Sparsely Decorated Year 12 Stardew Valley Farm Makes Players Question How They Approach Farming

One Stardew Valley fan sparked a discussion about sustainable farming (both in-game and in real life) when they shared an image of their barren year-12 farm. Stardew Valley is a cozy farming sim that can be enjoyed in many different ways, depending on what players find the most enjoyable. For many, part of the fun of playing the game is decorating the interior and exterior of the farm, but this isn't the case for everyone.

A Stardew Valley player who goes by Gaming_dino10_josh on Reddit shared a glimpse of their farm, showing that it's possible to play the game with minimal farming and decorating. The screenshot shows a riverside farm with nothing but the bare necessities and is otherwise completely barren.

The river farm is, as the name suggests, water-centric, consisting of several islands and surrounded by water. Gaming_dino10_josh's farm has a chicken coop on one island and a barn on another, while the main island has a greenhouse, two ponds, a farmhouse with an attached stable, a pet house, and, alarmingly, two sheds directly in front of each other. Five lone sprinklers water a small handful of sparsely planted crops and several more buildings across the islands. Aside from a handful of cherry blossom trees on impossible-to-reach islands, the entire farm is completely stripped of all plants.

Stardew Valley Farm Sparks Discussion On Sustainability

Real-World Forestry Practices Can Be Applied To Stardew Valley

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The image of the sparsely planted farm made several Stardew Valley players wonder if they've been overdoing it by cutting down trees and uprooting plants. The first step for many players starting a new farm is to remove as much of the natural growth as possible. This often leads to having plenty of wood at the beginning of the game and then having a self-induced shortage.

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Reddit user and real-world forestry college student Umbra_Sanguis says they're shocked at how many trees people clear from their farms in-game. They thin out their farm's trees and "harvest wood responsibly and always leave undeveloped forested areas to balance out the areas I have taken for myself." These sustainable methods "produce a lot of wood and charcoal without marring the natural beauty of the farm," they add. A few other players with backgrounds in real-world forestry and farming back Umbra_Sanguis on this, confirming that sustainable farming gets the best results in real life and in the game.

Our Take: Farming In Stardew Valley Isn't For Everyone And That's Okay

Fans Should Be Able To Play The Game However They Want To

Redditor BucketListM points out that the only "correct" way to play this game is by doing whatever brings you joy. They praise the poster for not developing their farm, since "you clearly enjoy other aspects better" and just didn't bother doing things that they didn't actually like doing. They say, "You prioritized what brought you joy and that's a great way to play."

The original poster seems to have found joy in decorating other areas of the game instead of their farm, which is purely functional. They share images of a few other locations around Pelican Town that are beautifully designed and create a stark contrast to the empty farmland. They say that they used to farm on all the islands until the first winter, and then moved all their crops to Ginger Island and "never farmed again."

It's pretty rare for a game about farming to let people play entirely without actually farming anything. Stardew Valley is unique in that it truly lets players enjoy playing it however they want. For some, the joy comes from meeting and befriending the townspeople. Others might prefer to go exploring, collect artifacts, or even tailor their clothes. Gaming_dino10_josh might think their farm is "terrible, probably," but in truth, there is no such thing as a bad farm in Stardew Valley, as long as the player enjoys the process of making it.

Source: Gaming_dino10_josh/Reddit, Umbra_Sanguis/Reddit, BucketListM/Reddit