Sunday, June 23, 2013

The Vegetable Garden

The latest contest on Howrse is the Vegetable Garden.

Until 4th July you can plant seeds, grow vegetables and harvest gifts from them in your vegetable patch. The gifts range from aging points, tack and turnips to Nyx Packs, 5th Elements and even the new wind Divine - Skeiron.

You earn seeds by logging on each day and completing various missions around the game. There are currently 7 vegetable patches available for you to grow your seeds in (this will increase later on in the contest).

How do you grow your vegetables?
  • Sow your seeds
  • Your vegetables grow at your first connection of the day
  • You can water your vegetables to increase their growth (at first, once every 8 hours)
  • You can earn fertilisers by opening Horns of Plenty to boost your plants' growth
  • Once your plant is fully grown, harvest your vegetables and you will earn a random gift from the ones available for that plant
There are 5 types of seeds available:

Tomato seeds

Gifts: Eolus' Wind, Croesus' Fortune, Daphne's Laurels, 1000e, 5000e, Made-to-Measure Saddle, Made-to-Measure Bridle, 10 x Energy Mash, 10 x Caloric Mash, 20 x Turnips
Growth: + 5% at first connection of day, +10% at each watering (uses 12 gallons from your water tank), +30% with fertiliser

Corn seeds

Gifts: Achilles' Heel, Boreas' Lunge, Philotes' Stroke, Golden Spurs, Black Orchid, Pandora's Box, Artemis' Arrow, Plutos' Parchment, 10,000e, 10 x aging points
Growth: + 4% at first connection of day, +8% at each watering (uses 24 gallons from your water tank), +24% with fertiliser

Eggplant seeds

Gifts: Aphrodite's Tears, Fertiliser, Horn of Plenty, Philosopher's Stone, Harmony Pack, Chronos' Timer, Zeus' Lightning Bolt, Fertility Wand, Water of Youth, Helios' Ray
Growth: + 3% at first connection of day, +6% at each watering (uses 36 gallons from your water tank), +18% with fertiliser

Cauliflower seeds

Gifts: 5th Element, Themis' Scales, Titan's Challenge, Hestia's Gift, Nyx Pack, Morpheus' Arms, Hera Pack
Growth: + 2% at first connection of day, +4% at each watering (uses 48 gallons from your water tank), +12% with fertiliser

Pumpkin seed

You get this seed for completing the contest tutorial. Plant it straight away. If you manage to grow this seed and harvest your pumpkin you will win Skeiron, the new Divine horse.

It grows by 1% for every other vegetable you harvest. You can also give it fertiliser to gain 1% growth.

So, this contest is a choice dependent on which gifts you want to earn. If you want to go for the Divine it's best to plant the tomato seeds as they grow more quickly and will earn more points for your pumpkin seed. If you don't, it's best to go for the higher value seeds and see what Black Market items you will earn.

Good luck and let us know what you decide to go for!

Lucy