Harvesting Grains in Island of Happiness

There's an old British slang word, 'gormless', which translates to a more current one, which is 'clueless'. Perhaps I am particularly gormless or clueless where farming in Island of Happiness is concerned, but in case I am not the only one who is working in a mist here, I am going to share some information that may be helpful.

All grains in Island of Happiness are harvested only with a Sickle in which at least one Yellow Wonderful has been set. You cannot harvest them with your bare hands. It was precisely because I forgot this essential fact that I lost two plots filled with ripe Buckwheat! I kept trying to harvest them in the ordinary fashion until, one fine morning, they simply vanished.

I was almost foolishly elated therefore when I was able to harvest my first Soybean product, Edamame. As stated in my Guides, even when you have not unlocked a type of grain, you can obtain it randomly from Manfred, convert it into seed and plant it. That is how I obtained my first Soybeans in my first test game.

Incidentally, Edamame is of limited use compared to Soybeans. No new Recipes can be unlocked at the Cafe or the Diner with it. It is used in one Recipe for 'Rice and Beans' but you unlock that Recipe with Cooked Rice. You do need to ship one Edamame to complete your Shipping List and use one more in 'Rice and Beans'. There may be more Recipes in which Edamame can feature as an optional ingredient, but Soybeans is far more useful. Soybeans can be used in a myriad of Recipes as well as being an item that can be converted into Seeds. You cannot convert Edamame into seeds.

I planted them in the Greenhouse to eliminate seasonal problems. It took a long time for them to mature, and they were only 'B' Rank when they reached the first stage of harvest. The screenshot included here shows the appearance of Soybeans when you can harvest Edamame. It is the Crop on the right, that displays lovely little purple flowers. The Crop on the left is Wheat, as yet unripe.

Knowing what a Grain looks like when it is ripe is critical in Island of Happiness. As you use a Sickle on it, harvesting it prematurely will leave you with NOTHING. I strongly urge players, therefore, to save their game BEFORE they use the Sickle on any Grain.

I will continue to post screenshots of Grains when they are ready for harvest. I will add detailed descriptions of the signs of ripeness to my Guides.

An earlier post of mine includes screenshots of Rice in the Paddy Fields at different stages. It is only when it is golden that it will be ready for harvest.
I have included a screenshot of the rice when I was about to harvest it. Another screenshot shows the Buckwheat that was ready for harvest, but which I failed to harvest as I had forgotten it required a Sickle rather than bare hands.

I hate to admit my mistakes in Harvest Moon but if my errores will help other players, I need to swallow my pride and publish them!