I dunno if this take is unpopular but I love that they have unique traits, I want this for more plants later. Anything that takes a while to perfect and gets better with time further pushes unique playstyle focuses and interdependency for multiplayer, and searching for that perfect cranberry bush is pretty fun imo.
It also keeps food a challenge in the early-mid game because you aren't stacking 200 berry bushes outside your house.
rewarding time and resource input is the way to go imo, I'd personally like something like butchery in the future that lets you gather more meat from animals if you set up a work station and tools for it.