Playing a farm

[Leto85]

First I thought about the title 'The Sims 3 Farm' for this, but that will maybe disapoint some readers because it just looks like a announcement for another expansion, which it isn't.

Anyway, I've decided to step aside for a while from my multi-millionaire sims and started to create a little farm. Eco friendly sims are living there, living from the money the can get from selling fish and vegetables. The man has a job fishing and the wife lives on selling vegetables. It is very hard to live like this, because it isn't the fasted way to get rich in-game. But still it is nice, if you like living on a farm and working hard day and night.

My sims can just pay their bills with gardening and fishing and they finally could afford a 3 day vacation to France. I've just started to make nectar which is about to get sold, and now they need some rare fruits to make the nectar even more profitable before getting back to their Riverview may lives.

The reason I've started this topic is because I am very curious about other players who have build a little farm and try to 'survive' there without having a job that requires sitting behind a desk. If you have any pics for example, please show them here.

[AriaGirl77]

Yup, I did this during the Nectar Challenge, my sims ended up filthy rich.  Gardening is actually very profitable once you get a few money trees!  With just 3-4 trees you can make thousands of simolians a day.  Add nectar making to the mix and you've got yourself some hard working money makers.

[Missa]

I wonder if inventing the harvester would make having a lot of plants less time consuming? My sim is working on the da Vinci lifetime wish right now and is in the last skill to max, inventing. I think I'll try the harvester out on some plants and see.

[Leto85]

I wonder if inventing the harvester would make having a lot of plants less time consuming? My sim is working on the da Vinci lifetime wish right now and is in the last skill to max, inventing. I think I'll try the harvester out on some plants and see.

It will definatly save you a lot of time. But your sim can get sick because he turns around while holding the harvester. First your sim will find it fun, but when you use it to long in a row, he get sick, his entertainment bar drops to red and he will throw up in the toilet.
The thing works fast, but taking all the disadvantages in mind, I don't use the harvester always.

[Jazinga]

I haven't tried the eco-friendly approach, but I rely on Gardening and Fishing (toss in some collecting, too) as my go-to Skills.  I hate the "desk jobs".  Initially, the skills pay little, but it's usually only a week after your first harvest that money begins to wane as a concern.  I only plan what is required for the Achievements, but focus my Sims' energy on the much more profitable plants; Garlic, Bell Pepper and Watermelon.  With the fish, fertilizing is much more effective at an earlier stage, too.

Good luck!  Sims may be the only way to get really rich from farming... 

On a side note, it seems like the SimBot can use the Harvester a lot longer than the Sims.  Make sure to cancel the action to avoid the sickness side-effects.  If you get the Wish to collect 20 Plants at once, and you plant your tall plants in tight rows, it's not so bad.  The "vacuum" effect seems to take much longer on plants more than two tiles from where your Sims is standing.  Only one tile away and most harvestable produce is gone quickly.

[Leto85]

On a side note, it seems like the SimBot can use the Harvester a lot longer than the Sims.  Make sure to cancel the action to avoid the sickness side-effects.  If you get the Wish to collect 20 Plants at once, and you plant your tall plants in tight rows, it's not so bad.  The "vacuum" effect seems to take much longer on plants more than two tiles from where your Sims is standing.  Only one tile away and most harvestable produce is gone quickly.

Interesting info! So you've tested the harvester in more detail.
I really hope there is a way to get rid of that bad mootlet, because it can really decrease my harvesting time. If you know a way, please reply. Unless it is the mood manager. I don't like to use it, cause it removes the fun out of the game after long uses.

[Jazinga]

Leto85, anything that improves mood removes the side-effect.  The side effect is a lot like any other stress.  From my limited tries with the Harvester, it seems like your Sims can use the machine often if the machine is never used for long.  Harvest the eight tiles around and then cancel, move and repeat?

[ik]

Yup, I did this during the Nectar Challenge, my sims ended up filthy rich.  Gardening is actually very profitable once you get a few money trees!  With just 3-4 trees you can make thousands of simolians a day.  Add nectar making to the mix and you've got yourself some hard working money makers.

My nectar challenge sims ended up with a total of 26 perfect money trees before I managed to make myself stop planting the seeds the continued to drop . I can not make me let a money tree go to waste, but in that case I made an exception and fenced in all the money trees so they would not waste their time tending them. I did have close to a million simoleons in their household funds by the time I stopped harvesting the money trees though.

Gardening (and sometimes fishing) is the way I use for money making with most of my sims, too. For the first few days they can eat at the park, take a shower at the gym and visit their neighbours if they need to go to the toilet, so all they really need is a bed and time to go around the neighbourhood harvesting other people's gardens and fruit on community lots, then plant as many fruit and vegetables as  they feel comfortable tending. The rest is sold at the grocery shop whenever money is tight. My sims usually have a comfortable amount of family funds fairly quickly that way. If there is one thing I hate about the sims, it is rabbit hole jobs, and I tend to avoid them at all costs .

[Pam]

I'm not having much luck with the harvester at all. I used it to harvest the garden and nothing showed up in my Sim's inventory and the plants still had their fruits on them.

[wildredchild]

I'm not having much luck with the harvester at all. I used it to harvest the garden and nothing showed up in my Sim's inventory and the plants still had their fruits on them.

Did you have your Sim in the center of the area to be harvested?  If they were not in the center, then you won't be able to get the fruits or veggies.

[Pam]

Ok, that's the problem. He was standing beside the garden, not in the center.

[Leto85]

Ok, that's the problem. He was standing beside the garden, not in the center.

Even than sometimes you will notice your sims doesn't suck up anything. The best, and simple, thing to do than is cancle the operation and start again. It should work next time.

[John Allen]

I just recently did that.

Definitely a hard start financially, and since Riverview is new I couldn't really find seeds as easily as the towns I was familiar with.  The first 2 weeks i just got by on saved money and collecting rocks and bugs while seed hunting.

I only paid for gardening and fishing classes and bought cooking level 1 and handiness level 1 books. No entertainment in house.  My Sim was probably a headcase, since even his social interactions were with plants.

But by end of week 3 roughly I started making really good money, had gardening and fishing up to 10, 6 deathfish, some lifefruit plants, and cooking almost maxed. Shortly after that the produce sales became really good - 5-10k a week. 

Sadly though, before I could get a sense of achievement,  my Sim glitched and I couldn't access the supermarket at different times. 

Since I also had handiness at 7, I joined the science career.  And with skills already very high got a promotion a workday. 

[Leto85]

I just recently did that.

Definitely a hard start financially, and since Riverview is new I couldn't really find seeds as easily as the towns I was familiar with.  The first 2 weeks i just got by on saved money and collecting rocks and bugs while seed hunting.

I only paid for gardening and fishing classes and bought cooking level 1 and handiness level 1 books. No entertainment in house.  My Sim was probably a headcase, since even his social interactions were with plants.

But by end of week 3 roughly I started making really good money, had gardening and fishing up to 10, 6 deathfish, some lifefruit plants, and cooking almost maxed. Shortly after that the produce sales became really good - 5-10k a week.  

Sadly though, before I could get a sense of achievement,  my Sim glitched and I couldn't access the supermarket at different times.  

Since I also had handiness at 7, I joined the science career.  And with skills already very high got a promotion a workday.  

You obviously know what you are doing. Nice to, that you have sort of  a backup plan: the science career.
I've started with gardening and fishing myself. Than I dive into nectar making. Those three combined will provide gold! It really is a nice way to make money in the game. Especially it can take a while untill you have enough nectar bottles to sell (after aging). You can get really rich with this, but not soon, and especially not easy. Maybe that is what I like about it: the difficulty.

[SJ]

Sadly though, before I could get a sense of achievement,  my Sim glitched and I couldn't access the supermarket at different times. 

This supermarket glitch happens when you have Special seeds in your inventory. Remove them, and the supermarket should work again. It's been like that since WA, and maybe even before that.