I support, though I think this should be something better looked into down the line.  It would make the price of treats drop significantly, and would probably make the wild horse market grow even more than it has (or at least give a chance at all those pretty variations that seem to run from me every time).  I would prefer it to be relatively simple to maintain (water daily, weed once a week?) because I'm already swamped with so many tasks on here, haha.

Maybe, as an addition, we could have a beekeeping setup, and grow flowers in the garden to influence the amount of honey that could be pulled from it over time.  This could then be used as a secondary sweetener along with molasses, since all the other treat types have at least two options.  Though I don't actually know if honey is somehow bad for horses, lol. 

Not a bad thought at all. I could certainly vote for something like this, especially because it will take up places in the estate, which means we'll still have to choose between room for horses, room for careers or room for supplementals (like feed storage).

Although instead of honey, could do sugarcane or beets. Molasses comes from that refinement. And keeping it rather low output keeps the influx of such things low as well. I think a random 1 to 5 is a good, solid number, per week, of what they choose to grow.

I don't think maintaining it would be something we should do, with the exception of planting the crop for the week. We don't plant a crop, we don't get a crop. Plus, I'm also thinking that a crop that goes to seed gives us a random 1 to 5 flower selection instead of treats. And that after a couple days beyond the crop mature. One week (seven days) to grow and 72 hours to harvest... or maybe just 48 hours to harvest. Something to that effect.

I was also thinking of the crops giving out a special decor or items depending on crop and other conditions. The % chance of getting the special drops would be low but it could add a reason for some to let crops go to seed on purpose. This also adds the possibility for other manufacture/processing type buildings at a later date either on estate or in town for things like molasses or basic dyes but that's a whole other topic.

Possible crops/ special rewards

Carrots: Successfully grow carrots a certain # of times in a row and you have a small % chance of attracting a rabbit companion, could be a seasonal thing like it only triggers in spring.

Apples: Small % chance of blossom decor if left to seed.

Oat: Small % chance of Handful of Straw which could be used to craft a scarecrow. 1 scarecrow could be used in the garden to increase chances of higher crop yield. Others made can be companions or decorations if implemented.

Clover: % chance of 4 leaf decor higher % if left to seed

Sugarcane/Beets: used for crafting only to make molasses and whatnot

Mint: used for crafting peppermint treats % chance of mint blossom decor if left to seed. (If you haven't seen blooming mint Google it, it's super pretty)

Pumpkin/Corn: seasonal crops used to craft seasonal treats or % chance of attracting a seasonal companion like a crow.

Those are just a few possibilities, and seasonal crops should most likely cost a few ingots to plant. Sorry if this was a lot thanks for reading 😊

Oooh I'm intrigued by this!

Expansion possibilities is strong with this suggestion. I like this, but wonder if this might be too much alongside other additions to implement in a soon type of manner.

I still agree with it, but I'm thinking when other things have come to us, we can revisit it. Be a great addition if implemented in a quest-style. Can't get the garden until we get through a quest about a garden. Would be a great side-quest addition. And could lead to a number of different storylines, depending on what crops we want to grow and even have certain crops locked up until we revisit the garden side-quest and do some more work in it.

Too much?

Still, I'm liking it. 😆

Right?! I assumed that it would be put on the back burner for a while because it would take a lot of work and other things are much more important for a *soon* release time, but the potential for something like this is virtually limitless in regards to customization and additional content. I love the side quest idea Oaken! 😃

[BlackOak & Oaken Fields are both me 😉]

Yeah.

Having open-ended expansions are extremely valuable to games.

But if or when it's fleshed out more or started to be implemented, I'd definitely like to see some sort of direct tie-in to our horses, rather than indirect through treats and decorations. Not sure how though. Maybe the quests themselves only, something like fjording a river to find the seeds and that must be done on a horse and then using a horse to plow the garden... or... hmm... something... Well, luckily all of our quests are more readable and less requirement-entrapped.

Unless they plan to lock up certain future quests until our stats reach minimal levels (Honesty, Ambition, Charisma, Wit & Luck). I figure that's their main purpose in the future, but just yet and if I'm right? Who knows? 😁

I like the idea of finding seeds and stuff through explore! Maybe, depending on how it ends up working out, drafts and farm horses could be instrumental in possible expansions of the garden itself. For example if the garden at purchase takes up a 1 acre area (or whatever seems reasonable) you only have access to a small portion of the land for planting at first and a much higher chance at a low crop yield because of it. As you go through the quest line you might come across quests with timers attached that you can assign a horse to like a career. If the horse is well suited for the task it would either complete the task faster or fill the progress bar more efficiently, however it would be easiest to implement. The quest could be something like stone clearing or stump pulling obviously while said horse is assigned to work it would be unavailable just like careers or foal training. It would also make sense if the garden had multiple sizes to choose from similar to the barns if it became popular or a large part of the game, but then we get into garden vs farm at it gets far more complicated.

So you know, basically what you said 😉 I had to read through like 3 times for my brain to catch up, just one of those days I guess.

😅Oh yes! I know those days well.

But yeah, that does sound like a great concept. Horse doesn't have to be assigned to the specific career 'Work' because not everybody will have that, or the ability to have that particular career. So having the ability to assign said horse (chosen horse) to a specific task to expand the garden a bit more, yeah, that could work out well.

Basic garden (assuming 1 acre lot), get 1 or 2 treats (treats or other) per planting. Expanding to clear garden of stumps, get 1 to 3 treats per planting. Expanding a second time to clear stones, get 1 to 4 treats per planting. And then the final expansion to clear...??? Um... let's say, 'increase fertility', to maximize the 1 acre lot for a total of 1 to 5 treats per planting.

I like that idea. 😄

Of course, now I also want to limit the max acreage of growing land. I think 4 max is more than enough, each successive plot needing the same expansion treatment.

I think, though, now that I dwell on it, I want the expansion to be locked up until... maybe a random quest pops up? I don't know, I kind of want it to be slightly more challenging to make the little plot of growing land a little difficult to get, you know?

Exactly! I don't want it to get too big either and was thinking around 3-4 acres total with each extra acre tied to a quest that unlocks when you reach a certain quest level (10, 20, 30) that way you have to actively explore the site and complete however many other quests before expanding what is essentially an optional building. Like everything else it should take work, perseverance, and a smidge of luck because that's what makes this game great. I wouldn't have half of what I do without both the kindness of other players (and the game creators honestly) and a willingness work and make the foals I produce better. 😃