new crop suggestions

[ijkdenem]

i got a list of fruits both on trees and on shrubs and some grains that i hope get added to the game. almost all of the are growable in poor soil and some are even really cold resistant.

link for video of where i got info for some of the things i suggested here. the video seemed to fit given the game vintage story is like an apocalypse type game.

 

{grains}
barley(make bread or barley tea), oats, sorghum, quinoa, buckwheat(cold resistant i believe)

{fruits}
serviceberry, persimmon, fig, pawpaw, jujube, medlar, aronia(aka black choke berry, also cold resistant), cornelian cherry, elderberry, tree tomato(aka tamarillo/year round harvests), june plum, quince, golden melon, juniper berry(Some juniper berries are edible and safe to eat in small amounts as a spice), cecropi(aka gummi worm fruit), papaya, praying hands banana, muscadine grapes(aka the grape of the south), cabernet grapes, merlot grapes, ground cherry, blackberry, crabapple, (lingonberry, crowberry, bearberry, these 3 grow in cold climes as said by LadyWYT)

{veggies}

cucumber(so we can make REAL pickles), squash (various kinds cuz there are many), * winter melon, winged bean(all parts edible+high in protein), yampi(also known as indian yam), rutabaga, boniato(aka cuban/caribbean sweet potato), satsumaimo(aka japanese sweet potato), lotus root, yellow yam, white pumpkin(stores for longer than orange), taro root, tomatillos, asparagus, broccoli, cauliflower, peppers(mix of spicy/non spicy)

*{NUTS}
coconut, water chestnut, cashews+the cashew fruit(the cashew must be cooked before it is safe to eat but the fruit is edible as fruit/juice/jams/liquor so this is a 2 in 1 deal + a new tree), black walnut trees + nuts

*{OTHER CATEGORY/things that grow like reeds and stuff}

tea leaves (it would be cool to make tea), moringa tree (edible leaves/ground up and used as a energy boosting tea and other things), watercress(grows quick AND can be grown in watery areas like rice/ animals also like it so can be used to bait herbivores to the area if there is not many), chaya(aka mexican tree spinach) stinging nettles(cooked are edible like spinach), sassafras(edible tree roots used to make rootbeer), milkweed(shoots/buds/pods boiled like ocra), staghorn sumac trees(cone shaped red edible parts taste like lemonade/looks kinda like amaranth growing on a tree), rhubarb

*{EDIBLE FLOWERS}
hostas, chicory, dandylions(both used roots as coffee substitutes), rosehips(you get flowers and a food), daylily(2 colored flower cooked tastes like mix of green bean/onion)

{HERBS/SPICES}
spice bush(dried then ground up berries became allspice and twigs were brewed in tea)

Edited September 4 by ijkdenem
added even more stuff AGAIN

[EnbyKaiju]

1 hour ago, ijkdenem said:

rye

Rye is already in the base game, it's the cold-weather resistant grain.

Outside of those, loving the suggestions. I know my Japanese inspired towns would love the tea leaves & persimmons. And barley would be hugely valuable to anyone doing equatorial runs & anyone running a tavern (barley being one of the original beer grains)

[CyberCat05]

Imo there are enough grains and berries in the game.

For grains, the game made an interesting decision to go with more exotic/rustic grains than the modern classic ones. I think the crops in the game pretty much completely cover the uses of the main ones besides Corn. Mayyybe a soft grain like Oats or Barely would be nice, though to keep with the game's spirit I'd pick something more rustic like Millet, though I still think it's unnecessary. Corn is the main one I'm surprised is not in the game. Just like how Rice is in the game Corn is so important to human culture and so distinct from other grains that it seems like a no-brainer. I do think it should be trade exclusive though since it's so vastly different from the plant it was domesticated from.

For berries, there are more than enough varieties in the game. All of the modern classic ones are here as well as 3 varieties of Currant and a few more obscure ones. If anything I think there's way too much berries and that some should be removed, especially since a lot of them all generate in the same areas, have the exact same uses in the game, have the same growing times and have very similar growing conditions. If they added more, maybe Mulberry since unlike the ones in the game it actually grows exclusively on trees. But there are more interesting Tree Fruit to add.

There are a few Fruit Trees in the game but I think that Tree Fruit IRL are so diverse and distinct that you could justify adding more. I'm surprised about a few exclusions of fruit that are historically significant. Coconuts and/or Dates are surprising since there aren't any palms in the game, Bananas/Plantains are very important globally, and Figs are literally the first domesticated crop in history that we know of. For something more exotic I'd go with maybe Durian or Mangosteen. Almonds would also be cool. There's a lot of options.

 

Vegetables are pretty baffling. There are three kinds of Taproot vegetables (two of which from the same family), none of them are beets, and there's only one Tuber in the game, and it's Cassava rather than something like Potatoes or Yams. The only Fruit Vegetable (as in Vegetable that is botanically classified as a Fruit) is Pumpkin, with Bell Peppers being stuck in hell. Squashes are cool but they're closely related to Pumpkins, I'd rather have something completely new like Cucumbers and Tomatoes or Eggplants.

The most baffling crops are Legumes. So the game's cooking system mostly revolves around making stews, right? And Pot Pies, which are just a Stew in a Crust. So Legumes should've been perfect for it since for most of them, their biggest use is being used as stews. But for some reason out of all the Legumes, they chose Soybeans and Peanuts, the two Legumes whose biggest uses AREN'T as ingredients in Stews but rather as ingredients for further processed products, Like Tofu, Soy Sauce, and Peanut Butter, none of which you can actually make in the game. Why were they chosen? It's weird. I would add Chickpeas and Lentils, maybe Green Beans too (I think it'd be boring to add any of the "normal" kinds of beans)

[Facethief]

I think all of these are cool, but I really like the idea of elderberries, cucumbers and squashes.

Bonus points if elderberries get added with herbalism, as they’re good for colds.

[SnapJelly]

On 8/20/2026 at 1:31 AM, ijkdenem said:

cucumber(so we can make REAL pickles), squash (various kinds cuz there are many)

squash and cucumber are both fruits my man

[LadyWYT]

On 8/21/2026 at 7:19 AM, CyberCat05 said:

Imo there are enough grains and berries in the game.

I disagree, at least on the berries part. Reason being is that the arctic and tropics still aren't fleshed out very well, and it would be both beneficial and interesting to have specific kinds of crops that can be found there but not elsewhere. I think this is also part of the reason that Wildcraft is such a popular mod. Additionally, having more varieties of berries that technically fill the same role also means that the spawn requirements can be tightened and proper seasons can be more easily implemented, while still ensuring that the player has good forage options throughout most of the growing season.

There's also the aspect that @Facethief mentioned, in that some varieties might be more valuable for medicinal purposes rather than food, or could potentially even have negative consequences if eaten(or be good for making poisons).

[Stellarbone]

Cucumbers, various gourds, melons, beans, tomatoes, pawpaw, all would be so cool to see. 

[ijkdenem]

On 8/20/2026 at 1:49 AM, EnbyKaiju said:

Rye is already in the base game, it's the cold-weather resistant grain.

Outside of those, loving the suggestions. I know my Japanese inspired towns would love the tea leaves & persimmons. And barley would be hugely valuable to anyone doing equatorial runs & anyone running a tavern (barley being one of the original beer grains)

removed rye. i forgot it was in the game lol

[SnapJelly]

19 hours ago, LadyWYT said:

Reason being is that the arctic and tropics still aren't fleshed out very well, and it would be both beneficial and interesting to have specific kinds of crops that can be found there but not elsewhere

What berries grow in the arctic though? I'm fairly certain the peoples in the poles survive mostly on fish save for what they can trade/import

I agree the tropics could use more variety though, as it is I find it not very interesting to play settled in a warm climate.

[LadyWYT]

1 hour ago, SnapJelly said:

What berries grow in the arctic though? I'm fairly certain the peoples in the poles survive mostly on fish save for what they can trade/import

Lingonberries, crowberries, and bearberries are a few options for colder climates. Ancient Tools added a neat mechanic where you could turn certain types of bark into dough, which would cover grain saturation, and is apparently a method employed by the Sami people. Hunting and fishing are still going to be the primary staples, but it's not like those would be the only options, outside of living on an ice cap.

In my opinion, arctic survival should be based heavily around the idea of a short spring/summer for growing limited crops, foraging edibles, and more bountiful hunting and fishing, with much longer winters to survive. Some materials, like linen, may need to be traded for if they're going to be acquired in large quantities, and the player may otherwise find greenhouses and fertilizer to be a lot more valuable when it comes to agriculture.

[CyberCat05]

On 8/22/2026 at 4:53 PM, SnapJelly said:

squash and cucumber are both fruits my man

They are both fruit and vegetables.

Fruit is a botanical term (seed-producing part of a plant) and vegetable is a culinary term (any part of a plant that is edible for humans and is widely used in cooking with some completely arbitrary exclusions for stuff like certain fruit and grain). They are not mutually exclusive terms.

Edited September 2 by CyberCat05

[Argakyan]

I think the more food options the merrier. One thing I would enjoy seeing in VS is for food to consider the bedrock below soils alongside soil grade, temperature or precipitation to predict the availability of wild crops or berries. The reason for why bedrock is important is that it influences pedogenic variables like the availability of specific minerals and soil pH irl. This should play a role in which what naturally could be found at any given place. Even if there are 10 or 30 options for just grains, alongside aesthetic variance this would introduce more realism and options to build with. 
 

On 8/23/2026 at 3:15 PM, SnapJelly said:

What berries grow in the arctic though? I'm fairly certain the peoples in the poles survive mostly on fish save for what they can trade/import

I agree the tropics could use more variety though, as it is I find it not very interesting to play settled in a warm climate.

I think in VS going towards colder climates I mostly get Cloudberries ingame atm. The game references the Samí directly and other berries they consume which are not yet in VS would be for example Bilberries (imagine the model VS uses for Cranberries, but blue colour). Few people live in icy wastes, but the polar region in Scandinavia, Siberia or Canada are more diverse than media typically represents them. While they're not berries this also made me think of roses: rose hips were a common food in human prehistory and roses can grow in harsh cold climate.

The tropics are a different beast. They're full of numerous edible plant parts in every category.