Graveyard Keeper 2 Farming: Garden Beds, Fertilizers and Zombie Gardeners
Farming in Graveyard Keeper 2 feeds your kitchen, your Likes and several Town upgrades. The rules are less obvious than they look: after planting, your own mastery stops mattering and the bed takes over. This page covers crops, bed Farming, fertilizers and the zombie gardener that runs it all for you.
TL;DR — Farming in six lines
- 9 crops: seven grow on Garden Beds; Hops and Grapes need Vine Trellises.
- You plant, the bed grows. Your Farming covers 4 planting ticks; the bed's Farming covers the other 8.
- Bed Farming is 2 at first, 4 and 8 with Garden Upgrades I and II.
- Fertilizers stay on the bed until replaced. Peat (+1) is the first one.
- Zombie gardener: Gardener Stand + Tablets + at least a Bronze Shovel.
- Grade: cells 11 and 12 pay one grade above the seed.
Part of the Systems hub — More Graveyard Keeper 2 systems guides
How a harvest works
A bed runs through 12 cells.
- Planting (cells 1–4). You plant 4 seeds over 4 ticks (1 energy each), using your own Farming. These cells pay nothing, but a failed one is lost.
- Growth (cells 5–12). The bed fills the rest by itself, one tick every 2:00, using the bed's Farming.
- Harvest. You pick the ripe bed by hand. Each successful cell pays one item: odd cells a seed, even cells the crop. Every harvest also gives 2 Leaf and some green tech points.
Success chance. At or above a crop's requirement, every tick succeeds. Below it, the chance is your Farming divided by the requirement — 4 against 5 is 80%. A strong bed can fill up to 3 cells per growth tick.
So a perfect bed pays at most 4 seeds and 4 crops, plus perk bonuses.
Grades. For Cabbage, Onion, Pumpkin and Grapes, cells 1–10 pay the seed's grade and cells 11–12 pay one grade higher. Gold seeds always pay gold.
Crops and the Farming they need
| Crop | Bed | Farming to plant | Green points per harvest | First harvest unlocks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wheat | Garden Bed | 2 | 2 | — |
| Carrot | Garden Bed | 4 | 4 | Carrot dishes |
| Flax | Garden Bed | 5 | 5 | — |
| Beet | Garden Bed | 6 | 6 | Beet dishes |
| Cabbage | Garden Bed | 8 / 10 / 12 (bronze / silver / gold seed) | 8 | Cabbage dishes |
| Onion | Garden Bed | 10 / 12 / 14 | 10 | Onion dishes |
| Pumpkin | Garden Bed | 12 / 14 / 16 | 12 | Pumpkin dishes |
| Hops | Vine Trellis | 7 | 7 | — |
| Grapes | Vine Trellis | 12 / 14 / 16 | 12 | — |
Wheat seeds come from Herm in the Village. A Garden Bed is free once Gardening is researched and is dug with a shovel at Farming 2. A Vine Trellis costs 5 Stick + 3 Peat after Vineyard and needs Farming 6 to dig.
Bed Farming and garden upgrades
The bed has its own Farming, and your mastery doesn't change it. One creator's fertilizer video makes the same point: a level-9 Farming Keeper still had a bed at 4.
| Upgrade | Bed Farming | Growth tick | Cost | Technology |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Start | Garden Beds 2 | 2:00 | — | Gardening |
| Garden Upgrade I | 4 | 1:45 | 10 Peat, 18 Bronze Nails, 9 Wooden Plank | Garden Improvement I |
| Garden Upgrade II | 8 | 1:30 | 9 Farming Fertilizer II, 8 Iron Detail, 4 Oiled Beam | Garden Improvement II |
| Vineyard Upgrade | Vine Trellises 6 → 11 | — | 6 Farming Fertilizer III, 6 Advanced Detail, 4 Oiled Beam | Vineyard Improvement |
At bed Farming 2, only Wheat grows reliably; Carrot is about a coin flip per tick. Garden Upgrade I makes Carrot safe and Flax likely. Garden Upgrade II covers everything up to bronze Cabbage.
The Harvest Prayer blessing (God of nature) cuts 0:20 off every growth tick while it lasts; the prayer unlocks with Fertilizers IV. See Faith & sermons.
Fertilizers
A bed has no fertilizer slot until Fertilizers I (1 slot); Fertilizers II adds a second. A fertilizer stays through every harvest until you replace it.
| Fertilizer | Effect | Recipe | Technology |
|---|---|---|---|
| Peat | +1 bed Farming | Compost Pile: 8 Leaf → 2 · Compost Pile II: 16 Leaf → 5 | Fertilizers I |
| Farming Fertilizer I | +2 bed Farming | 2 Peat + 1 Weak growth elixir | Fertilizers II |
| Farming Fertilizer II | +3 | 4 Peat + 1 Rich growth elixir | Fertilizers III |
| Farming Fertilizer III | +5 | 8 Peat + 1 Miracle growth elixir | Fertilizers IV |
| Headstart Fertilizer I | Growth starts 1 cell in | 2 Peat + 1 Weak growth elixir | Fertilizers II |
| Headstart Fertilizer II | Growth starts 2 cells in | 4 Peat + 1 Rich growth elixir | Fertilizers III |
| Crop Boosting Fertilizer I | Extra growth cells | 2 Peat + 1 Dream Dust | Fertilizers I |
All except Peat are mixed at the Formulation Bench. Crop Boosting: the in-game tooltip lists +1 cell of growth, and one creator's fertilizer video reads the same +1 from the tooltip; Wikily's farming page gives +2. Plan on +1 until you see the bed.
Which to use. If the bed is below the crop's requirement, add Farming (Peat, then Farming Fertilizer). Once every tick succeeds, switch to Headstart or Crop Boosting to reach cells 11–12 and the higher grade. The Dream Dust in Crop Boosting is the same item as in the Dream Dust walkthrough.
Zombie gardener setup
- Get zombies first (the Plague Doctor's Sweet Dreams gives your first two).
- Research Zombie Gardening. This gives you the Gardener Stand, the Lifting Crane and one Tablet per Garden crop.
- Build a Gardener Stand in the Garden: 4 Wooden Plank, 2 Bronze Detail, 6 Bronze Nails.
- Put a zombie on it and give the gardener a shovel. Both farming videos use at least a Bronze Shovel.
- Place a Tablet on each bed. The gardener replants empty tabled beds with that crop and harvests ripe ones.
- Stock seeds in the zombie's inventory or the garden storage.
- Add a Lifting Crane (8 Wooden beam, 3 Bronze Gear, 4 Iron Detail) to carry crops into Garden Storage. Storage II has 30 slots; Storage III has 50.
Zombie Vineyard does the same for the Vineyard, with its own stand, a Porter Station and Hops and Grapes tablets. Zombie perks Dirt Digger (+2) and Crop Planter (+4) raise a gardener's planting; Fertilizer Expert gives +3 on fertilizer crafts.
One creator keeps a single stack of each seed and sells the rest.
Beehives
After Beekeeping, a Beehive goes in the Vineyard (cost: 2 Wooden Plank, 1 Bronze Detail, 6 Bronze Nails). Emptying it takes Farming 3 and gives 3–6 Honey and 1–2 Beeswax; it refills over 8 cells of 1:00. Wild hives give 1–2 Honey.
What to do with the harvest
- Eat it. Wheat → flour → bread is the early energy line — cook what you grow.
- Sell for Likes. Crops carry thumbs-up at Herm, the Vegetable Stand and the Brewery; spread them across traders because each has its own weekly cap. More in make money.
- Upgrade shops. Vegetable Stand II takes 40 Cabbage and Stand III 40 Onion — see restoration kits.
- Flax → Flax Thread for the Tailor and for bows: a Battle Bow takes 6 — see zombie squads.
Perks that change a harvest
| Perk | Effect |
|---|---|
| Farmer | +1 crop per harvest on 9 crops |
| Farmer II | +1 crop, one grade higher |
| Seed Master | +1 seed, one grade higher |
| Grape Master | +1 Grapes, one grade higher |
| Compost Chemist | Double Peat and 1 more of each fertilizer |
| Green Thumb | No effect, but it leads to Farmer |
These are Keeper perks bought with inspiration points — see inspirations.
Patch fixes: 1.006 fixed crop beds freezing just before harvest; 1.007 fixed the bush by the factory entrance that couldn't be harvested.
Common mistakes
| Mistake | Fix |
|---|---|
| Levelling Farming to speed up growth | Upgrade the garden or add fertilizer instead |
| Gold seeds on a Farming 2 bed | Each growth tick fails most of the time |
| Headstart on a bed below the requirement | Add bed Farming first |
| Gardener idle on the stand | Give it a shovel and put Tablets on the beds |
| Selling every seed | Keep one stack of each for replanting |
FAQ
Q: What Farming do I need to plant each crop?
A: Wheat 2, Carrot 4, Flax 5, Beet 6, Hops 7. Cabbage needs 8, 10 or 12 for bronze, silver or gold seeds, Onion 10 to 14, and Pumpkin and Grapes 12 to 16. Below the number a planting tick can still succeed, just less often.
Q: Why doesn't my Farming mastery speed up the crops?
A: Your mastery only covers the 4 planting ticks. The other 8 cells grow on the bed's own Farming (Garden Beds 2, 4 or 8 with upgrades, Vine Trellises 6 or 11) plus its fertilizers.
Q: How long does a fertilizer stay on a bed?
A: Until you put another fertilizer in its slot. It keeps working through every harvest, and at most two work at once once Fertilizers II gives beds a second slot.
Q: How do I set up a zombie gardener?
A: Research Zombie Gardening, build a Gardener Stand in the Garden, put a zombie on it with at least a Bronze Shovel, and place a crop Tablet on each bed. Keep seeds in the zombie's inventory or the garden storage.
Q: How do I grow silver or gold crops?
A: Plant a better seed, or push more cells to success. The last two cells pay one grade above the seed, so Headstart and Crop Boosting fertilizers move a harvest up a grade.
Q: Where does Peat come from?
A: A Compost Pile makes 2 Peat from 8 Leaf; Compost Pile II makes 5 from 16. Every harvest gives 2 Leaf, and the Compost Chemist perk doubles the Peat.
Also read
- Energy & early food — cook what you grow
- Zombie mastery & perks — tools and perks for a gardener
- Faith & sermons — Likes and the Harvest Prayer
- Make money — crops for traders and crates
- Restoration kits — shop upgrades that take crops
- Systems hub — more Graveyard Keeper 2 systems guides