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[Fantersam]

I didn't know that it differs farming so much. So when I turn of farming in Masterworks it's the regular farming system?

[smakemupagus]

No, but it's a lot closer.  For example MW always allows underground plants in every season, his reasoning being that underground temps are stable.  Grazing always takes less land in MW (easier).  Egg laying is always is smaller batches (harder). 

but, the "Harder Farming" setting is much, much harder.  Like, one or maybe two crop per year instead of nine.

[Dunamisdeos]

I think the problem in thread arises from the difference from food to meals. I don't use masterwork, so the following is for vanilla farming.

You Do Not Need Meals for the dwarves to be fed. Their hunger is fully satisfied with a raw plump helmet.
If you are making roasts out of straight plump helmets, you are doing it wrong. This is something that should never happen. You do NOT get a seed from COOKING, but you DO get a seed from a dwarf eating a RAW PLUMP HELMET, as well as from using them for brewing. Therefore, wait until you have many different types of food (and an excess thereof) to make roasts in the kitchen.

So. take plump helmets off your cooking list. Have Chef Dwarfsalot cook something else. You can satisfy basic needs (both food and drink) with nothing but plump helmets. Your dwarves will eventually get bored of it and get a minor unhappy thought. This is solved by having multiple types of plants. You can trade for fancy food and drink, or trade for above-ground seeds (my preference is the latter).

Honestly, whenever I farm, I have one max size plot. This plot can last you up into the hundreds of dwarves with any non-dabbling farmers. But really, for an early fort, half that should do fine. Just make sure you have enough farmers (maybe 6 at your population? Probably excessive but its always good to have a surplus). 100 food is not enough food. If my food or drink drops below 500 I flip my wig. You want to make sure you have a surplus, especially since you are going to have alot more than 20 dwarves in the near future.

Oh, and remember your farmers don't need to be dedicated farmers. Set some masons or what-have-you to farm. They can pick up the slack when someone else is a'sleepin.

As far as "forbidding" a door, you can lock a door by going over it with [Q] and toggling it.

[joeclark77]

Oh, and remember your farmers don't need to be dedicated farmers. Set some masons or what-have-you to farm. They can pick up the slack when someone else is a'sleepin.

I disagree with this here.  A dedicated planter is one of the most important things you can have.  The effects thereof reverberate through many industries.  Larger stacks of plants means larger stacks of booze, of meal ingredients, of thread and cloth and dye, so a dedicated planter with high skills make lots of other workers more efficient.

[Dunamisdeos]

Don't get me wrong, its very useful to have dedicated farmers. BUT in a 20 man fort you can share the load a bit.

[FuzzyZergling]

Just a tip, don't cook any of your raw plants. To get plant-based cooked meals grow quarry bushes, cave wheat, and sweet pods; after they're processed (to get the seeds back) you can make huge, valuable meals with the products.

[fractalman]

Ok. lets put the important info into one spot....

1.  Turn off all kitchen activity for now.  Kitchens destroy seeds (aka spawn)
2.  You can never brew the seeds, and they're terrible for meal value, but you can cook them if you must, or for lols. 
3.  Raw plump helmets can be eaten by dwarves; this frees the seed. 
4.  Brewing frees up the seeds.
5.  Booze can be cooked into a meal, but does require one solid item to start the process.  a seed is acceptable
6. Turn on cooking only when you have plenty of seeds in reserve.
7. Eventually, switch to a mill-able like longland grass or cave wheat, which free their seeds before they reach the kitchen.

A 5x5 plot is plenty. Actually, it's more than enough unless you want to export meals.