How to Start a Farm in World of Warcraft
Dreamhowl started playing World of Warcraft in Burning Crusade and owns the expansions up to Legion. She loved collecting pets and mounts!
What is a Farm?
A farm in World of Warcraft is exactly what it sounds like - a garden where you can cultivate different types of fruits and vegetables. You’re probably thinking that this sounds a lot like the popular Farmville app or a rip-off of Harvest Moon. However, I would argue that having a farm in World of Warcraft is nothing like that at all. The ability to start a farm is both a relaxing and rewarding experience that can raise your reputation as well as your cooking profession.
The release of the Mists of Pandaria expansion meant the addition of the Pandaren race, the Monk class, new instances, challenge modes, the pet battle system and the introduction of the Tillers. While listed as a faction in your character’s Reputation section, the Tillers are more than that; earning reputation with the Tillers through daily quests introduces the ability to farm, and having a farm gives you the ability to grow the crops you need for Pandaria-level recipes!
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Farming crops in world of Warcraft can lead to fun, useful and cool rewards!
Jessica Marello, Fair Use: World of Warcraft (video games)
How to Start a Farm
Once players hit level 85, a quest appears in their Quest Log that leads them to the Docks (Alliance) or Airships (Horde) to investigate the appearance of a new island. This questline will lead players to the shores of Pandaria, where they must fight the opposing faction’s invading force and befriend the Pandaren race. Once players reach the village of Halfhill in the Valley of the Four Winds, they can begin their farming adventure.
1. Talk to Farmer Yoon
Farmer Yoon owns Sunsong Ranch, but he doesn't do much work himself.
Jessica Marello, Fair Use: World of Warcraft (video games)
Farmer Yoon is an NPC that lives on the edge of the village of Halfhill at Sunsong Ranch. When you visit his farm, you learn that he just inherited it and isn’t the most experienced farmer. However, he wants to join the Tillers and will ask for your help removing eight of the boulders strewn all over the farm. This will start a questline to teach you about farming, from purchasing seeds to tilling the soil, planting the seeds and harvesting crops.
2. Till the Untilled Soil
Before you can plant seeds on Yoon’s farm, you will need to till the soil. To till the soil, right-click on it while adjacent to the dirt plot. Not all soil can be immediately tilled, however. If your soil plot is “occupied” and something is rustling underneath, clicking on it will disturb a small virmen that you will have to kill. If there is a weed where your soil usually is, right-clicking on it will begin the action of removing it; pressing 1 repeatedly will pull the weed until it comes out of the ground.
3. Plant Packets of Seeds
Once you plant your seeds they will sprout into plants that only take a day to grow!
Jessica Marello, Fair Use: World of Warcraft (video games)
Seeds are sold in the Halfhill Market next to Sunsong Ranch by a vendor named Merchant Greenfield. He carries basic seeds, such as cabbages and carrots, and more rare seeds that require increased reputation. After buying the seeds you want, head back to the farm and left-click on one of your tilled soil plots; right-click on the seeds in your bag to plant them. Once they are planted, they will sprout into a plant of one of the following:
How to Handle Growing Crop States
| Plant State | Plant Solution |
|---|---|
Alluring | Defend the crop from Plainshawk |
Growing | Do nothing |
Infested | Use Vintage Bug Sprayer |
Parched | Use Rusty Watering Can |
Runty | Tap Spacebar to jump |
Stubborn | Use Pull while interacting with crop |
Tangled | Pull weed 15 yards away |
Wiggling | Defend the crop from Virmen |
Wild | Use Flex when interacting with crop |
If your plants are labeled as “growing”, you don’t have to do anything extra! However, in most cases your crops will need to be tended to in one of the forms listed above. You can find the Rusty Watering Can and Vintage Bug Sprayer near the base of the the stairs to Yoon’s house; right-clicking on them will permanently place them in your inventory for use. As your reputation with the Tillers increases, you will have the opportunity to purchase an automatic waterer, bug sprayer and land tiller.
4. Harvest Grown Crops
The great thing about farming in World of Warcraft as opposed to other farm simulations is the wait time on harvesting your crops; most crops are ready to harvest after a day of growing. Furthermore, once you’ve planted and tended to your crops, you don’t have to do anything before harvesting them. And if you forget to harvest them for a few days, they’ll still be there when you head back to the farm … and they won’t be rotten! To harvest your crops, simply right-click on them when within range.
5. Cook Pandaren Recipes
There are six master chefs at the Halfhill Market that can teach players cooking skills.
Jessica Marello, Fair Use: World of Warcraft (video games)
What are you going to do with all of the crops you’ve been growing? You are going to cook with them! The new zone of Pandaria offers players who never maxed their cooking profession an easy way to learn in exchange for some gold; Sungshin Ironpaw (Guardian of the Ways) is a cooking trainer and supply vendor that will help players level their cooking with Pandaren recipes. There are six master chefs located in the Halfhill Market that offer further training:
- Kol Ironpaw: Master of the Grill
- Mei Mei Ironpaw: Master of the Pot
- Yan Ironpaw: Master of the Steamer
- Anthea Ironpaw: Master of the Wok
- Bobo Ironpaw: Master of the Brew
- Jian Ironpaw: Master of the Oven
Each master offers specialization in the cooking skill that require the crops you can grow on your farm. The Tillers each have their own favorite dishes, and if you cook them you can give them away as gifts in daily quests! Earning reputation with each individual Tiller can open up new opportunities to expand Sunsong Ranch and get more room to grow crops.
The Perks to Farming
Raising reputation with the Tillers can lead to them doing favors at Sunsong Ranch.
Jessica Marello, Fair Use: World of Warcraft (video games)
Working the farm at Sunsong Ranch has many benefits for players who are willing to stick with it! While growing crops can further your cooking profession, there are plenty of rewards to appeal to most World of Warcraft players, such as mounts, cosmetic items, recipes and profession seeds.
1. Ironpaw Tokens
Nam Ironpaw trades players exclusive items for Ironpaw tokens earned from dailies.
Jessica Marello, Fair Use: World of Warcraft (video games)
Ironpaw Tokens are earned from the master chefs in Halfhill Market who offer daily quests for players who have reached level 90. This currency can also be earned when first learning new methods of cooking from each master chef. Ironpaw Tokens can be spent on numerous rewards from cooking items to sacks of food by speaking to Nam Ironpaw:
Ironpaw Rewards, Descriptions and Costs
| Ironpaw Reward | Item Description | Item Price |
|---|---|---|
Black Pepper | Ingredient | 1 |
Rice Flour | Ingredient | 1 |
Sack of (Meat) | Contains 5 (Meat) | 1 |
Sack of (Fish) | Contains 5 (Fish) | 1 |
Sack of (Crops) | Contains 25 (Crops) | 1 |
100 Year Soy Sauce | Ingredient | 1 |
Recipe: Great Pandaren Banquet | Teaches you this recipe | 10 |
Recipe: Pandaren Banquet | Teaches you this recipe | 10 |
Portable Refrigerator | 32 slot cooking bag | 10 |
Flippable Table | Unleash rage by flipping a table | 40 |
Apron | Unique tabard | 50 |
Frying Pan | Increases Cooking skill by 10 | 50 |
Rolling Pin | Increases Cooking skill by 10 | 50 |
Cooking School Bell | Summon and dismiss Nomi, your student in the Cooking Tradeskill | 50 |
There are sacks of different types of Pandaren meat, fish and crops that can be purchased to use in your cooking skill if you have the tokens and are in a pinch. The Apron, Frying Pan and Rolling Pin are all Account-bound and improve your cooking skill when equipped. The Portable Refrigerator is my favorite reward: this 32 slot cooking bag holds all of your cooking ingredients and cooked dishes!
2. Tillers Rewards
Gina Mudclaw (Tillers Quartermaster) sells items to Revered or Exalted players.
Jessica Marello, Fair Use: World of Warcraft (video games)
Earning reputation with the Tillers gives players access to different cosmetic and profession rewards. Once players reach Revered, they can start to purchase rewards from Gina Mudclaw, the Tillers Quartermaster in Halfhill Market. Becoming Exalted with the Tillers unlocks all of the reputation rewards. The rewards vary in price depending on their type and value:
Tillers Rewards, Descriptions and Costs
| Tillers Reward | Item Description | Item Price | Reputation |
|---|---|---|---|
Pandaren Scarecrow | Right click to plant Pandaren Scarecrow | 194 Gold 44 Silver 44 Copper | Revered |
Spring Blossom Seed | Plant a Spring Blossom Sapling | 10 Silver | Revered |
Enigma Seed | Plant an Enigma Seed | 1 Gold | Revered |
Magebulb Seed | Plant a Magebulb Seed | 1 Gold | Revered |
Raptorleaf Seed | Plant a Razorleaf Seed | 1 Gold | Revered |
Snakeroot Seed | Plant a Snakeroot Seed | 1 Gold | Revered |
Songbell Seed | Plant a Songbell Seed | 1 Gold | Revered |
Windshear Cactus Seed | Plant a Windshear Cactus Seed | 1 Gold | Revered |
Reins of the Black Riding Goat | Teaches you to summon this mount | 1,166 Gold 66 Silver 66 Copper | Exalted |
Reins of the Brown Riding Goat | Teaches you to summon this mount | 388 Gold 88 Silver 88 Copper | Exalted |
Reins of the White Riding Goat | Teaches you to summon this mount | 2,527 Gold 77 Silver 77 Copper | Exalted |
Gin-Ji Knife Set | Chop, mince and julienne a fresh humanoid or beast corpse | 194 Gold 44 Silver 44 Copper | Exalted |
Tillers Tabard | Tabard | 7 Gold 77 Silver 77 Copper | Exalted |
Recipe: Spicy Salmon | Teaches you this recipe | 77 Silver 77 Copper | Exalted |
Recipe: Spicy Vegetable Chips | Teaches you this recipe | 77 Silver 77 Copper | Exalted |
Winter Blossom Sapling | Plant a Winter Blossom Sapling | 10 Silver | Exalted |
Mount collectors will love the opportunity to get all three varieties of the riding goat, while tabard collectors will love the addition of the Tiller tabard. More importantly, the newly available profession seeds will help players level professions other than cooking and make it easier to gather the necessary materials and reagents.
3. Taking Over the Farm
Once you inherit the farm, Yoon moves to the Halfhill Market with the other Tillers.
Jessica Marello, Fair Use: World of Warcraft (video games)
Aside from Tillers rewards, reputation with individual Tillers and Ironpaw Tokens, players can inherit Sunsong Ranch from Farmer Yoon! After reaching Exalted with the Tillers, players can accept a quest titled “Inherit the Earth” from Nina Mudclaw, in which Yoon is asked to take on a role in the Tiller’s Council. This leaves him no time to run the farm himself, but let’s face it - you’ve been running the farm for him the whole time anyway!
By inheriting Sunsong Ranch, you can set your Hearthstone to the farm from the Farmer’s Journal inside the house. This means that Yoon’s dailies will disappear, but you won’t need them once you become Exalted with the Tillers. Instead, players will gain access to Work Order quests that offer reputation to different factions for planting certain types of seeds. You can only do Work Order quests if you have unlocked dailies with that particular faction.
There is more to farming in World of Warcraft than meets the eye! While you aren’t required to use the farm in Pandaria, you are now familiar with the rewards that can come from using your strength for something other than fighting. Feel free to leave your comments, tips and suggestions about working on Sunsong Ranch in the comment section below.
© 2013 Jessica Peri
Comments
Jessica Peri (author) from United States on June 10, 2015:
@mikeydcarroll67 It makes me, too, sometimes. But I just know that I will start over, play with features like this, and then feel lonely, and unsub again. I did enjoy it when I was playing, though!
mikeydcarroll67 on June 08, 2015:
This almost makes me want to get back into playing the game again!
