Farm Equipment
You can't do much work on your farm unless you have some tools. You can obtain tools for free or buy them from the bazaar. The Manufacturing Windmill by Stuart's hotel can remodel some of the tools by upgrading the tool's star quality, which makes the tool more efficient.
There are six main tools you can use; a Watering Can, Hoe, Hammer, Axe, Sickle, and Fishing Rod. There are also a few minor tools, like the Milker and Sheep Clippers, that help you manage your farm animals. All of your tools can be placed away in your Storage House when you're not using them.
To equip a tool, press the Right-Shoulder button on your DS, then press A to select the tool you want to equip. To use a tool, press the B button. Alternatively, to equip a tool you can open your rucksack (X button) and using your touch screen, move the tool from your rucksack to the EQUIP slot.
Watering Can and Hoe
The Watering Can and Hoe are free tools from Felix. You'll get these tools on your second day in the game when Felix visits your house to explain how to plant crops.
The Hoe is used to till the soil in your crop fields. It must be used on the soil before you can plant seeds and use the Watering Can. Additionally, before you can use the Watering Can you must fill it with water. There is a water well by your first field. To fill the can, walk up to the well and press the B button; if it is the first time you've filled up the Watering Can for the day, you'll also recover 1 Stamina point.
Remember, your crop fields are 6 squares x 9 squares (54 total squares).
Each day, when it isn't raining, water your growing crops with the Watering Can to make them grow. It works best if you water your crops in the morning and then again in the evening after the morning's water has evaporated. The color of the soil will tell you if the crop is in need of water; the soil turns a darker color of brown once the soil square has been sprinkled with water.
Star Quality and Efficiency
Your Watering Can and Hoe have a star quality rank. The tools have half a star when you first receive them from Felix. This means you can affect 1 soil square at a time. The more stars the tool has, the more soil squares it can affect with one use; .5 stars is 1 square, 1 star is 2 squares, 1.5 stars is 3 squares, 2 stars is 4 squares, etc. The most you can cover is a line of 9 squares.
To increase the star quality, place the tool in the Manufacturing Windmill.
- Watering Can + 1 Orichalcum + 1 Material Stone + 24 hours (max) = +.5 star rank
- Hoe + 1 Mithril + 1 Lumber + 24 hours (max) = +.5 star rank
While the Watering Can or Hoe is processing in the Manufacturing Windmill, you can't use it! The upgrade should only take, at most, 24 hours. A good time to work on increasing the Hoe or can's star rank is at the end of a growing season, a rainy day, or during Winter when nothing grows anyway.
Instead of standing in your field and pressing the tool button, you can jump and use the tool to cover a wider area! When your can or Hoe have .5 stars, it is difficult to tell that something different happens when you jump (press A) and then use the tool (press B in mid-air). As you increase the tools' star quality rank, then you will see the difference.
Using the tool by jumping will use up more stamina than standing and using the tool, but the advantage of covering a wider area of your field makes up for the loss of stamina.
| Rank | Standing | Jump (Can) | Jump (Hoe) |
|---|---|---|---|
| .5 stars | 1 x 1 (1 square) | 1 x 1 (1 square) | 1 x 1 (1 square) |
| 1 star | 2 x 1 (2 squares) | 3 x 1 (3 squares) | 1 x 3 + 1 (4 squares) |
| 1.5 stars | 3 x 1 (3 squares) | 3 x 3 (9 squares) | 2 x 3 + 1 (7 squares) |
| 2 stars | 4 x 1 (4 squares) | 3 x 3 + 4 (13 squares) | 3 x 3 + 1 (10 squares) |
| 2.5 stars | 5 x 1 (5 squares) | 3 x 5 + 6 (21 squares) | 4 x 3 + 1 (13 squares) |
| 3 stars | 6 x 1 (6 squares) | 5 x 5 (25 squares) | 5 x 3 + 1 (16 squares) |
| 3.5 stars | 7 x 1 (7 squares) | 5 x 5 + 12 (37 squares) | 6 x 3 + 1 (19 squares) |
| 4 stars | 8 x 1 (8 squares) | 5 x 5 + 16 (41 squares | 7 x 3 + 1 (22 squares) |
| 4.5 stars | 9 x 1 (9 squares) | 5 x 7 + 10 (45 squares) | 8 x 3 + 1 (25 squares) |
| 5 stars | 9 x 1 (9 squares) | 7 x 7 (48 squares) | 9 x 3 (27 squares) |
Sickle, Hammer, and Axe
Three other tools can be purchased from Felix at the weekly bazaar. The tools appear in-order after you purchase the previous one. These three tools have limited use and will likely stay in your Storage House most of the time:
- Sickle: 1000 G. Only used on crops, such as when you harvest Wheat or Fodder Grass or you want to destroy wilted crops.
- Hammer: 8000 G, after you buy the Sickle. Can create Material Stone by using it on Stones, used to break the ice if you want to go fishing during Winter, and can be used on Ore Stones to find rare metals.
- Axe: 4000 G, after you buy the Hammer. Used for breaking Branches into Lumber or for destroying trees that you have growing in your field.
Fishing Rod
Your first fishing rod comes free from Felix on or after Summer 1 of your first year. Felix will visit your house as you leave in the morning and give you the Short Fishing Rod. The Short Fishing Rod is used to catch fish that are closest to the fishing docks. The Medium Fishing Rod can be purchased at Felix's bazaar booth for 3000 G starting in year 2, and the Long Fishing Rod is available in year 4 for 6000 G.
The fishing rods also have star quality ranks, but these stars do not increase the distance the line can cast. Increasing the star ranks of the fishing rods at the Manufacturing Windmill will increase the star rank of the fish the rods can catch. Each of the three fishing rods have their own star rank and require separate upgrades at the windmill.
- Short Fishing Rod + 1 Copper + 1 Lumber + 72 hours (max) = +.5 star rank
- Medium Fishing Rod + 1 Copper + 1 Silver + 1 Lumber + 120 hours (max) = +.5 star rank
- Long Fishing Rod + 1 Copper + 1 Silver + Gold + 1 Lumber + 168 hours (max) = +.5 star rank
A .5 star rank fishing rod can catch fish between .5 and 1.5 star quality. If you work on upgrading the fishing rod, then a 2.5 star fishing rod can catch 1.5-3.5 star rank fish, and a fully upgraded 5 star fishing rod can catch fish ranked between 4 and 5 stars.
Miscellaneous Tools
The Milker and Sheep Clippers come from Enrique when you purchase one of the required animals. When he delivers your first cow, you'll get a Milker. When he delivers your first sheep, you'll get the Sheep Clippers.
A Brush can be bought from Felix for 3000 G after you have had a cow or sheep delivered to your farm by Enrique. The Brush is used to increase your friendship hearts with your cows and sheep. You can't brush your cats, dogs, or chickens.
The Bell will appear for sale at Felix's booth the next week after you buy the Brush. The Bell is not a cat toy. This tool is used for getting your livestock animal's attention so they are easier to herd in and out of the barn if you don't have pets do it for you.
Before you can "talk" to your chickens, you will need to buy the Stethoscope from Felix's booth for 4000 G after you buy the Bell from him. Equip the Stethoscope and then use it (B button) on a chicken to increase your friendship. You can use it on your cows, sheep, and pets too.
The Dog Bone and Cat Bell are used for training your pets:
- Toss the Dog Bone near your dog(s) and it will fetch the bone. You will get +1 training point if the dog notices that you've thrown it ("bark bark"!), and +3 training if it returns the bone back to your feet. If you continue to play fetch with the dog, you will get +1 training for the dog noticing that you've tossed the bone, but it has to retrieve it 5 times before you can earn an additional training point for that day.
- The Cat Bell is similar. If you toss the Cat Bell and the cat notices it, you get +1 training point. Each time the cat touches the Cat Bell, you'll earn +3 training points. Eventually the cat will get bored with the bell and wander off. You can toss the bell back at the cat to on the same day, but it takes 5 touches of the Cat Bell before the cat will earn another +1 training.