Crop additions?

[DeanF]

I'd wager that this has been hashed out before, but my search-fu is weak, and heck that's why the subforum is called "Suggestions", right?
I don't necessarily advocate for the addition of all of these- some are just included for (hopefully) useful design discussion.  In particular, despite the inclusion of bighorn sheep and raccoons the devs seem to be going for an Old World flavor.  But they also seem to like ancient things, and to prefer obscure variants- for instance spelt instead of a generic "wheat".

Emmer
Another ancient form of wheat, more heat-tolerant than spelt, and certainly than of rye.  Also more reliable and a bit more drought-tolerant than spelt, though lower-yielding.  But really the difference would require high granularity in the game to make a difference, and it has a lot of overlap with spelt.  It is not nearly as heat- and drought-tolerant as...

Millet
Highly heat- and drought-tolerant, great in porridges.  And really, the hot/dry climates need some fleshing out.  Very short growing season- it grows like a weed- so it might be a good early game "panic crop" to recover from setbacks.  I had a millet infestation in my yard from spilled birdseed once.

Sorghum
Originally from the Sudan... or possibly India?  Another heat- and drought-tolerant option.  Not sure about what niche it would fill that millet wouldn't do better, though.  Can also be used to make syrup, like maize, but I don't think that sweeteners really have a place in the game, do they?

Maize
Only included because I just mentioned it.  I think it's a bad fit for the feel of the game due to it's New World flavor.

Barley
It's niche overlaps that of spelt, but historically was used a lot as animal feed and for brewing, and is a bit more heat/drought tolerant.  Tolerates poor soils, but not as well as rye.

Oats
Possibly a niche competitor with rye?  It is mostly a cold tolerant option like rye, but it is less tolerant of drought and poor soils, too, so maybe?  Rye actually doesn't like waterlogging, but it is a "nothing else will grow here" sort of crop.  Whereas oats are a "cold and wet" crop.

Buckwheat
A pseudo-cereal (like amaranth) from East Asia.  It is also a fast-growing "panic crop", like millet.  Tolerates poor soils, kind of like amaranth.  You'll notice a theme recently about occupied niches, though.

Quinoa
Altitude- and drought-tolerant pseudo-cereal.  Not Old World, so there is that problem, but certainly ancient, and it would fill a niche in high mountainous areas.

Spinach
I'm new, and the wiki is badly out of date, but I think that the only leafy vegetable in the game is cabbage?  One requirement, I suppose, would be that any vegetable be appropriate for stews and soups, and spinach meets that.  Lettuce would not, for instance.  Spinach is a cold-weather crop, it even tolerates a light frost.

Chard
Another leafy vegetable, but it regrows after cutting, so the devs might not like it as a sort of "passive income" plant that doesn't need re-planting every season.

Sorrel
A plant from the buckwheat family that was very common in soups and stews because it is tart and lemony- it is sort of both an herb and a green.

Purslane
A starvation food from hot/dry climates, another leafy vegetable for soups.

Bok Choy
A soup-appropriate leafy vegetable for warmer climates?  Very fast-growing.

Water Chestnut
Could be grown sort of like cattail or papyrus, but solely for it's rhizomes.

Leeks
Ancient, but sort of the same niche as onions.  They are more cold hardy, though- is that enough?  They were even left in the ground over winter as "living storage".  Onions store well, but don't like a frost.  Maybe leeks could just be rare, for variety, and only available as seeds from traders like cabbage?

Potatoes
This one definitely suffers from it's New World character, and also feels like a bad fit for the game, but it does lead us to...

Yams
Several kinds have Old World lineages, often from Africa or southern Asia.  They could supply both grain and vegetable nutrition, sort of how legumes should provide both protein and vegetable nutrition.  And on that note...

Fava Beans
Possibly one of the most ancient cultivated plants, and we need more legumes.  Hopefully at some point they will aid with crop rotation.

Chickpeas
Also an ancient crop, as above.

Lentils
Ditto.  Things are sort of getting redundant again, though.

Vetch
Sort of a generic vining bean, more a family than anything in particular.

Beets
Can be both a food and a dye source?  I don't think sugar beets should be a thing, for the same reason that sorghum syrup and sugar cane perhaps shouldn't (or is it already?)- sugar doesn't seem to fit into the nutrition system.  And it also seems too "Minecrafty".

Mustard
I heard that spices are coming, right?  This is an obvious one for a pseudo-Europe.  As are coriander, dill, garlic, or caraway.  Cumin and anise are more Mediterranean, fennel is already a thing.

Ginger
Another obvious spice, for warmer climates, as are tumeric and black pepper.  Cinnamon could probably be in there somewhere, too.  Fenugreek?

Silphium
A fun option- it is extinct now but was a highly prized spice in the ancient world.  Many theories about what it might have been.  Give it special powers?  Healing when eaten?

Sunflowers
Already in the game, but I wanted to mention that they should be able to be pressed for oil, like flax and olives.  Oh, and most crops that get pressed for oil should leave behind cakes that can be used as animal fodder.

Sesame
Another source of oil.

Hemp
I'll make my pitch again for a fiber and oil source.  Yes, there will be jokes- ignore them. 

Abaca
The source of Manila hemp, from the tropics.  Actually a tree in the banana family, broken up for it's fibers.

Figs
Sort of seems like an almost obligatory warm-climate fruit, especially for an Old Word feel.

Dates
Again, sort of seems vital to warmer Old World settings.

Grapes
Is this in the game already?  Seems like it should be.  Like the beans, though vining might be an implementation challenge.

Beavers
Ok, not a crop.  But if rivers ever get implemented wouldn't beaver dams be neat?  Also- fur!

Madder
EDITED because I just saw this mentioned in another thread, and it's a great idea!  An "earthy" red dye, sort of "brick red".  Or think of it as a little "orangey", it could almost have a color like terracotta at times.  We already have woad for blue- there is a reason that blue and red were the most common colors around.  And on that note, some other common dyes...

Dyer's Chamomile
Bright yellow.

Weld
Also yellow, and from a similar climate, so maybe only one or the other?  You can make green from this and woad combined- multistep crafting!  Or weld using iron as a mordant looks more green.

Saffron
Golden yellow, from warm climates.  Hmm, yellows seem common...  But saffron is different enough from the prior two to be included separately.  And saffron is also a spice.

Murex
Purple, of course.  We could just find them like shells, but they should be very rare.

Henna
Orange-ish.  From Africa, Middle East, and Asia.

Oak Gall
For black.

Walnut
For brown.  Also, nuts!

Kermes
A rich scarlet or crimson red, to contrast with madder, but I'm not sure how harvesting tiny insects might be implemented (it's sort of like cochineal).  Perhaps you just find clusters of them on oaks in warm climates, like the way that you find resin on pines?  It needs a Mediterranean climate, whereas madder is less picky- Kermes should be much more rare than madder!

Fire away!

Edited 9 hours ago by DeanF