Early powergamers beware: Kale

[jairgraham]

Doesn't give farming XP. If you're trying to setup quality sprinklers by Summer 1 avoid it like the plague.

Kale is tempting when trying to maximize spring 1 because it's shorter growth cycle than cauliflower matters when you're trying to buy specific things at specific times.

Just do potatoes for your first short-cycle then cauli until you can't and go back to potatoes. Only put Kale in if you've already hit farming 6.

Presumably wheat and amaranth also have this problem, though it will matter a lot less.

[Vroomi]

I missread that as 'Kira'.

I'll get back in the trash can.

[1und2]

i like to buy green beans... they have a good money making ability as well as a cheapish price

[teravisor]

Kale, Wheat and everything that is farmed with scythe are like that.

[jairgraham]

Originally posted by Leosh:

i like to buy green beans... they have a good money making ability as well as a cheapish price

Their value drops as you get further into the season though. Also they take time for the first harvest, so if you're planning on needing 8K by the 8th (Rod\Pack\Axe\Pick upgraded) they won't help you, kale or potatoes will.

Of course you should have green beans set up in the first 3 days of the season. After the 6th their profitability is pretty meh though, and cauli is better in that it's more profitable, you get the full payoff in 12 days as opposed to taking the whole season with GB, and they pickle way, way better.

Originally posted by teravisor:

Kale, Wheat and everything that is farmed with scythe are like that.

I suspected as much, thanks.

[josseriot]

I got to 10 in farming by the end of my first year and I grew tons of kale, wheat and amaranth. But I grew everything else too.

You do need a little kale for a couple of quests and a couple of recipes. It's also a universal like with only a handful of townofolks who don't like. But other that that, it's hardly necessary. But because it grows fast, it's steady gold for that first spring while you wait for the longer-growing crops to mature.

[jairgraham]

6 by Summer 1 and 10 by winter 1 are two entirely different things. 10 by the end of the first summer is pretty easy one way or another, but if you want quality sprinklers set up by the end of spring growing a lot of kale is a bad idea.

It's a very good crop, and there are a lot of reasons to grow it. It just doesn't go well with automating ASAP.

[Nakos]

Kale is a great cash crop. I've never felt like I wasn't advancing my Farming skill fast enough even with Kale.

But ... I grow a lot of different things, I actually LIKE the farming aspect of the game.

[I Kinda Fail]

Originally posted by Nakos:

Kale is a great cash crop. I've never felt like I wasn't advancing my Farming skill fast enough even with Kale.

But ... I grow a lot of different things, I actually LIKE the farming aspect of the game.

For cash, it's not that bad. They just meant that kale doesn't give XP, so if you're trying to level the skill fast, kale's the worst option.

I think, technically, kale is one of the worst spring crops, but I don't remember why...

[Nakos]

Well, I guess technically the ROI is low.

I like variety though.

[jairgraham]

Kinda Fail;152390648090306726]
I think, technically, kale is one of the worst spring crops, but I don't remember why...

Potatoes popping multiples make them randomly more profitable than kale, though not always. That's something I forgot when I choose Kale for certain parts of my run.

Originally posted by Nakos:

Well, I guess technically the ROI is low.
I like variety though.

ROI doesn't matter much once you have a surplus of seed money, just income per day. That said Year 1 Spring is the one time ROI is really important. So again there's another reason it's not a good major crop in this situation.

I also like to grow different things. And you will level reasonably fast even if you grow a lot of Kale and some other things.

But in the case where you specifically want Farming 6 by Spring 1 22-26ish to set up quality sprinklers in a large quantity by Summer 1 growing some large batches of Kale holds you back enough to be a problem.

I wasn't paying attention to it in my last start and didn't notice till spring 24 that my farming level was 3. 3! Ugh. I had 3 ancient fruit growing and an prismatic shard saved in that file too. Everything else was 100% on track (though no purple cabbage yet, damn you purple cabbage)

But of course if you're not trying to community center + marriage year 1 it doesn't matter too much.