Profits made from Seeds and Accessories in Harvest Moon

In the second half of my Items and Shipping List Guide for Sunshine Islands, you will find lists of items that cannot be shipped. In some cases, these can be a source of valuable income for your Character.

The sale of Seeds and Accessories to a special merchant for profit is not a new strategy in Harvest Moon. In More Friends of Mineral Town, Van’s Wednesday visits provided a golden opportunity to sell certain rare items for a tidy profit to the merchant from Forget-Me-Not Valley. With the sale of multiple 'TV Changers', my character was able to afford to buy her second home next to Saibara's forge.

In HM DS and Cute DS, Van’s orange box stall on the 2nd floor of the Inn is a venue for the sale of Seeds and Accessories, some of which realise huge prices from the same entrepreneur. In HM DS/Cute DS, the sale of upgraded Seeds in particular provided a source of great profit.

In Sunshine Islands, the opportunity to make a profit selling items that cannot be shipped is available as well but the merchant who buys these is none other than Chen.
For example, although Seeds cannot be shipped, they can be sold to Chen. In the case of Crops that are worth very little when shipped, such as Strawberries, you will obtain a larger profit from these if you convert them into Seeds to sell to Chen. Bananas are another Crop that, when converted to Seed and sold to Chen, result in a far larger profit than the actual Fruit when shipped. Note that Seeds have no Rank, Quality, Size or Freshness and therefore a Crop of low quality can be transformed in Seeds that will be bought at the same price as a Crop of S Rank when converted to Seeds.

In the Crops section of my Items and Shipping List Guide, I have added the price that Chen will pay for each variety of Seed. For each Crop entry, therefore, you now will find the Shipping Value of each Crop, its Energy Value in SR and FL, the price of Seeds when purchased from Chen, the price he will pay for the same seeds, whether those seeds would yield a single or multiple harvests and finally, the method, if any, by which the Seeds initially are unlocked at his Market. Players therefore can compare the average shipping value of the Crop with the profit, if any, they would make if they converted the same Crop into Seeds to sell to Chen instead.

Multiple Harvest Crops tend to be more valuable as Seeds. For example, if you look at the information that is given for Spring Crops, you will see that it is Strawberries and Cucumbers, the two Multiple Harvest Crops, that yield the best profits when converted into Seeds.

The difference between the shipping value of Turnips at 60G and the price that Chen will pay for Turnip Seeds is only 12G. The difference between the shipping value of a Potato and the price that Chen will pay for Potato Seeds is 10G. If you look at Cucumbers, however, you will see that Cucumber Seeds bring DOUBLE the amount that a Cucumber would bring if shipped. A strawberry, shipping for only 30G, when converted into Seeds and sold to Chen, yields 90G, triple the shipping value of the orignal Crop. A Cabbage, another Single Harvest Crop, actually will gain a better price when shipped than when sold as Seeds. You lose 50G if you convert the Crop into Seeds and sell it to Chen.

Remember that the shipping value of any Crop is an estimated value. The actual value will depend on Rank, Quality, Size and Freshness. If your Crops are S Rank, you would do better probably to ship them or use them as ingredients in Cooked Dishes, even if they are Strawberries. The prices that Chen pays either for Crops or for Seeds, on the other hand, do not vary.

Turnip: 60G
Energy Value: 3SR, 2FL
Turnip Seeds: 120G
Selling Price: 72G
Single Harvest Crop
Seeds available in Spring at the start

Potato: 80G
Energy Value: 3SR 2FL
Potato Seeds: 150G
Selling Price: 90G
Single Harvest Crop
Seeds available in Spring at the start

Cucumber: 60G
Energy Value: 3SR 2FL
Cucumber Seeds: 200G
Selling Price: 120G
Multiple Harvest Crop
Seeds unlocked at Farming Level 5, available in Spring

Strawberry: 30G
Energy Value: 5SR 2FL
Seeds: 150G
Selling Price: 90G
Multiple Harvest Crop
Seeds unlocked at Farming Level 7, available in Spring

Cabbage: 350G
Energy Value: 3SR 2FL
Cabbage Seeds: 500G
Selling Price: 300G
Single Harvest Crop
Seeds unlocked at Farming Level 10 with Shipment of 100 Wheat


Chen will pay only 18G for Orichalcum but when this Ore is used to create Accessories, you can sell the Accessories to Chen for fairly handsome sums. Accessories that you no longer need or use can be stored in your Beauty Box or sold to Chen. Once you have made all possible Accessories, you can order duplicates from Charlie to sell to Chen for an added source of income.

The prices that Chen will pay for each Accessory have been added to the section on Accessories in the Sunshine Islands Items and Shipping List Guide.

Note that Cooked Dishes are a category of item that can be shipped but cannot be sold to Chen. In the case of Crops, Ranch Products and other 'raw ingredients', you will obtain a far better price if you ship them. Chen does not recognise Rank or Quality where Ranch Products are concerned and will offer only 30G for either a C Rank Egg or an S Rank Egg.

In many cases, as I have explained in previous posts, the greatest profit you can made from certain items are when you use them to create Cooked Dishes. The same Strawberry that ships for about 30G can be made into Strawberry Jam which may ship for over 100G.


Desperate Measures

You do have the option of selling items to Chen rather than shipping them. This should be done only in the direst circumstances as he pays less than the item’s shipping value. Any items purchased from Chen can be sold back to him as well but he will pay only 60% of the item’s original price. Furthermore, as shipping items is the method by which many new items are unlocked, it is a poor policy generally to sell Crops to Chen.

As previously indicated, there are exceptions to this, however, in the form of items that cannot be shipped. Accessories created by Charlie can be sold to Chen. Tools that you purchased from Gannon but no longer need can be sold. Likewise, Seeds that you create in your own Seed Maker, although they cannot be shipped, can be sold to Chen.
The prices you will receive for these items are as follows:

Any Tool apart from Fishing Rod: 600G

Fishing Rod: 3000G
Selling your precious Fishing Rod at a loss is a desperate measure at best, but it is good to know that you CAN sell it and when you do, another will appear at Gannon’s shop for the price of 5000G. If you are desperate for quick cash, therefore, you can sell your Fishing Rod and buy a replacement when you can afford to do so.

Teleport Stone: 60000G
Like the Fishing Rod, this is an item that can be sold to Chen in desperate circumstances, if you must have 60,000G instantly for some reason… As soon as it is sold, another will appear in his Menu for a price of 100,000G

More Energy Tips for HM DS and HM Cute

It is interesting to note the very different effects of different cooked dishes made using the same ingredients. For example, using a simple tomato, you can make all sorts of different dishes in Harvest Moon DS or Harvest Moon Cute.

There are players who completely ignore the various effects of 'Recipes' in Harvest Moon games and who make the dish only once in order to complete their Shipping List. There are other players, like myself, who delight in every permutation of Harvest Moon games and who explore every possible avenue from mining to cooking in order to maximise their enjoyment of the world encapsulated in Harvest Moon.

One does forget some details, however, especially when one has played other games and written guides for them in the interim. By writing my new guides for HM Cute, I am able to revisit my original guides for HM DS and improve them.

In both games, it takes almost two seasons to complete the Kitchen with all implements. The Shopping Network offers one item each week and no more, apart from the items offered exclusively to the Harvest Sprites. As your character cannot acquire korobos, the Harvest Sprite items are out of reach. If you pay close attention to the descriptions of those items, you will understand that they are extremely impractical in any case.

Returning to the kitchen, however and to Harvest Moon in general, players should understand that there is a reason why one should collect items and store them even before you are able to buy a Refrigerator or Shelf. Your first opportunity to acquire a Refrigerator and Shelf will occur in the first Summer, but there are many Spring crops and wild items that are needed to complete Recipes. If you keep a few of these in your Rucksack until you are able to buy the Refrigerator and Shelf, you will be pleased that you did.

The kitchen becomes available in the first Summer as well, provided always that you expanded your house once and bought the other items offered by the Shopping Network. As previously stated, cooking implements then are offered each week, beginning with the Mixer. At the start of the second week of Autumn, you should have a Mixer, a Frying Pan and a Steamer, giving you far more choices in Recipes than you had with only a Kitchen.

A Tomato is a Summer crop but it is recommended that you collect quite a few tomatoes and ears of corn and store them in your Fridge before the season ends. You ultimately will be able to order up to three Basements from Gotz and grow crops in any season in them but in your first Autumn, you probably will not have a Basement. In any case, it is rather pointless to expand your house twice and spend your gold on a Basement before the first Winter. Your energy and gold are better spent on a Kitchen, Kitchen implements, tool upgrades and Makers from Grey.

By the second week in Autumn, I usually have three Animal Barns, three Bird Barns, a Mushroom Shed, a Maker Shed, all Makers and a full set of Blessed Tools. I upgrade my house only ONCE in order to be able to buy the Fridge, Shelf, Kitchen and all Kitchen implements as early as possible. If you upgrade your house a second time, the Big Bed will be offered immediately. There is absolutely NO POINT in buying the Big Bed BEFORE you have rescued 60 Sprites and the Harvest Goddess. Even if you have a bachelor at red heart level and have experienced all four of his Heart Events, he will not accept your marriage proposal until the Harvest Goddess has been rescued.

The reason I have 3 Animal Barns and 3 Bird Barns so early in the game is to rescue Sprites, by the way. At this point in the game, I have rescued 59 Sprites. I will be able to rescue the Harvest Goddess within a few days. All I need to do is ship 1 Bell Pepper to rescue the 60th Sprite...

The subject of this post ostensibly was Energy Tips, however, not gameplay tips in general.

Taking 1 Tomato harvested in Summer, one can make the following in the second week of Autumn in the first year.

First, one could eat the Tomato raw. That would give you: +3 SR -1 FR, restoring your Stamina by 3 points and reducing your Fatigue by 1 point. This is NOT the best use for your Tomato, however, as you might have guessed.

Without using any Utensils, you can use the Tomato to make a Salad. 1 Tomato by itself will make a Salad and that will give you +20 SR -5 FR, restoring 20 points of Stamina and reducing your Fatigue by 5 points.

If you have the Mixer, however, you can make Tomato juice with 1 Tomato. That will give you +20 SR -20 FR, restoring both your Stamina by 20 points AND reducing your Fatigue by 20 points!

Thus, if you need both Stamina and Fatigue recovery, use your Mixer and 1 tomato to make a glass of Tomato Juice. It is far more potent than a Salad made with the same tomato.

Furthermore, it is far less expensive to consume two glasses of Tomato Juice made in your own kitchen than to buy a Turbojolt XL from Van for 2000 Gold.

Here again are the values of 1 Tomato in different forms:

1 Tomato raw: +3 SR -1 FR
Salad: +20 SR -5 FR
Tomato Juice: +20 SR -20 FR

As you can see, it pays to use your Kitchen and raw ingredients wisely in Harvest Moon.

Food, food, Glorious Food in Harvest Moon DS

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Cooking and food in general are the subject of great interest in Harvest Moon games and Harvest Moon for the DS is no exception. There are a number of events, some quite hilarious, that deal with food either primarily or peripherally.

More than one Heart Event deals with food and/or cooking. Marlin's 3rd Heart Event occurs at the Blue Bar and results in your character drinking too much and having to be carried home, either by Marlin or by Griffin, depending on the response you give.
Skye's 2nd Heart Event involves a diversion created by the delicious odour of Curry... Curry Rice is the centre of Carter's 3rd Heart Event as he seeks to escape it. In Leia's 3rd Heart Event, you are asked to be her 'taster' for a new fish dish. Ruby's 150 FP Event involves a mistake in seasoning on her part. This is an event that occurs on Thursday in both the 'boy' and 'girl' versions of the game, by the way.

A number of Heart Events involve Ruby's kitchen. You will share a meal with Griffin in his 3rd Heart Event and with Carter in his, unless you fail to confirm his small deception.

Murrey, however, probably has the greatest number of events associated with food. There are events with the Gourmet, one of which is included in a previous post. In one event, Van will offer you a rare delicacy but Murrey will take your place at the counter and instead of giving it to you, Van mistakenly will hand it to Murrey. (That event is included both in the 'boy' and 'girl' versions of the game.

Too much food is the subject of an event between Van and Vesta. They will become quite rude to one another as they bicker over the subject of weight. The event will end with a challenge: they decide to participate in a contest to see who can lose the most weight before their next meeting.

Knowing how to cook greatly, whether your character is male or female, always increases your chances of winning the hearts of every one, but especially of any one you would like to marry. In many cases, an individual's 'Most Favourite' gift is a cooked dish. Completing your Recipe Book always is one of the subsidiary goals in any Harvest Moon game.

Knowing the dishes that each individual loves or detests is extremely important. Giving a character a cooked dish that he/she hates is as bad as giving an ordinary item that is disliked.

Knowing the value of food items in terms of Stamina and Fatigue is vital as well. Your character needs to know which items will restore the most energy... Every item, whether raw or cooked, has different effects in terms of Stamina and Fatigue. Some items actually will increase your Fatigue.

Kai is a character whose appearance is based on food. In the summers, he will open a stand on the beach.

Many of the Festivals in Harvest Moon games are centred on food. Special items such as Rice Cakes and Buckwheat Flour are obtained most easily at Festivals. In some Harvest Moon games, the only method by which to acquire these items is by attending the appropriate Festival. In Harvest Moon DS, the New Year Festival, the Cooking Festival, the Beach Festival, the Harvst Festival and the Year-End Festival all are devoted to Cooking and Eating.

Food and Cooking play an important part even in games like Rune Factory and 'An Innocent Life'. Part of the challenge and enjoyment of any Harvest Moon game is learning how to cook, finding rare ingredients and completing your Cookbook.

The Villa is a Hive of Activity

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There are many events that occur at the Villa, apart from the constant stream of regular visitors who come and go on a weekly basis.

The event with Karen is described in another post. There is a rather hilarious event that involves Van and a 'pot' with a history that dates back to Won, another famous character from 'historical' Mineral Town. The premise of Harvest Moon DS (in both male and female versions) is that it occurs hundreds of years AFTER A Wonderful Life and Friends of Mineral Town. Although characters have the same names and same appearance as their predecessors, they supposedly are NOT the same individuals, but rather their descendants.

In the event with Van, he attempts to sell a rare 'pot' to Romana for 10000000G. Romana replies that the price is far too high and asks him to knock off 'three of the 0s'. Van's response is to reduct the price to 1000000G. In the original FoMT and MFoMT as well as AWL/AnWL, Won's rare item was described as a vase rather than a pot. I am not certain if it is simply a different translation of the original Japanese word or if they are two different items.

Other events that occur at the Villa are events with Sebastian in the kitchen and Romana in her bedroom. There are events between Kate and Lumina as well. All these events are based on your friendship level with the parties concerned. Some are triggered at 100 FP but others at 200 FP. Somee will be familiar to players of the original English boy version of HM DS but others are new to English players.

Many players wondered about Mary's movements. She alone of the young Mineral Town visitors never stayed at the Inner Inn. You could not find her in the guest bedroom at 6.00 a.m. nor could you find her on the road from Mineral Town at any hour. In Cute, she is kind enough to explain her whereabouts between 6.00 a.m. and 8.00 a.m. on Monday, the day of her weekly visit.

Although she claims that she works in the locked room, she will not allow you entry! Perhaps she is lost in her creative labours and will not even hear your attempts to enter...