Can't find any barren soil (newbie)

The first mainline Harvest Moon game developed by Natsume. Nintendo 3DS. [ Game Guide ] JP release = None. NA release = Nov 2014. EU release = Jun 2015.
Velvet
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Post  Posted:

I'm playing a Natsume-developed HM for the first time, and I can't figure out how to find or make barren soil.

I'm still in Spring (but really in eternal Winter) of the first year, and according to the guides one can grow mutated spinach in dry soil, so this should work! So I dug around everywhere accessible to me but haven't found a dry spot at HE-3 (or close to that) anywhere.

So I tried digging and filling myself, because filling always produces dry soil, however, no dice! None of my 40 spinach mutated this way. My conslusion was that the filled soil returns to being lush the very next day. To confirm that I tried digging and filling without planting, then I checked the soil the next day, and yeah it was lush again...

I really can't figure this out. The land is lush everywhere I look :(
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greensara
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Post  Posted:

I haven't played Lost Valley, but the mutations and types of soil systems are pretty similar in Skytree Village I believe. In Skytree, if you wanted dry soil to stay dry it had to be a good distance from water, otherwise it would turn back to full on greened up or mixed. Maybe that's the case? Or maybe you could build up the area more?
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Cherubae
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Post  Posted:

^ Yep, basically. The place where the spinach is being planted is too close to a source of water. Barren soil is far from water.
Velvet
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Post  Posted:

How far from water? I tried to find the farthest spot from water that I could and I still failed. Maybe that tiny river down the mountain mucks things up... I'll try digging through the mountain to remove it.

I have another question, if that's okay: is Skytree Village or Seeds of Memories very similar to this game? I've heard that Seeds of Memories have the same characters as this game (the same bachelors), and I wonder if their dialogue and events are the same, too... That'd be real lame of Natsume. On that note, I'm confused about Skytree Village and Light of Hope: they seem to share their characters, too.
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Cherubae
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Post  Posted:

Barren soil looks very dry and brown. There are pictures on the Fogu guide of the soil qualities. If your soil doesn't look dry and cracked, then it's not barren soil. If it DOES, then you're in the right spot.

Skytree Village is basically Lost Valley version 2 - same game, but new characters and storyline. Seeds of Memories is a bit of a different game. Instead of requiring players to terraform their lands, in SoM you have to go to different areas to get different soil qualities. Natsume has kept that method in place for Light of Hope and One World.

There will be reappearing characters throughout Natsume's games, just as there are in Marv's Story of Seasons series.
Velvet
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Joined: Jan 26, 2012 10:52 am

Post  Posted:

Thanks, I've found a few dry soil squares and managed to grow a couple of baby spinachs! I guess there's not enough dry soil because it's been snowing all the time? I'm not used to such nifty details as weather influencing soil. I wonder if I can ever look at SoS games the same way again after this Natsume game. I wish SoS made farming harder and more detailed, but instead SoS is getting easier and easier (even though I adored The Trio of Towns).
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