How to farm crops in Tears of the Kingdom (TotK)

Screenshot by PC Invasion

In The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, you might get tired of running from one end of Hyrule to the other in search of carrots and berries. But the hassle of item farming can go away if you set up a garden, and this guide tells you how to farm crops in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.

Tears of the Kingdom – how to farm crops

Hyrule is a big place. Lots of the most precious ingredients only grow in small patches high in the mountains (or somewhere similarly difficult to reach). You can fast travel around the world after each Blood Moon, gathering more of the items you most want, but that gets old. There’s a better way: managing your own farm.

To open your farm for business, you need only complete two quests: Teach Me a Lesson and Teach Me a Lesson II. Then you can pretend you’ve fallen through a portal and landed in a Harvest Moon game.

Head to Hateno Village after 4PM or so and make your way to the schoolhouse on the hill. Inside (and possibly upstairs in bed), you’ll find Symin, the schoolmaster. Talk to him and he’ll invite you to attend his class.

By around 9AM in the morning, any students should have arrived for class. You can stand to the side and talk to the class and then Symin to view a lecture. Partway through, the children demand proof that the Calamity isn’t mythical nonsense. You receive the Teach Me a Lesson I side quest.

Fast travel to Kakariko Village and visit the chief’s house, which is the large one on the hill. Head upstairs to find the mural and use your Camera ability to take a picture of the mural (check our guide on how to take photos if you need assistance). Then return to the school and show it to Symin. He presents it to the class and gives you Hylian Rice (10). This interaction completes the first side quest.

When Symin’s lessons proceed and you continue to watch, a Home Economics class goes awry. Symin now needs you to present his class with special curry as part of the new Teach Me a Lesson II side quest.

Fetch the ingredients, in the likely event you don’t have them already. Get Goron Spice from the Goron City store, where it costs 16 rupees (for more information, see our guide on where to get Goron Spice). You can find Monster Extract at the General Store in Tarrey Town, with a price of 50 rupees. You should already have Hylian Rice, which you received as a reward for completing the previous side quest. The final ingredient, monster meat, need not be any particular meat. I used Raw Prime Meat that I got from dealing a headshot to a stag on the hill overlooking Mayak Shrine.

Cook the ingredients together and you’ll produce Monster Curry. If you show it to Symin outside of class hours (between 9AM and 4PM, basically), he’ll ask you to bring it back when class is in session. Do so and present it to Symin and the class. You’ll complete the side quest and receive access to a plot of land.

Symin says you can find your plot of land behind the schoolhouse. There’s a large plot of land on the hill behind the building, but that’s not the one he means. He’s referring to the smaller patch out front, to the right of the path as you descend toward town.

If you meet Uma in that plot of land, she explains what crops she can grow. You can plant a single crop at a time and visit later to claim your harvest. You can’t speed time by sitting at a campfire or sleeping in a bed, so be patient and check in whenever it’s convenient. I gave her an Endura Carrot so she could grow that crop at her leisure. Give her something you’d rather not have to farm quite so much. You’re a farmer now, sort of!

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is available for purchase from the Nintendo Store.