This post is rated N for Number Crunching. This post contains scenes of optimization and min/maxing which may not be suitable for all audiences. Viewer discretion is advised. Before we begin: a disclaimer, because some joker is going to try to troll the post with a 'just use joja, can get greenhouse by end of spring' message. This is quite true. This also indicates that the would-be troll cannot apparently read the title which states 'completing pantry bundles' not 'unlocking the greenhouse', and I look forward with some anticipation to quoting this exact paragraph in response to them. As a second disclaimer: This is ONLY for purposes of getting the Pantry bundles unlocked as soon as possible. This is not going to optimize your profits, nor will it optimize your effort or lack thereof. The only care here is unlocking that bundle as quickly as possible. In fact, for those purposes, we will be deliberately playing sub-optimally. Now that we've gotten that out of the way, there are some other factors which I need to address: * While we might take advantage of the Cart Vendor to bypass certain things, we are not depending on it. In short, we will assume that the Cart Vendor is a balmy git who cannot fathom why we do not wish to purchase his salmonberries at 1,020g each, no matter how many times he lists them, and absolutely, adamantly refuses to sell ANYTHING which might help to complete this bundle. This is actually going to be a lowball, because there is a short list (which I will provide later) which can make this task significantly easier. * We will be assuming that you are NOT getting anything from the caves. While I do suggest Bats over Mushrooms for unlocking the greenhouse as early as possible, on the chance that tree fruit might drop and make the Artisan bundle easier to complete, we won't depend upon it. Mind you, I haven't had a run yet which didn't give me at least one tree fruit before fall, so again this is a lowball, but I would prefer to go in with the worst possible set and still complete our mission. The Bundles To get this done, we need five specific bundles completed: Quality Crops Bundle: This requires 5x gold-star produce. However, importantly, it only requires 3 out of the four of: Parsnips, Melons, Pumpkins, and Corn. We will, of course, be going with Parsnips, Melons, and Corn as our three crops of choice to quality. Pumpkins can go rot. Spring Crops Bundle: This requires one each of: Parsnip, Potato, Green Bean, and Cauliflower. This is trivial. Summer Crops Bundle: This requires one each of: Tomato, Hot Pepper, Melon, and Blueberry. This is also trivial. Animal Crops Bundle: This is actually the hardest one for me, personally. it requires any five of the following: Large Egg (brown), Large Egg (white), Large Milk, Large Goat Milk, Duck Egg, and Wool. Much of our optimization will be around this bundle, and how to have a reasonable chance of getting them by Fall 10. Artisan Bundle: This is a tricky one. It requires six of a rather generous list which includes: Jelly, Honey, Cheese, Goat Cheese, Cloth, Truffle Oil, and the six tree fruits. Well, Jelly and Honey are relatively easy. Cheese and Goat Cheese follow naturally from needing milk and goat milk for the animal bundle. That only leaves needing one of cloth, truffle oil, and the six tree fruits. So as you can see, this bundle is actually not that bad, particularly if you get lucky with a bat cave. Fall Crops Bundle: This one, at first glance, seems absolutely impossible, because it demands a Pumpkin, which takes two weeks to grow. How, then, are you getting it in the middle of the second week? The answer is, of course, Deluxe Speed-Gro. The Tactics For Spring and Summer, we have a lot to do, and playing in this manner might be quite a change-up from what you normally do. And I'll go ahead and state flat out that this isn't the most profitable way to spend your spring OR summer. Of course, that's not really the point of this exercise, now is it? Spring Parsnips... well, they try, honestly they do. But... profit-wise, they're one of the worst crops in the game. However, they are a very rapidly growing crop, and we need five of them for the quality bundle. My tactic is thus: * Purchase all your additional parsnips and put them all in the ground on day 1. * When they come up, sell them. Buy 40 parsnip seeds (plus whatever else you'd like to plant, such as potatoes as a cash crop, cauliflower, and green bean for the spring crops bundle) but DO NOT PLANT THEM until the FOLLOWING day. Also, make sure you have 80 Sap by the end of the 5th day. Overnight, you will gain a level of Farming, and learn how to make both scarecrows and fertilizer. When dawn comes, make a scarecrow, and make 40 fertilizer. Plant the parsnips on fertilized ground. * Repeat previous step every 4 days as necessary until you have 5x gold-star parsnips. * If you get it done before the spring festival, you can plant strawberries in their place. Alternately, plant cauliflower in their place and hope for a gold-star cauliflower to put in the stew at the Luau for maximum friendship bonus. * You will need a LOT of money going into Summer. In addition to your crops, you will need a Coop, a Barn, and the Big upgrade to both as soon as possible, by the fourth week of Summer at the latest. This means potentially needing to do a lot of fishing at the lake or on the river on rainy days. So, to recap the important dates: * Day 1: purchase 25 Parsnips, plant all 40 immediately. * Day 5: harvest parsnips. Purchase 40 parsnip seeds, purchase at least 1 potato seed, at least 1 cauliflower seed, and at least one green bean starter, but DO NOT plant the parsnips yet. Also make sure you have at least 80 sap. In lieu of purchasing cauliflower, if you have completed the first museum objective of 5 items, you get cauliflower seeds for free. * Day 6: Make Scarecrow, Make 40 Fertilizer. Hoe, water, and Fertilize the parsnip field, then plant parsnips on fertilized ground. Then plant whatever else you like. Don't forget to make sure they all stay in the radius of your scarecrow. In addition, because today is saturday, unlock the tidal pool at the beach, and make sure to collect and keep at least one coral. Sell the rest if you like, but keep at least one piece of coral. * Day 10: Second batch of Parsnips come up. If you have 5x gold star, never plant another parsnip. Otherwise, plant 40 more parsnips on the still fertilized ground. * Day 15: Second batch of parsnips come up. If you have 5x gold stars, never plant another parsnip. Otherwise, rinse wash and repeat. Personally, I've never had to wait longer than this, but RNG may be particularly unkind to you. * At some point, have a Pine Tree, a maple tree, and at least one (but probably at least 20) oak tree(s) tapped. You need the maple to make a bee house for the honey, you need the pine tar to make deluxe speed gro, and you need Summer This is on a very tight schedule, and is going to require some cash in hand in very short order. You may need to do quite a bit of fishing to have the money necessary. * 40 Melons on Fertilizer (or, if you have it unlocked, Quality Fertilizer, but since that's Farming 9, I'm going to assume you don't have it). You have enough time to get a second plot of 40 melons on the same fertilized soil before the end of the season if you don't get 5 gold-stars on your first go. * 16 Corn, also on Fertilizer. Corn produces more crops than melons do, and continue into the fall, which gives you a much greater chance of getting the five gold-star corn before the deadline. * At least one blueberry (I know, they suck now, but you need one for the bundle), one tomato, and one hot pepper for the summer bundle. Also in the summer we need a Silo, a Coop, and a Barn. We will get 4 chickens and 4 cows as well. Fortunately, the chickens pay themselves off fairly quickly, and the cheese you can process the milk into is one of the best food items in the game, plus sell for a generous amount as well. The trick here is that you want both your coop and your barn down ASAP, because it takes the animals a week to fully mature, then you have to get them up in hearts until they can drop their large products for the animal crops bundle. The second trick is in upgrading both the barn and the coop before the 21st. Because you need goats and ducks, and you need a large goats milk and a duck egg. And again, it takes a week to fully mature and time to get hearts up. Then you need an Apple tree up before the end of the first week. This is a real killer because you're already spending a ton of money on crops. The reason I specifically call out an Apple tree is that they are cheaper than a Pomegranate tree, they mature in the fall, and you'll need three apples for the fodder bundle later on anyway. So, to recap the time-line: *Summer 1: Plant: 40 Melons (fertilized), 16 Corn (Fertilized), 1 Tomato, 1 Blueberry (or however many if you want to use this as your first summer cash crop), 1 hot pepper. You may also want 1 poppy, not just for the chef bundle but also because poppy honey sells for more than mead does. *Summer 7: Have an Apple Tree planted. Make sure you already have a silo. Place a Coop. *Summer 10: Buy 4 chickens. You ideally want 2x white and 2x brown chickens to maximize chances of a large egg of each type, but at least one of each color is mandatory. If you get all the same color, sell one, try again. If you can afford a Barn after that, then great, but if not, wait until your melons/blueberries come in on the 14th. *Summer 14: Melons come up. Should have at least 5x gold star melons. If not, sell non-gold melons, plus whatever produce you have, save one each for the bundles, and buy 40 more, putting them back in the same fertilizer. Also, if you don't have your barn yet, get it going today. *Summer 17. Get Cows. Upgrade Coop to Big Coop. *Summer 20: Purchase at least one duck, preferably 4. Upgrade Barn to Big Barn. *Summer 23rd: Buy 4x goats if possible. * If you were able to afford a Barn on Summer 10, you shave three days off of each total, and are able to have a Big Barn and Coop by the 20th. * Summer 24th: If you have Farming skill of 8, and have an oak resin and a coral, then you can make a Deluxe Speed Gro. Otherwise, you will need to also unlock the Vault Bundles by the end of today so that ttomorrow you can purchase one from Sandy. Fall Fall is where the magic happens, cap'n. This is where we complete the pantry bundle and unlock the greenhouse. And really, it is relatively stress-free, in that you don't need to worry about tight timing on purchases or anything like that. Your primary concern will be with your livestock, getting them mature and friendly as soon as possible, especially the goats for the Large Goat Milk. Regular goat milk goes into the cheese press for the goat cheese for artisan bundle, and same with regular milk into cheese. Fall 1: Purchase at least one seed of each: Eggplant, Pumpkin, Yam. If you got a Yam from a Duggie in the mines, you don't need to buy one. Plant whatever else you like. I'd suggest a Fairy Rose for the highest-profit honey, and whatever you'd like for your cash crops. Plant the Pumpkin on the Deluxe Speed-Gro. This is made with an Oak Resin and a Coral, you should have the farming skill by now. Fall 7: your apples ripen. This completes your Artisan Bundle. By now, you should have the animal bundle completed, the quality crops bundle completed, the spring and summer crops bundles completed. Fall 10: Pumpkin comes up. Harvest, turn in. Watch the star go flying over as you complete the bundle, and the cute little Junimo follow you around. Things that can make this easier A flexible battle plan is more likely to succeed. There are some things which, if they happen, can dramatically affect how rapidly you can complete this. These were not taken into account in the above timings, but can affect them significantly if you take advantage. Cart Vendor There are certain items which the Cart Vendor might sell which will significantly speed up your progress: * Large Goat Milk. This means never having to upgrade your barn, fish up soggy newspaper and recycle until you get cloth if you don't get lucky with something else for the artisan bundle to replace the goat cheese * Duck Egg. This means never needing to upgrade your coop * Wool. This means either your barn or your coop don't need to be upgraded, your choice. * Pumpkin. If you get a Yam from a Duggie, purchasing this pushes your success date clear back to Fall 7 due to the Eggplant (since Corn was completed in the Summer). Possibly as early as Fall 6 if you plant the eggplant on deluxe speed gro. * Eggplant. If you get both this and the pumpkin, you can theoretically complete the Pantry in Summer. It would require exceptional luck, however. * Any tree fruit. This will help complete the Artisan bundle that much faster, and may end up meaning you don't need to plant your apple tree as rapidly, you can afford to wait a bit, or even skip it entirely (for the purposes of this challenge). But especially the large goat milk and the duck egg need to be snapped up if they show up, because you don't have a whole lot of time to get them before the deadline. Bat Cave The Bat Cave can also help you complete the Artisan Bundle faster. Every tree fruit you get from your bats is one less thing to do. This can combo with the above. If you get a tree fruit from your cave, AND you get, say, Large Goat Milk from the vendor, you don't need a Big Barn or goats, because you can use the tree fruit in lieu of the goat cheese in the artisan bundle. Likewise, if you get multiple, that means that fewer things you need to do for the artisan bundle, making your job that much easier. Don't rely on it, but do take advantage of it. Fishing Fishing up Soggy Newspaper is easy. Just fish at your farm (unless you happen to be on the fishing farm map), and you are guaranteed to get some kind of trash each time. Keep recycling the Soggy Newspaper, sooner or later it'll pop a cloth, which is needed for the artisan bundle. This means you can skip either the big barn (if you already have the Large Goat Milk from the Cart Vendor) or the apple tree. In fact, this is a pretty solid alternative to the apple tree, if you are on a tight budget and can't get the apple tree down in time. In Conclusion Completing the Pantry Bundle by Fall 10 is absolutely consistently doable, without relying on the Cart Vendor OR the Bat Cave for drops. But if they do, you can theoretically complete it even earlier, or simply complete it much more easily, skipping on certain upgrades depending on what you can luck into, and saving you both time and money. I hope this has been of use.
Another fairly easy way to get wool is to gift Emily daffodils to 3 hearts. She'll send you some in the mail after that. If her mail doesn't have wool you can even restart the day since mail gifts are random.
I'll have to make a note of that. I'm not powergaming this run, but my goal is to complete the CC by end of year 2, so that may come in handy anyway.
