Both of my parents were raised on small farms with their brothers and sisters and I assure you they were not a hobby, they were a way of life that provided food and money from selling crops and animals to provide for their needs.
Both of my parents were raised on small farms with their brothers and sisters and I assure you they were not a hobby, they were a way of life that provided food and money from selling crops and animals to provide for their needs.
They may be among the few.
Also, when you say small, how small do you mean?
Less than 100 acres? If so, what did they do with such a small plot of land?
Many small farms can't run how they used to. From what I've read, many small (200-ish acre) farms in the US are only making around $8000 per year, most farmers are having to find other work to survive, thus, their farm is more of a hobby, than their main source of income.
Meanwhile, in Australia, in some areas, the size of farms are shrinking, as hobby farms and weekend tree changers are becoming more popular. There's been laws made about how small a patch of rural land can be, if they don't have them, then all the farm land gets swallowed up by people wanting oversized back yards.
My parents have a farm, it's several thousand acres in size. Most of it is uncleared but is suitable for grazing. They're sheep farmers.
Regardless of what each of us think of as 'normal' sizes for farms, I think the game could do with a little flexibility.
I'd really like to see sim farmers who can grow/shrink the size of their farm. So if you only want a single lot farmlet, you can have that, or if you want a 6 lot farm, you can go big, and hope the cows come home!
It'd be nice to be able to employ other sims to help run your farm. It would be even better to have to provide workers with accommodation, and use a system similar to how a butler operates. And also have the option to hire specialist seasonal workers too. Like a shearer for your sheep, or a hay maker, or a crop sprayer (could even be done by plane).
It'd be nice to be able to set tasks for your workers like:
They grew crops like corn, beans, peas, potatoes, tomatoes, etc. and hay for some animals. They had a dairy and several chicken houses, some for new chicks, some for hens and some for those meant for market. Also, pigs.
My grandmother also had an impressive flower garden.
They grew what they needed to save or can and sell the rest at the farmers market.
I love this idea! I’d really like the addition of sewing machines/sewing because I associate making your own clothes as part of country living and/or living off the grid.
Sewing is also a nice idea!
We could use wool from sheep to create our own clothes with the sewing machine, all natural and fits the "off the grid"/ eco-friendly gameplay very well!
And rocking chairs for the front porch. water filtration/collection systems, you can get sick from drinking from unboiled sources. bring haystacks back. make compost heaps/bins.
Ahh this would be such a good game pack! As much as I love City Living, I just want to escape to the countryside ever so often and so "off the grid"/country farming would be an A+
A thing on Technophobe Sims (aka. "The Hillbilly/"Off the Grid" trait"):
>They hate anything technological, if they're around technology they get Uncomfortable
>By default they have no telephone, instead there's just a "list" similar to how the phone used to work before the phone UI upgrade with basic things like "Travel", "Travel With" and "Plan Social Event"
>They can purposely break televisions and other technology
>They're way more likely to die while trying to fix broken electronical objects
For those sims who need children to help with taking care of the farm, maybe there could be a homeschooling option as well as the addition of a self-employed career for farmers.
I think a FARM pack should be an EP not a GP. I want a big farming world with room for big farms, medium sized farms and small garden farms. Some for veggies and orchards, some for just animals, some small family gardens with maybe a few animals. And some for OFF THE Grid. Plus, I's like a farmers market (like the park) where my sims can sell farm produce or crafts.
It would be great to have a quilting frame so my sim could have a quilting club over to quilt and then sell that quilt for a ton of money.
Farming combined with off the grid would be a great time to play an Amish family.
YES! This is one of my wants. I want off the grid options and farming. I think this should be an EP because i think this would be something that needs it's own world and the world should be big. Maybe even introduce bigger lot size than we have now.
Make 'off the grid' lot type and not the whole world, that makes it more versatile and then it could be used outside of the world that comes with the pack.
I want cows, chicken, sheep, alpacas or llamas, pigs. Crops, maybe we could get like preset crop plots that then could be harvested either by hand or with a tractor (i'm saying presets as i don't know how else they would route the tractor to do the harvesting but if it would work with free placing of crops i'm all for that.)
Sewing and knitting sounds awesome too but i was rooting for them to come in hobbies pack, but what ever pack they come in, i want them.
Canning: yes, nectar making:yes (especially with the added effect), jam:yes. Yes to all 'off the grid' stuff!
Homeschooling should be patched for everyone i think, but farming should be a career or just patch in self employed for everyone too.
I want this pack only i dont want it to be a game pack. I want it to be an expansion pack that adds an entire new world and gameplay and a lot more stuff like travel on horses and all that country living
I really want a FARM pack. I don't have a problem with animals like we had in S3 that are tied to an object like a shed or coop. They could add other animals tied to objects like pigs to a sty and goats to a hay bale (to jump from), etc. The devs, however have said that they want to do something different so I suggest an empty barn that can be placed on your farm lot. In it will be empty stalls, each for a different animal. A stall for cows, a chicken coop. goats, pigs, etc. Each of these can be added as your sim can afford to add more animals (or all at once). The barn would also keep the animals from being out in bad weather (which in my games, seems to happen more often than sunny weather) and keep your sim safe and dry while tending to them. There could be an attached silo that stores all the animal by products like milk, wool, eggs, feathers. etc. Then if crafting is added, the stored products can be used to create things to sell or just sell the products themselves at a farmers market.
With a combo pack of farming and off the grid, I could create Amish farms and households to play, the best combination of both farming and off the grid.
Oh! I want this so badly!
This kind of pack fits my game play style amazingly well, and I really do hope they would add canning and nectar making 'cause I'd use those all the time.
I wouldn't mind it being a farming/off the grid combo personally. I think they fit well together and offer something unique.
Also, as someone else suggested, make the no electricity or water be a lot trait so that we can use it in other worlds too. (Although it wouldn't make much sense in City Living)
Oh! I want this so badly!
This kind of pack fits my game play style amazingly well, and I really do hope they would add canning and nectar making 'cause I'd use those all the time.
I wouldn't mind it being a farming/off the grid combo personally. I think they fit well together and offer something unique.
Also, as someone else suggested, make the no electricity or water be a lot trait so that we can use it in other worlds too. (Although it wouldn't make much sense in City Living)
Nectar making and a canning station would be amazing! Finally do something with the fruits and veggies in the game
Comments
They may be among the few.
Also, when you say small, how small do you mean?
Less than 100 acres? If so, what did they do with such a small plot of land?
Many small farms can't run how they used to. From what I've read, many small (200-ish acre) farms in the US are only making around $8000 per year, most farmers are having to find other work to survive, thus, their farm is more of a hobby, than their main source of income.
Meanwhile, in Australia, in some areas, the size of farms are shrinking, as hobby farms and weekend tree changers are becoming more popular. There's been laws made about how small a patch of rural land can be, if they don't have them, then all the farm land gets swallowed up by people wanting oversized back yards.
My parents have a farm, it's several thousand acres in size. Most of it is uncleared but is suitable for grazing. They're sheep farmers.
Regardless of what each of us think of as 'normal' sizes for farms, I think the game could do with a little flexibility.
I'd really like to see sim farmers who can grow/shrink the size of their farm. So if you only want a single lot farmlet, you can have that, or if you want a 6 lot farm, you can go big, and hope the cows come home!
It'd be nice to be able to employ other sims to help run your farm. It would be even better to have to provide workers with accommodation, and use a system similar to how a butler operates. And also have the option to hire specialist seasonal workers too. Like a shearer for your sheep, or a hay maker, or a crop sprayer (could even be done by plane).
It'd be nice to be able to set tasks for your workers like:
My grandmother also had an impressive flower garden.
They grew what they needed to save or can and sell the rest at the farmers market.
Sewing is also a nice idea!
We could use wool from sheep to create our own clothes with the sewing machine, all natural and fits the "off the grid"/ eco-friendly gameplay very well!
All my creations are CC free.
>They hate anything technological, if they're around technology they get Uncomfortable
>By default they have no telephone, instead there's just a "list" similar to how the phone used to work before the phone UI upgrade with basic things like "Travel", "Travel With" and "Plan Social Event"
>They can purposely break televisions and other technology
>They're way more likely to die while trying to fix broken electronical objects
It would be great to have a quilting frame so my sim could have a quilting club over to quilt and then sell that quilt for a ton of money.
Farming combined with off the grid would be a great time to play an Amish family.
Make 'off the grid' lot type and not the whole world, that makes it more versatile and then it could be used outside of the world that comes with the pack.
I want cows, chicken, sheep, alpacas or llamas, pigs. Crops, maybe we could get like preset crop plots that then could be harvested either by hand or with a tractor (i'm saying presets as i don't know how else they would route the tractor to do the harvesting but if it would work with free placing of crops i'm all for that.)
Sewing and knitting sounds awesome too but i was rooting for them to come in hobbies pack, but what ever pack they come in, i want them.
Canning: yes, nectar making:yes (especially with the added effect), jam:yes. Yes to all 'off the grid' stuff!
Homeschooling should be patched for everyone i think, but farming should be a career or just patch in self employed for everyone too.
With a combo pack of farming and off the grid, I could create Amish farms and households to play, the best combination of both farming and off the grid.
This kind of pack fits my game play style amazingly well, and I really do hope they would add canning and nectar making 'cause I'd use those all the time.
I wouldn't mind it being a farming/off the grid combo personally. I think they fit well together and offer something unique.
Also, as someone else suggested, make the no electricity or water be a lot trait so that we can use it in other worlds too. (Although it wouldn't make much sense in City Living)
Nectar making and a canning station would be amazing! Finally do something with the fruits and veggies in the game