out in the middle of cotton planting season, so I beat the entire first half of that game while planting 200 acres of seed.”
Being self sustaining is a really liberating feeling
If there’s one function Danley might add to Stardew Valley it’d be tractors. “I’d love for the tractor mod on PC to be a late game vanilla purchase,” he tells me, “or even to add equipment you can hook up to your horse such as plows and seeders to speed up planting and harvesting.”
It’s presently autumn at Danley’s farm and meaning the farming 12 months is drawing to an finish. It’s the harvesting season, the time the place his efforts earlier within the 12 months bear fruit, when all that hardwork and endurance lastly pays off. “There’s nothing quite like it,” Danley says, “you know that smell of fresh autumn rain on trees that are losing their leaves while sipping a mug of tea or coffee with just a dash of cinnamon in it? Imagine that feeling coupled with just having spent the past ten weeks of your life sprinting for a finish line and finally crossing it.”
The feeling of autumn brings each actual farming and Stardew’s farming collectively. It’s a game that manages to evoke emotions of a day’s arduous work and neighborhood residing in a small city – autumn is the season that displays this most for Danley. “Nothing else comes close: the music, the orange leaves, and fields of pumpkins,” he says. “The feeling that you’ve finished another year and are prepared for the long winter ahead. There’s nothing quite like it.”
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