Farm life in Henford on Bagley

Are you playing with a single sim? I tend to have a family, or at least a couple, and everyone helps. Also, I don't have more than 1 cow/llama and about 6 chickens. And not too many crops.

I find these questions very relatable. I felt the need to have a separate save where my sims didn’t age so I could explore the pack at more of a leisurely pace. I ended up with way more produce and animal products than I knew what to do with, but it was a fun experience. Now I’m not really trying to do it all with one family (unless they’re that type). Befriending the wild animals was fun, but I’m not opposed to cheating those objects onto my lot in the future if I really want them nearby. Maybe I’ll cheat for the upgrade parts, too. I’ve done all the running around and I want to reap the benefits in more than just that one save.

"babajayne;c-18012845" wrote:
I find these questions very relatable. I felt the need to have a separate save where my sims didn’t age so I could explore the pack at more of a leisurely pace. I ended up with way more produce and animal products than I knew what to do with, but it was a fun experience. Now I’m not really trying to do it all with one family (unless they’re that type). Befriending the wild animals was fun, but I’m not opposed to cheating those objects onto my lot in the future if I really want them nearby. Maybe I’ll cheat for the upgrade parts, too. I’ve done all the running around and I want to reap the benefits in more than just that one save.

Yes, turning off aging while I get into the pace of things would be a great idea as well.

"Sindocat;c-18012895" wrote:
Start modestly. Like, a couple of chickens, just for eggs. Maybe a vegetable patch. Farm stuff is a lot of work.

Even with a dedicated Sim to do JUST THAT, it's a LOT, especially if you are doing poultry AND dairy or wool. Befriending wild bunnies, and placing the Burrow on your lot, and befriending your bunnies to get them to help garden helps (they'll do the weeding - birds help, too, and will eat bugs). But that's also a time investment. Doing all the things takes a number of Sims, and is in fact challenging.

I tend to pick & choose just a few. Added a Toddler to my poultry-and-garden household, because both my sims wanted a baby, and my one sim is already sad from missing socialization with his furry friends. It's definitely a balancing act.

My advice, learn one thing at a time - how to keep a cow happy & productive, for example, and learn JUST THAT first, and you'll have time for other interests. If you try to do it all, there will be no time at all for anything else.

Thank you so much for your response @Sindocat! Learning one thing at a time does take a lot of stress out of learning about the EP. I always tend to overwhelm myself by thinking I need to do everything at once, LOL. I am glad Maxis took the time to add so many features to this EP and do a really thorough job, but wow, it is a lot of stuff! Very helpful!

As in real life, being a full-time farmer really doesn't balance well with having a job- but unlike in real life, the daily income from just one milk cow is already comparable to what you'd earn in an entry-level job. You can scale the size of the farm to fit the desired workload and money/food output. If you have Seasons it can be nice to rotate busier and less busier seasons, like not planting much in winter and spending more time indoors doing other things.

I didn't have much of a problem once I got into the groove of things, when you first wake up your animals might be ready for interaction or not you can leave immediately then or after and they'll be fine when you get back. You can also split it up just put some feed out for the chickens and leave before the cows or whatever needs anything. I use sprinklers for crops so I would weed or spray for bugs when it popped up but they don't need much focus. With clubs I would go out one day meet people then bring them home since clubs aren't time restrictive good if you have a big farm but you need someone in your sim's life.

Thanks, @mightysprite and @RedDestiny92!

@Heathertibb if you time you make want to look through the CL Positive Thoughts thread. Lots of tips and helpful info. ?

I love this pack, too! :) I experienced that each farm should indeed select just a limited produce. Your sim can't have it all on one lot. Even if there is a family to help there will be no time left for raising your family etc. So, in my game there is the Moo-moo Cow Farm, having only cows (4 of them is plenty) and they grow a little crops for their own consume. There is the Watson Chicken Farm - they have 3 coops (none of them are full) and in addition to chickens they make Mayonnaise for sale (mostly sold from table at gate).
Another small farm has one coop but focus on growing crops. Another grow apples only, but also have a chicken coop for own consume.

Other houses might have 1 llama because they use the wool for cross stitching, or just a few chicken because it's cool to see them walk about the place. Limitations are good, but then I play on rotation so I get to them all eventually, anyway :)

PS: Might also help to assign various tasks to specific household members. On my cow farm kids clean and feed one cow shed each, while an adult do the milking. If one sim should do it all, that sim would be consantly in a bad mood (I tried, lol).

"Heathertibb;c-18012825" wrote:

"elanorbreton;c-18012821" wrote:
Are you playing with a single sim? I tend to have a family, or at least a couple, and everyone helps. Also, I don't have more than 1 cow/llama and about 6 chickens. And not too many crops.

I enjoy playing with bigger households so that's definitely a great suggestion. I could rotate the farm chores between family members. Putting a limit on how much "farm life" stuff I have should help also.

However, I pose another question: Who has time to make friends with the birds, foxes, and rabbits with all of this going on, LOL?

That's what I've always done with my huge garden, but most recently the family had chickens as well as a large garden. The eldest son took care of the chickens in the morning, and then went to help water the plants. Usually by the time he finished it was time for school, and then his mother would harvest or sell the crops depending on the day. The animals definitely take a lot more time then you think they will.