Farming in Stardew Valley VS Farming in real life

[quirmzi]

Hey, I don’t know if you’ve seen this, but screenrant did an article on your posts! https://screenrant.com/stardew-valley-farming-real-life-accuracy-farmer-details/
I thought it was pretty cool, and thanks for answering all of our questions!

 

[Magically Clueless]

Hey, I don’t know if you’ve seen this, but screenrant did an article on your posts! https://screenrant.com/stardew-valley-farming-real-life-accuracy-farmer-details/
I thought it was pretty cool, and thanks for answering all of our questions!

oh wow, that is cool! i'm always surprised seeing stuff from the forums turning up in articles, but it's really interesting too

 

[NickelPlateRoad]

I just had another difference between Stardew and real life occur to me: squirrels and rabbits. Also crows.

Those cute little squirrels and rabbits that periodically dash up or away from trees in Stardew are, in real life, an utter menace to gardens. They will eat your plants, dig them up, randomly bury other seeds in your garden bed (I have so many oak seedlings popping up in mine right now!) . . . they are terrible, evil little garden chaos monsters. Crows, on the other hand? The worst problem I've had with crows is that they will try to hide food in my garden beds by placing it on top of the dirt and covering it with leaves or dried grass. Very, very occasionally one of my crow neighbors gets into a snit about something and yanks at one of my plants while yelling at the top of his/her little crow lungs. They don't really bother the plants or seeds otherwise, though. Not like squirrels and rabbits. My husband has a vendetta against both; the only reason they're safe in our yard is that we live in the city and we are not allowed to take them out (and eat them; both are pretty tasty).

This does depend on region mind you, here in the Columbia Gorge I have had few problems with squirrels and that is mostly because of the strategic placement of the farms I've worked on, usually near large cliffs or water, where the squirrels are much more content interacting with their natural habitat then even coming close to the human farm, though having worked in many different farms I completely know what you mean, squirrels can be a hell of an annoyance, crows I've only had major problems when on larger farms, I used to have scarecrows dressed as British redcoats in my old farm, however, crows are smart little bastards and this only worked for a little bit.

Also, coyotes, wolves, and coyotes, and maybe raccoons, which are less a danger to crops and more a danger to livestock.

Here in the Gorge, (And most of the Northwest) it is prime living for animals like wolves and coyotes, I still remember having a mini heart attack whenever I went to bed and suddenly question whether I closed the doors or not, and I would run outside to see that I indeed did close the doors. In Stardew Valley I still close the chicken door and barn doors just out of habit even though in the game it doesn't matter...to my knowledge anyhow.

My current garden is closer to town so I don't have to worry about coyotes and the like, however, raccoons are still a problem.

I've returned to this after a while and I'm glad to see a few other farming folks to give their input, it is such a joy. I got reminded of this place after seeing an article written about this thread, which while I was embarrassed upon seeing it, sure it also motivated me to come back here.

 

[Anhaga]

Also, coyotes, wolves, and coyotes, and maybe raccoons, which are less a danger to crops and more a danger to livestock.

Here in the Gorge, (And most of the Northwest) it is prime living for animals like wolves and coyotes, I still remember having a mini heart attack whenever I went to bed and suddenly question whether I closed the doors or not, and I would run outside to see that I indeed did close the doors. In Stardew Valley I still close the chicken door and barn doors just out of habit even though in the game it doesn't matter...to my knowledge anyhow.

Yes! Predators can really wreak havoc on livestock. We had a fox family living on our land when we were still in Virginia, and they were unfortunately smart enough that they learned how to flush our chickens through the electronet. I had to start completely locking them up at night after that, and the few that refused to roost in the coop were pretty quickly eaten by the foxes. That has made me paranoid enough that even now, when we're living in town, I'm going to be buying a coop with a welded wire enclosure. The most dangerous thing we have that comes near our yard is hawks, but those foxes taught me a lesson.

 

[Robified]

"maybe it's not too hard to believe the world that Stardew Valley takes place in has a very wacky and weird climate for one region to hold the summers of El Salvador and the winters of Finland."

Never been to Canada then, eh? ;)

 

[Caamper]

I'm from the rural northeast, and I live on a farm. I have compiled a list of inaccuracies:

• It’s impossible to till an entire acre by hand with a basic garden hoe by yourself in one day. That’s what tractor ploughs are for.
• By the time that the game takes place (The 90s), a huge plot of crops can’t be watered by hand with a watering can. You need to use hoses.
• The ducks in the game seem to be mallards. Mallard drakes (Male ducks) are green. The ducks in-game are green. Males animals don’t lay eggs, yet they do in the game?
• You can hatch chicken eggs. But, all the chickens are hens? How do they hatch without a rooster?
• For some reason, all fruit trees can only bear three of their respective fruits at a time? In real life, they can bear much more? In a whole season, all types of trees can only bear 28, but in real life the average apple tree bears around 150 maximum?
• In the game, you never have to deal with pest animals other than crows? Like, where are the songbirds, woodchucks and deer?
• You never have to prune fruit trees or bushes in the game?
• Most plants don’t die when seasons change in real life, they become dormant, and kind of just sleep.
• In real life, maple syrup doesn’t just come from the tree as a ready sap. You have to cook it in a huge vat over a giant burner in a special smokehouse building.
• Rabbits don’t live in coops! They live in hutches built specially for rabbits!
• Scarecrows don’t keep crows away. They keep other animals away, but not crows.
• You never see the bees, even though you have a bee house.
• The chicken coops have windows without screens? At least have hardware cloth or something! Predators could easily get through!
• Why is there a random inaccessible fenced off area to the side of the coop? Is it supposed to be a run?
• Oh, god. The inside of the coop. It’s designed horribly. Wooden floors without litter? Random pile of straw in the corner? Pail of water that would easily get dumped over and make a huge mess of mold? Some tray for hay?
• Chickens don’t even eat hay! They eat grain and pellets! They eat live grass, but not juiceless dried grass! Their real-life diet is insects, plants, fruits and vegetables, and yet they never get a variety of food!
• Chickens need to dust bathe. They never have dirt or dust or sand to roll around in, though.
• Somehow, after you milk a cow, the milk is just automatically in the bottle? No need to pasteurize it?
• Ducks are naturally amphibious birds. They need to swim in water. I thought everyone knew that, but apparently the developer didn’t?!
• The rabbits in the game seem to be New Zealand rabbits, which, in real life, don’t produce wool; Angora rabbits do, and even they don’t just shed it, you brush the rabbit to gather it.
• Why do the pigs instinctively know how to dig up truffles? In real life, farmers train the pigs to specifically sniff out the truffles, and they keep them on leashes while they get them to dig them up, not just let them roam free.
• In real life, after grass is cut, it needs to sit for a few days in order to turn into hay, because it needs contact with sunlight for the juices to evaporate, drying it and turning it into hay. It can’t be immediately fed to animals after being bailed.
• Speaking of that, hay isn’t even bailed in the game! It has to be bailed to easily store it.
• Hay isn’t stored in silos, grain is, and grain’s never used in the game. Hay bales are stored in barns or sheds.

 

[Worblehat]

Impressive necromancy! (Forum guidelines: "If the topic is not about a game suggestion or a bug report, it's better to make a new thread over replying to an inactive one.")

Regarding this topic as a whole - I find it strange that people have all these issues about "realism" in a game that includes magic. And dwarves. And mysterious shadow people. And magma sprites, dinosaurs, fish that can stay alive in chests indefinitely, etc., etc. Realism is not a thing in this game.

 

[Johndeere756]

I do not farm for a living, but I do have a 5 acre hobby farm. Big garden, chickens ,rabbits, ducks, even guineas. Yes, farming in Stardew Valley is nothing like real life, thank goodness!!