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[FantasticDorf]

I have a suggestion for a easy layout for the future development of farming within the game, specifically for above ground plants (since underground plants are spontaneous until otherwise)

The core suggestion is a 'planting zone' or planting area that facilities where dwarves (with relevant hauling) will place collected seeds/grass (elaborated on in more depth later) to grow and mature.

A area of irrigated ground with channeled out outside access is designated for the interaction area would be legible for a planting area.

Gathering grass seeds is as easy as setting a gathering interaction zone, enabling grass collection and then letting the dwarves gather excess grass (dense grass for instance) which they will use to fill in the orchard zone (or planting zone if you want to call it that) placing down a thin layer & allowing it to spread to all relevant adjacent tiles. This method allows the cultivation of bamboo for pasturing panda's and other creatures & means of use.

By making grass a distinct plant commodity rather than a foodstuff, it will not bother your food stockpiles and can be fashioned into other things that may be of great interest to elves (high shear ultra light 'wooden' bamboo swords & armour) as well as a construction good when fashioned into blocks.

> Dwarves will path to offer grazers grass as a first priority instead of food and it leaves behind no seeds for clearing within cages and taming jobs. Grazing civilizations will also allow grass priority within their diet and have a tag available for them to use grass in food stockpiles and therefore food goods (bamboo stews etc).

As to actual management, the menu could borrow the newly implemented material specification menu for discriminating what plant/grass/tree growths to place from dwarf stocks, and place them randomly (trees have a prerequisite of not being placed within a certain distance of other saplings because of foiliage blockage, typically being three spaces, wheras plants are not fussy as long as it has a covering of grass)

Manually seeding plants and trees from acquired trade goods is the only way to gain new growths in biomes that do not support them for obvious reasons of not having them around. Freezing temperatures require heating to maintain certain plant growths without dying, and extreme heat requires cooling via having no external access.

!Warning - Collecting good/evil grass from within a area will contaminate it and only certain kinds of growths can occur on good/evil grass, this comes with all the side effects except animal spawns which is predetermined but can be altered by spreading growths and releasing animals that can enter that evil/good biome *however you may gain them in modding or extreme coincidence by vanilla*)!

A model example of a tree orchard via a plantation zone vs a typical wood tree farm is...

Orchard - Used for the collection of fruit/nuts. A single 1 tile (or a streched distance with the non desired path enclosed tiles removed from the format) designated tree sapling area in a eligible zone. Key- (+) Path (O) tree trunk)

+++
+O+
+++

(+) Path (O) tree trunk)

Tree farm - A large area where designated trees are planted at random for collection in a X amount of time (individual growth could be a raw factor meaning fast growing trees as a modding possibility) spacing is less of a priority

++++++++++++
+  O              +
+                  +
+       O         +
+O           O   +
++++++++++++

Plants that are manually put down in planting areas are to be collected by herbalists or allowed to die upon maturation at a later date, this could be considered a way of processing a excess of seeds, decorative plantations (keeping mind this thread is specing to the current latest models of the game) and 'plant' gatherables as is found on strawberries that are inedible (I will double check whether that was a fixed bug at a later date).

Further reading

On Orchards and Greenhouses author -viskaslietuvai (March 06, 2008) *Note - I have expanded on a few of the details within this thread.*

Farming suggestion. From building to zone author - Captain Mayday (April 02, 2010) *Note - Quite similar, however i have expanded upon grass much more and this thread specifies the areas to be specifically applied for typical farm irrigation.

Feedback and links to additional relevant threads would be greatly appreciated

[SixOfSpades]

Things like collecting hay (to feed grazers), orchards, and compost have been suggested before, but never (AFAIK) with a whole lot of enthusiasm, partly because surface-world herbology, and especially silviculture, feel a whole lot more elven than dwarven. Which is not to say that dwarves couldn't do those things, only that they probably wouldn't do them unless they (or at least a few of the fort's Growers/Herbalists/Woodcutters) were pretty friendly with the local elves--maybe having a few elves being permanent residents of the fort should be a requirement.

Ideally, I see being able to set pastures / orchards / vineyards / etc. in a manner similar to stockpiles, in that the player is able to specify which plants are allowed to grow there, which animals are allowed to roam there, and in which seasons. If you want a nice, evenly mown lawn of nothing but grass and sheep, you can do that--and watch the Herbalists come and uproot the weeds whenever they pop up, perhaps even automatically replanting those tiles with approved grass.