Powdermelon

Powdermelon

Type	Crop
Season	Winter
Seed	Powdermelon Seeds
Sell Price	60g
Energy	63
Health	28

The Powdermelon is a Winter fruit, and it gives the outdoor farm something to grow in the one season that is usually bare. Its seeds turn up from digging, fishing treasure, prize boxes, monsters and the Raccoon family's shop. The melon is cheap to sell, but it is easy to multiply with a Seed Maker. Nine of them planted in a square can also fuse into a Giant Crop. For most farms it is a Winter side project rather than a money crop. It is also a good reason to keep the fields tilled through the cold months.

The in-game description reads: Named for the powdery coating that forms on the surface, this melon is crisp and sweet, with a delicate flavor.

Growing

Powdermelon Seeds can be dug up from seed spots, the grass tufts that appear on the ground, and from artifact spots. Grass tufts give seeds far more often than artifact spots do. Golden Fishing Treasure Chests, the Prize Machine in the Mayor's Manor and Mystery Boxes can also contain them. Crates and barrels in the Mines, Skull Cavern and Volcano Dungeon sometimes hold seeds, and Iridium Golems drop them.

Most of these methods only give Powdermelon Seeds from late Fall to late Winter, so the seeds arrive just in time for the season. The Raccoon Wife's Shop is the exception and sells them for two Pine Cones each at any time of year. A Seed Maker also turns harvested melons back into seeds. That is the easiest way to build up a large Winter field from a handful of finds.

The plant does not regrow. Each harvest needs a new seed. A seed planted on the first day of Winter leaves room for three harvests before Spring. Each new seed goes in on the day of the last harvest.

Powdermelon can grow into a Giant Crop. Nine fully grown melons in a three-by-three square, all watered, have a small chance each day to merge into one giant melon. A giant crop is cut down with an Axe and drops far more melons than the nine plants would have given on their own.

Prices

Sold raw, the Powdermelon is one of the cheaper fruits. Silver, gold and iridium melons sell for a quarter, a half and double the base price more, and the Tiller profession adds 10%.

A Keg makes Powdermelon Wine worth three times the base price, and a Preserves Jar makes Powdermelon Jelly worth twice the base price plus 50g. For a cheap fruit like this the two come out almost equal, and the jar finishes in a fraction of the time. Jelly is the better use for most farms. A Dehydrator takes five melons at once and returns a pack of Dried Fruit by the next morning.

The Artisan profession adds 40% to the wine, the jelly and the Dried Fruit. The quality of the melon does not carry over into any of these goods, so normal-quality melons are the ones to process.

Sell prices by quality, with the bonus from each profession.

Quality	Price	Tiller (+10%)
Normal	60g	66g
Silver	75g	82g
Gold	90g	99g
Iridium	120g	132g

Uses

Powdermelon is mainly a selling and processing crop. Its biggest practical use is as seed stock. A Seed Maker can turn one melon into more seeds and keep the Winter field growing year after year.

At the Feast of the Winter Star, Pierre's booth can sell a single Powdermelon for 2,500g. That price is far above the value of the melon, so growing it is always the better route.

At the Sewing Machine, Powdermelon works as a white dye on dyeable clothing.

Gifts

The Powdermelon follows the usual pattern for fruit that does not grow on trees. Demetrius, Jodi, Kent, Linus and Pam like Powdermelon. Robin and Sandy share that view, and so do the bachelors and bachelorettes Harvey, Leah and Shane. Abigail, Haley, Jas and Vincent dislike it. The rest of the villagers are neutral. It is a filler gift at best.

Notes

A giant melon does not have to form on the day the crop ripens. The daily chance keeps rolling for as long as the nine ripe melons stay in the ground and watered. Leaving a full square unharvested for a few days improves the odds.

Giant crops need open soil on the valley farm, outside the Greenhouse, so the square has to be planted in an ordinary field.

All Crops

Every crop, with its season, growth time and normal-quality sell price.

Crop	Season	Growth	Price
Blue Jazz	Spring	7 days	50g
Carrot	Spring	3 days	35g
Cauliflower	Spring	12 days	175g
Garlic	Spring	4 days	60g
Green Bean	Spring	10 days	40g
Kale	Spring	6 days	110g
Parsnip	Spring	4 days	35g
Potato	Spring	6 days	80g
Rhubarb	Spring	13 days	220g
Strawberry	Spring	8 days	120g
Tulip	Spring	6 days	30g
Unmilled Rice	Spring	-	-
Ancient Fruit	Spring, Summer, Fall	28 days	550g
Tea Leaves	Spring, Summer, Fall	20 days	-
Blueberry	Summer	13 days	50g
Hops	Summer	11 days	25g
Hot Pepper	Summer	5 days	40g
Melon	Summer	12 days	250g
Poppy	Summer	7 days	140g
Radish	Summer	6 days	90g
Red Cabbage	Summer	9 days	260g
Starfruit	Summer	13 days	750g
Summer Spangle	Summer	8 days	90g
Summer Squash	Summer	6 days	-
Tomato	Summer	11 days	60g
Corn	Summer, Fall	14 days	50g
Sunflower	Summer, Fall	8 days	80g
Wheat	Summer, Fall	4 days	25g
Amaranth	Fall	7 days	150g
Artichoke	Fall	8 days	160g
Beet	Fall	6 days	100g
Bok Choy	Fall	4 days	80g
Cranberries	Fall	7 days	-
Eggplant	Fall	5 days	60g
Fairy Rose	Fall	12 days	-
Pumpkin	Fall	13 days	320g
Sweet Gem Berry	Fall	24 days	-
Yam	Fall	10 days	160g
Powdermelon	Winter	-	60g
Broccoli	-	-	-
Cactus Fruit	-	-	75g
Grape	-	-	80g
Pineapple	-	-	-
Qi Fruit	-	-	-
Taro Root	-	10 days	100g