I agree with you, it would be nice to just plant and collect food for a while. I'm only doing this one because it can be accomplished without gold. By using the boosts I just won in bingo and the side quest, the second den isn't even necessary to activate.
I pushed myself in the last tourney and tales so I could have Monday as a "rest" day, that was nice. I skipped the month of October as well because I had enough.