Welcome to Farm Town, a virtual life for the harvest

I'm finally able to grow something besides dust bunnies under the bed and mold on old cheese, forgotten at the back of the refrigerator.

I have a green thumb. Corn, wheat, rice and sunflowers are popping up all over my fields, and friends have sent me farm animals to raise.

Did I mention this is on Facebook and not in real life? The game is called Farm Town, and it is highly addictive. Last week, T-G City Editor John Carney wrote about a mafia game he played on Facebook, so I decided to confess to my addiction.

Hi, my name is Tamara, and I'm a Farm Town-aholic.

The purpose of the game is to raise crops, which are then sold for coins. Coins are used to purchase more seed to plant more crops. Different and higher levels are attained by buying items, selling crops and adding your friends as neighbors. The more crops you sell, the more coins you make, which in turn allows you to "trick out" your farm.

When I first started, I was clueless as to how it all worked. I planted my little crops, harvested them myself and sold them right away instead of putting them in storage to sell later for higher prices. I visited other people's farms and saw vast expanses of crops, houses and barns, playground equipment, fences, items that I thought I could never afford as a measly one or two crop farmer.

I wanted a house, a home to call my own (never mind that I have an actual, honest-to-goodness house standing in the middle of over an acre of land in Flat Creek). I wanted an Internet version of my real thing, but I knew I'd never be able to accomplish that.

But then, a friend took me under her wing and explained a few things to me. First, if I wanted to make more money, I'd have to hire another farmer to come in and harvest my crops. It didn't make a lot of sense to me how hiring someone would allow you to make more money when the crops are sold, but it works. You do make a lot more money.

As you move higher in levels, higher cash crops are also available. These include corn, pumpkins and coffee. I still haven't gotten to the level where I can plant pumpkins or coffee, but I plant and sell a lot of corn.

By this time, I had my six-year-old, Tessa, playing the game with me. She knew I wanted a house, and every day, she asked me if I had made enough yet to buy one. Even using my friend's tips, I still wasn't getting close enough to the 70,000 coins I would need to buy my house.

Then, my friend shared another tip with me. I could hire myself as a harvester and make even more money harvesting crops at huge farms. I liked that idea, especially when I found out how much certain crops paid, like pumpkins which pay the harvester 98 coins a field.

To be hired as a harvester, a player has to travel to the marketplace and let other farmers know you are available for work, by typing different messages into a box, which then appears in a cartoon bubble over the worker's head.

Some things I've seen in the little bubble include, "Hard worker," "I need work," "Hire me, please" and "Will work for coins."

Someone even begged for work, saying they were saving for a house. I usually just go with "Please hire me," as my choice.

I've harvested grapes, which don't bring a lot of money, pumpkins, cabbage, corn, strawberries, you name it, all the while looking at my total amount of coins growing and growing.

Last night, Tessa and I were playing, and my mom called. As I was talking to her, Tessa asked if I was going to plant crops.

I said, "In a little bit, but first I'm going to go and harvest someone else's crops to make more money."

My mom said, "Huh? You don't need to be working outside, not in this heat."

I had to explain to her it was just a game, and her nearly 20-week pregnant daughter was not going to go and harvest crops. Besides that, she should have realized no real farmer would hire me, not with my black thumb.

Later, as I was working, I knew I was getting close to the 70,000 coins I needed. I told Tessa we were getting closer, and she was very disappointed when we had to stop for her bath and bedtime routine. I promised I would keep working after she went to bed to raise the coins, but I wouldn't put a house on the property until she was awake.

The first words out of her mouth this morning were, "Let's go buy that house."

I realized I've made her into a Farm Town-aholic just like me, but at least, it's something we can do together after we come inside for the night.

Right? I'm not just deluding myself, right? I don't really need help; I'm just going to go check and see if any of my crops are ready.

Is there a 1-800 help line for this sort of thing?

Tamara Belinc is a staff writer. She can be reached at tbelinc@t-g.com.