Do not sell your seeds
Seeds are your only source of expansion; selling them dismantles the loop. This is the first thing the community videos stress.
Mechanics · read from the game’s data
Graveyard Keeper 2 farming
Farming in Graveyard Keeper 2 is a closed loop: seeds go into a bed, the bed grows them, the harvest gives back crops and seeds, and the crops go to the millstone, the brewing stand or the kitchen. This page writes the loop’s numbers down — how many seeds a planting costs, what separates the five bed tiers, each crop’s quality requirement, what the nine fertilizers do, how a harvest amount is worked out, and what upgrading costs. Numbers and names come from the game’s own tables and strings; anything from a video or a forum thread is marked as such.
How the loop runs, in order
- 1
Get seeds
Seeds come from three places: bought from the merchant, made by a Seed Generator (one batch every 10 ticks — this build has one for wheat, onion and cabbage only), and recovered from your own harvest (the bed's seed yield plus Seed Master). The first batch comes from Herm; the story quest asks for 16–20.
- 2
Dig a bed
There are five bed tiers, and the game writes the green talent each one wants into its own name (I 1, II 3, III 6, IV 10, V 14). Digging beds is itself what advances the Gardener inspiration.
- 3
Fertilize (optional)
A fertilizer is an effect that hangs on the bed rather than a consumable you re-buy each sowing: peat and Farming Fertilizers raise the bed's quality, Headstart fertilizers add growth progress, Crop Boosting fertilizers add growth cells. How many you can stack is set by the bed tier (0 / 1 / 2 / 2 / 2).
- 4
Plant
The game's own tutorial line: “To plant seeds, take them from your inventory. Planting costs 4 seeds.” A planting costs 4 seeds by default (the game also ships a “Thrifty farmer” buff that reads “use fewer seeds when planting crops”), takes 4 ticks and 1 energy, and pays 1 green technology point.
- 5
Wait
A bed starts at 120 ticks (2:00 on screen); the bed tier cuts that straight off (−0 / −10 / −20 / −30 / −40), and the Harvest Prayer's God of nature cuts 20 more.
- 6
Harvest
A ripe crop takes 4 hits at 1 energy each. The harvest pays green technology equal to that crop's quality requirement and advances the Earth Power I inspiration.
- 7
Where it goes
Wheat becomes flour at the millstone, seeds become seed oil there too, hops become beer at the brewing stand, grapes become juice at the vine press and then wine in the barrel, and vegetables become food in the kitchen. The processing recipes live on the milling, brewing and compost table.
The five bed tiers
| Bed | Base quality | Growth cut | Fertilizer slots |
|---|---|---|---|
| Garden Bed I 1 green (farming) talent | 1 | — | — |
| Garden Bed II 3 green (farming) talent | 3 | −10 tick | 1 |
| Garden Bed III 6 green (farming) talent | 6 | −20 tick | 2 |
| Garden Bed IV 10 green (farming) talent | 10 | −30 tick | 2 |
| Garden Bed V 14 green (farming) talent | 14 | −40 tick | 2 |
What you can grow
Each row is one planting line: a crop's different seed grades are separate recipes with their own quality requirement. The column is named after the game panel’s own label; the seed’s tooltip writes the same number as “Required mastery”, and the tutorial states the same ladder as talent — “the higher your and bed’s green talent, the greater the harvest”. A bed below that number cannot collect the full base yield, and going above it grows more per tick.
| Crop | Seed | Seeds | Req. | Plant | Grow | Harvest | Feeds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Wheat |  Wheat seed | ×4 | 2 | 4 tick · 1 energy | 120 tick | Wheat the bed's own yield ＋ Farmer ＋ Farmer II Wheat seed the bed's own yield ＋ Seed Master Leaf ×2 | Flour Paper glop |
 Carrot |  Carrot seed | ×4 | 4 | 4 tick · 1 energy | 120 tick | Carrot the bed's own yield ＋ Farmer ＋ Farmer II Carrot seed the bed's own yield ＋ Seed Master Leaf ×2 | Carrot cutlet Carrot soup Vegetable soup Vegetable salad |
 Flax |  Flax Seed | ×4 | 5 | 4 tick · 1 energy | 120 tick | Flax the bed's own yield ＋ Farmer ＋ Farmer II Flax Seed the bed's own yield ＋ Seed Master Leaf ×2 | Flax Thread Carpet Paper glop |
 Beet |  Beet Seed | ×4 | 6 | 4 tick · 1 energy | 120 tick | Beet the bed's own yield ＋ Farmer ＋ Farmer II Beet Seed the bed's own yield ＋ Seed Master Leaf ×2 | Grated beets Beet slices Vegetable soup Vegetable salad |
 Cabbage (grade 1) |  Cabbage seed (grade 1) | ×4 | 8 | 4 tick · 1 energy | 120 tick | Cabbage (grade 1) the bed's own yield ＋ Farmer Cabbage (grade 2) the bed's own yield ＋ Farmer II Cabbage seed (grade 1) the bed's own yield Cabbage seed (grade 2) the bed's own yield ＋ Seed Master Leaf ×2 | Cabbage soup |
| Cabbage (grade 2) | Cabbage seed (grade 2) | ×4 | 10 | 4 tick · 1 energy | 120 tick | Cabbage (grade 2) the bed's own yield ＋ Farmer Cabbage (grade 3) the bed's own yield ＋ Farmer II Cabbage seed (grade 2) the bed's own yield Cabbage seed (grade 3) the bed's own yield ＋ Seed Master Leaf ×2 | Cabbage soup |
| Cabbage (grade 3) | Cabbage seed (grade 3) | ×4 | 12 | 4 tick · 1 energy | 120 tick | Cabbage (grade 3) the bed's own yield ＋ Farmer ＋ Farmer II Cabbage seed (grade 3) the bed's own yield ＋ Seed Master Leaf ×2 | Cabbage soup |
 Onion (grade 1) |  Onion seed (grade 1) | ×4 | 10 | 4 tick · 1 energy | 120 tick | Onion (grade 1) the bed's own yield ＋ Farmer Onion (grade 2) the bed's own yield ＋ Farmer II Onion seed (grade 1) the bed's own yield Onion seed (grade 2) the bed's own yield ＋ Seed Master Leaf ×2 | Onion rings Toast with onions |
| Onion (grade 2) | Onion seed (grade 2) | ×4 | 12 | 4 tick · 1 energy | 120 tick | Onion (grade 2) the bed's own yield ＋ Farmer Onion (grade 3) the bed's own yield ＋ Farmer II Onion seed (grade 2) the bed's own yield Onion seed (grade 3) the bed's own yield ＋ Seed Master Leaf ×2 | Onion rings Toast with onions |
| Onion (grade 3) | Onion seed (grade 3) | ×4 | 14 | 4 tick · 1 energy | 120 tick | Onion (grade 3) the bed's own yield ＋ Farmer ＋ Farmer II Onion seed (grade 3) the bed's own yield ＋ Seed Master Leaf ×2 | Onion rings Toast with onions |
 Pumpkin (grade 1) |  Pumpkin Seeds (grade 1) | ×4 | 12 | 4 tick · 1 energy | 120 tick | Pumpkin (grade 1) the bed's own yield ＋ Farmer Pumpkin (grade 2) the bed's own yield ＋ Farmer II Pumpkin Seeds (grade 1) the bed's own yield Pumpkin Seeds (grade 2) the bed's own yield ＋ Seed Master Leaf ×2 | Pumpkin soup Baked pumpkin |
| Pumpkin (grade 2) | Pumpkin Seeds (grade 2) | ×4 | 14 | 4 tick · 1 energy | 120 tick | Pumpkin (grade 2) the bed's own yield ＋ Farmer Pumpkin (grade 3) the bed's own yield ＋ Farmer II Pumpkin Seeds (grade 2) the bed's own yield Pumpkin Seeds (grade 3) the bed's own yield ＋ Seed Master Leaf ×2 | Pumpkin soup Baked pumpkin |
| Pumpkin (grade 3) | Pumpkin Seeds (grade 3) | ×4 | 16 | 4 tick · 1 energy | 120 tick | Pumpkin (grade 3) the bed's own yield ＋ Farmer ＋ Farmer II Pumpkin Seeds (grade 3) the bed's own yield ＋ Seed Master Leaf ×2 | Pumpkin soup Baked pumpkin |
| Crop | Seed | Seeds | Req. | Plant | Grow | Harvest | Feeds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Hops |  Hop Seeds | ×4 | 7 | 4 tick · 1 energy | 120 tick | Hops the bed's own yield ＋ Farmer ＋ Farmer II Hop Seeds the bed's own yield ＋ Seed Master Leaf ×2 | Beer |
 Grapes (grade 1) |  Grape Seeds (grade 1) | ×4 | 12 | 4 tick · 1 energy | 120 tick | Grapes (grade 1) the bed's own yield ＋ Farmer Grapes (grade 2) the bed's own yield ＋ Farmer II ＋ Grape Master Grape Seeds (grade 1) the bed's own yield Grape Seeds (grade 2) the bed's own yield ＋ Seed Master Leaf ×2 | Grape Juice |
| Grapes (grade 2) | Grape Seeds (grade 2) | ×4 | 14 | 4 tick · 1 energy | 120 tick | Grapes (grade 2) the bed's own yield ＋ Farmer Grapes (grade 3) the bed's own yield ＋ Farmer II ＋ Grape Master Grape Seeds (grade 2) the bed's own yield Grape Seeds (grade 3) the bed's own yield ＋ Seed Master Leaf ×2 | Grape Juice |
| Grapes (grade 3) | Grape Seeds (grade 3) | ×4 | 16 | 4 tick · 1 energy | 120 tick | Grapes (grade 3) the bed's own yield ＋ Farmer ＋ Farmer II ＋ Grape Master Grape Seeds (grade 3) the bed's own yield ＋ Seed Master Leaf ×2 | Grape Juice |
In the harvest column, “the bed’s own yield” is the variable the game’s growing recipe reads; it moves with the bed’s quality and growth cells. The perk names after it are the player skills that add to it.
How a harvest adds up
- Crop amount = the bed’s own yield + Farmer + Farmer II; seed amount = the bed’s own seed value + Seed Master. Both sums are written into the game’s growing recipe, so the perks add flat amounts rather than odds.
- Every crop also drops 2 leaves, and those are what the compost pile eats: 8 leaves return 2 peat there (doubled again by Compost Chemist), so growing crops is itself how fertilizer gets made.
- A ripe crop takes 4 hits at 1 energy each, and the ripe object itself carries a mastery gate of 2; finishing it pays green technology equal to the crop’s quality requirement and advances the Earth Power I inspiration.
- The game counts harvests itself: the Master Farmer achievement is set at 100 harvests, and its own text reads “You’ve harvested 100 crops. Enough for the whole Town!”
- A bed accumulates its yield cell by cell: the game’s growing recipe adds +1 to the crop counter and +1 to the seed counter alternately across 20 cells, and whether a cell counts is decided by the bed’s quality clearing the threshold — which is what the panel’s “chance of successful growth tick” means.
- A higher-grade seed does not only grow its own grade: grade-1 cabbage seeds also hand back grade-2 cabbage (raised by Farmer II), so growing above your seed grade is a route the data itself provides.
Fertilizers
A fertilizer is not a consumable but an effect hung on the bed: applying one is a 0-tick action, and the bed keeps the bonus afterwards. The effect text is the game’s own item description.
| Fertilizer | In-game text | Value | Stack | How to make it |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Peat | Adds +1 to the garden bed | quality +1 | 99 | Leaf ×8 → Compost Pile |
| Headstart Fertilizer I | Adds 1 craft progress | growth progress +1 | 30 | Peat ×2 ＋ Weak growth elixir ×1 → Formulation Bench |
| Headstart Fertilizer II | Adds 2 craft progress | growth progress +2 | 30 | Peat ×4 ＋ Rich growth elixir ×1 → Formulation Bench |
| Crop Boosting Fertilizer I | Adds 1 craft length | growth cells +1 | 25 | — |
| Crop Boosting Fertilizer II | Adds 2 craft length | growth cells +2 | 30 | Peat ×2 ＋ Dream Dust ×1 → Formulation Bench |
| Farming Fertilizer I | Adds +1 to the garden bed | quality +1 | 25 | — |
| Farming Fertilizer II | Adds +2 to the garden bed | quality +2 | 30 | Peat ×2 ＋ Weak growth elixir ×1 → Formulation Bench |
| Farming Fertilizer III | Adds +3 to the garden bed | quality +3 | 30 | Peat ×4 ＋ Rich growth elixir ×1 → Formulation Bench |
| Farming Fertilizer IV | Adds +4 to the garden bed | quality +4 | 25 | — |
| Farming Fertilizer V | Adds +5 to the garden bed | quality +5 | 30 | Peat ×8 ＋ Miracle growth elixir ×1 → Formulation Bench |
The value column is the bonus the game hangs on the bed (quality, growth progress, growth cells), and each one lines up with the item’s own text; the last column is the recipe and station — leaves and peat at the compost pile, the rest at the formulation bench.
How to level it up
- 1
Clear the quality requirement
Planting itself is not level-gated, but the bed's quality has to clear the threshold before it pays the full base yield. In this build the highest requirement is 16 (Pumpkin) and the lowest is 2. Levelling the talent is on the talents page.
- 2
Move up the bed ladder
Bed tiers I to V carry base quality 1 / 3 / 6 / 10 / 14, cut 0 / 10 / 20 / 30 / 40 ticks off the growth and take 0 / 1 / 2 / 2 / 2 fertilizer slots. This is the steepest part of the curve.
- 3
Build the garden and vineyard upgrades
The garden upgrades push the whole garden’s base quality up from its default, and the vineyard upgrade pushes the trellis higher still. Their materials and research are in the table below.
- 4
Add fertilizer slots
The Fertilizer and Fertilizer II talent nodes each add a slot, and the bed tier adds its own (see the ladder above).
- 5
Hand it to the zombies
The zombie line carries 34 farming research nodes, the Gardener Stand and the Farmer I/II skills; the zombie skill’s own text says it “produces better seeds and bigger crops”, and the game’s own inspiration line reads “let zombies farm… surprisingly effective”.
| Upgrade | Base quality | Materials | Research |
|---|---|---|---|
| Garden Upgrade I | 4 | Peat ×10、Bronze Nails ×18、Wooden Plank ×9 | Garden Improvement I |
| Garden Upgrade II | 8 | Farming Fertilizer III ×9、Iron Detail ×8、Oiled Beam ×4 | Garden Improvement II |
| Vineyard Upgrade | 11 | Farming Fertilizer V ×6、Advanced Detail ×6、Oiled Beam ×4 | Vineyard Improvement |
What sits next to the beds
| Object | What it does |
|---|---|
| Garden Bed | runs on the green talent、120-tick growth、capacity 5 |
| Vine Trellis | runs on the green talent、120-tick growth、capacity 5 |
| Orchard | — |
| Beehive | runs on the green talent |
| Water well | capacity 1 |
| Garden Storage I | capacity 20 |
| Seed Generator | — |
| Gardener Stand | runs on the green talent |
| Gardener Stand | runs on the green talent |
- Seed Generator: one batch of wheat seeds every 10 ticks.
- Seed Generator: one batch of onion seeds every 10 ticks.
- Seed Generator: one batch of cabbage seeds every 10 ticks.
Reading the bed panel
The bed panel shows several unlabelled numbers, and the game writes a tooltip for each of them. With these definitions the panel becomes an equation you can read.
- Base garden bed quality
- Fertilizer bonus
- Additional yield Awarded when progress reaches this point.
- Growth per successful tick
- Chance of successful growth tick
- Crop quality requirement Minimum requirement for base yield. Exceeding this value gets more growth per tick.
- Current growth progress
- Total garden bed quality
Tips
Treat peat as a permanent investment
Peat and Farming Fertilizers stay on the bed, so push the quality past the line you want to grow before expanding.
The farming inspiration drives both success rate and yield
The game’s own tutorial line says the higher your and the bed’s green talent, the greater the harvest, and a community comparison video assigns both the sowing success rate and the harvest amount to that same inspiration.
Build the bread chain first
Wheat → millstone → flour → kitchen → bread is the fastest early way to turn farming into stamina, and it only needs wheat and water.
Sleeping does not finish your crops
Sleeping moves the garden about one tick; to compress time use the bed tier, Headstart fertilizer and the Harvest Prayer’s God of nature.
Empty the compost pile yourself
The compost pile is semi-automatic: a finished batch has to be collected before the next one starts, which is one of the launch night’s loudest Steam complaints.
Seeds stack 50
A seed slot holds 50 and a planting costs 4, so one slot is 12 plantings; keep a slot free for the harvest.
FAQ
- Do crops need watering?
- This build’s data has no watering step: the well and Water feed the kitchen and alchemy, nothing else. The community (Chinese playthroughs included) never settled the question, so this page does not answer it either.
- Do I have to re-apply fertilizer before every sowing?
- In the data a fertilizer is an effect on the bed and does not fall off with a harvest. A Steam thread reports the same behaviour as a bug (“fertilizer cannot be removed from a plot and is automatically reapplied after harvesting”), so both the data and the players agree it persists — the players just find the behaviour suspect.
- Can zombies farm?
- Yes, through the bed line: the Gardener Stand sits under the zombie gardening research, the Farmer I/II zombie skills read “produces better seeds and bigger crops”, and the game’s own inspiration line says “let zombies farm… surprisingly effective”.
- Why is my harvest stuck at a low grade?
- Two numbers decide it: the bed’s quality (base quality plus fertilizer) has to clear the crop’s quality requirement, and only what goes above it turns into more growth per tick. Below the requirement you lose base yield and the grade stays low.
- Can I run out of seeds?
- A planting costs 4 and the harvest returns a batch (more with Seed Master), plus the Seed Generator and the merchant, so the loop pays for itself; the real risk is pressing your first seeds into oil.
- Should I buy the garden upgrade or level the talent first?
- It depends which line you want to grow. Garden Upgrade I only needs peat, bronze nails and planks and raises the whole garden’s base quality, which is usually cheaper than grinding talent — but each crop still carries its own quality requirement, and below it you get no good grade.
Data and evidence
- Numbers and names: the game’s own crop, bed, fertilizer, upgrade and inspiration tables, plus its tutorial and panel strings. Checked against 1.004.2.
- Videos: Recreational Suffering’s planting walkthrough, MrFlameturtle’s peat and yield measurements (about 7 crops, 6 seeds and 2 plant material per plot in his run), and 板栗達達’s comparison of the farming inspiration with the sowing success rate. Those numbers are each video’s own measurement, not this page’s data values.
- Player reports: Steam threads on fertilizer that cannot be removed, the compost pile needing manual collection, whether zombies farm, and seed stack sizes. Those are player observations, and this page only uses them where the data agrees.
- What this page leaves out: watering, sprinklers and automatic harvesting have no basis in this build’s data, and neither random yield rolls nor unpublished formulas are guessed at here.