Grid math first
Everything sits on a grid: iridium sprinklers water 5×5, quality 3×3, Junimo huts cover a 17×17 harvest field, barns and coops have fixed footprints with door-side access needs. Before planting season, sketch tiles: an iridium sprinkler grid loses zero tiles to placement if rows run in multiples of 5 with the sprinkler centered.
Zoning the farm
The efficient shape zones by function: crop fields nearest the house (shortest watering and harvest walks), barns and coops on one flank with grass fencing, sheds clustered (a shed of kegs is a keg warehouse), and the Junimo hut centered in the main field. Keep a 2-tile path network everywhere — paths prevent trees and grass from sealing routes and speed daily circuits.
Grow-with-your-farm
Year one’s farm should be small and hand-watered near the house; expand outward as sprinklers arrive. The classic mistake is terraforming the entire farm in spring year one — paths you laid before unlocking iridium sprinklers will be torn up. Let the layout follow the automation tiers: hand-watering zone, quality sprinkler zone, iridium field, Junimo endgame.
