A Virtual Harvest

I have written a lot this year about the rewards I've found in gardening--with much help, of course.  Luckily there are great magazines out there, such as Sunset, to which I can refer for advice.  Nearby is also a fantastic nursery, also named Sunset, where I can ask my questions and treat myself to another bag of seeds.  Not all of us are fortunate to have a terraced yard facing south, but there is the options of pots if you have a balcony, as I did when I lived in Benicia.  You can grow herbs inside on a window sill, too.  But if none of these choices is viable, have I got a plan for you:  start a garden using Happy Harvest on Facebook.

 

Don't laugh.  Well, my better half already has.  This all started when my dear grad school friend, Megan, told me about it a few weeks ago as she saw herself becoming sucked in by Facebook.  She told me about this game, and I thought, "Hmph, what the heck."  It's been about three weeks now, and this silly game has become my new guilty pleasure.  Never mind the fact that I have a huge garden in the back:  I have to make sure my chicken is fed and that the peas are watered.

 

The game, or perhaps, "virtual experience," is simple enough.  You start out with some seed money, and you begin with the Baltic Avenue of produce, carrots and turnips.  Make sure you eliminate your weeds and pests--now this is where I have a slight quibble with Happy Harvest.  You won't learn anything about organic gardening here.  The "pests" look like worms (which I thought were a must for a garden," and you use something that looks like a spray (actually they resemble tubes of toothpaste) in order to kills those weeds, too.  You can also tend--or terrorize--your friends' gardens as well.  Fortunately, Megan and I always had a great relationship while we were at USC together, so we look after each others' farms.  Meanwhile, I think Hannah and Jerry, with whom we also studied at USC, seemed to have lost interest, but I keep checking their garden anyway.  This isn't the only "farm" game on Facebook:  "Farmville" also is popular, but I lost interest after a couple days . . . it's just not as realistic as Happy Harvest (don't laugh!).  I haven't done much research into who's behind Happy Harvest, but it looks as if it's Japanese in origin: there are plenty of discussions and groups devoted to this game, but who has time when I've got my peas and pumpkins to hatch (and real beets and kale that have started to sprout in the backyard!).  If you've lived in Asia, as I have, you'll appreciate the "Hello Kitty" feel of it!

 

Obviously this innocent game could devolve into something like Facebook's "Mafia Wars" because you can plant pests and weeds, and steal crops as well.  Megan actually games this system, so if I accidentally plant pests instead of killing them (I get the icons confused, or Ara will take over the laptop in a fit of pique and plant pests all over), she'll just remove them and gain "experience" points.

 

As you tend your farm, you slowly rise to a higher and higher level.  In three weeks I had saved enough money to buy a chicken and cow (please don't tell PETA), and even a dog to guard my farm.  If anything, Happy Harvest is a harmless way to spend a few minutes a day--I think for kids, it teaches rigor and consistency in making sure tasks are completed.  I think it's a pretty good lesson in Capitalism 101, too.  Unlike Second Life, which I found way too complicated, it's actually a harmless way to stay connected with friends . . . provided you don't sit in front of your computer all day waiting for that hen to lay eggs.