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InTales of the Shire, delicious ingredients and high-quality crops willincrease the quality of cooked mealsand sell for more money. But unlike some farming-and-life sim games, you may’t get crop-enhancing items like fertilizer inTales of the Shireto increase crop quality.
InTales of the Shire, all seeds have a chance to grow into a high-quality crop. However, if you take full advantage ofthe game’s Companion Planting mechanic– and invest in high-quality seeds, once unlocked – you will be able to increase the chance for high-quality crops to grow. If you plan strategically, you can virtually guarantee 2-star and 3-star crops every harvest.
Create Happy Crops With Companion Planting
Raise Crop Quality By Planting Crops With Happy Symbols
To get better crops and farm delicious vegetables inTales of the Shire, you must take advantage of the Companion Planting system. Essentially, all seeds in the game prefer to be planted next to certain other crops.
When planting a seed, you will see agold Comedy face (indicating synergy), apurple Tragedy face (indicating anti-synergy), or no face at all, which indicates a normal chance for high-quality crops. If youplant crops that work well together, they will have a higher chance of being 2 or 3-star quality when harvested.
For example,Beans, Maize, and Tatersall benefit from growing together in the same plot. These are some of thebest seeds to buy first inTales of the Shirebecause you can guarantee at least a couple of high-quality crops from your first harvest with some strategic placement.
Try many different combinations of crops to learn how they interact and which crops match well with others. Don’t stick to just a few things, either – thehigher variety of cropsyou can plant in a single planter, and the more synergistic they are, the better your yields will be. Plus, you’ll have a wider variety of ingredients to use for more recipes.
Keep Unhappy Crops In A Separate Plot
A Purple Frowning Face Means Quality Will Be Reduced
The other side of the Companion Planting system is mismatching crops. While good companion crops are indicated with a yellow Comedy mask, crops that don’t work well when planted together are indicated with a purple Tragedy mask. A crop will be of a lower quality if you plant it in a plot with a Tragedy mask warning.
For example, if you go to plant aPepper in a plot with Beans, Maize, and Taters, you will see a purple frowning face next to the Pepper seed location.
If you really want to plant something but putting it in a plot with other crops would reduce its quality, consider planting it by itself in a separate plot. Though you may not get a higher chance for high-quality crops, you’ll avoid reducing the quality of crops in your other plots.
Purchase High-Quality Seeds From Farmer Cotton
High-Quality Seeds Will Always Grow Into High-Quality Crops
Later in the game, after you have unlocked the ability to start Clubs in Bywater, you’re able to start the Gardening Club with Farmer Cotton’s help. After you havecompleted a handful of requests for Farmer Cotton and the Gardening Club, you will be able to purchase new, higher-quality seeds from him. You can alsounlock chickens by befriending Farmer Cotton.
These seeds cost more to purchase, but they will always be of at least 2-star or 3-star quality. It’s not a great way to make cash, but it’s a great way to ensure you have the best ingredients to impress guests at your next Shared Meal!
