Haruka's debt is 100 Ryo and you pay it back in 5 installments of 20 Ryo. If you get a random letter when you're at your house in another life (you get one when you leave the house, to go into the garden area) it means you can pay back one of the 20 Ryo installments (though you have to read the letter first - from the start screen). When you have 20 Ryo, go to the shrine in Fushimi and talk to the man there and select the top option to pay him. After paying him 20 Ryo for the first time, he gives you the Genkimusume Kimono, which you can give to Haruka (when you return to the house with it, Ryoma automatically gives it to her). Now when you select the little drawers by the cupboard (the one you examine to sell items), you can select the middle option to change Haruka's outfit (you can get more Kimono from the Shinto Preist's shop).

You only receive the letters after earning a certain amount of money via peddling, which varies between letters:

1st Letter - You must earn 5 Ryo via Peddling

2nd Letter - You must earn 10 Ryo via Peddling

3rd Letter - You must earn 20 Ryo via Peddling

4th Letter - You must earn 30 Ryo via Peddling

5th Letter - You must earn 40 Ryo via Peddling

After paying off all her debt, you get the "Debt Repayment!" trophy. Additionally, when you go to leave the house back to Fushimi after paying off the debt, you get an event where Haruka gives Ryoma Haruka's Rice Ball.

As you cook meals and peddle, the friendship gauge with Haruka increases. There are 7 levels on this gauge. To witness certain "calming events" you need to get the gauge up to a certain level.

You can get pets by completing substories and friendships involving dogs and cats. Pets sometimes get you items - for dogs, interact with them when they are in their kennel to get an item. For cats, they will sometimes bring back an item when they go off peddling with Haruka. The following is a list of the items you can get from pets:

Brown Dog (from substory 55: The Waiting Dog)

High Quality Hide, Beautiful Fur, Wild Silk, Vermilion Cloth, Rainbow-Coloured Fabric

White Dog (from substory 37: The Injured Dog)

High Quality Hide, Wild Silk, Beast's Tail, Vermilion Cloth, European Cloth

Black Dog (from substory 16: The Barking Dog)

High Quality Hide, Beautiful Fur, Famous Horse's Mane, Vermilion Cloth, Beautiful Silk

Black Cat (from substory 29: The Starving Cat)

Manure, High Quality Hide, Famous Horse's Mane, Beast's Tail, European Cloth

White Cat (from substory 56: The Filthy Cat)

Manure, Beautiful Fur, Wild Silk, Beast's Tail, Beautiful Silk

Calico Cat (from substory 17: The Beckoning Cat)

Manure, High Quality Hide, Beautiful Fur, Beast's Tail, Rainbow-Coloured Fabric

You can increase the likelihood of your pets getting items by upgrading the kennel/cat blanket via Dharma Exchange.

When the pets are not in their beds (Kennel/Cat Blanket) and are out in the open (dogs - garden, cats - house), you can interact with them and select the top option to "Take Care of it" and the middle option to rename the pet. When you select the top option, Ryoma comments on the happiness of the pet and you get some options - top option to give it food, middle option to play with it, bottom option to pet it.

Examine the gardening tools in the garden to farm.

On this screen, you can see the planting arrangement on your field. The circle at the top left of each crop indicates how close it is to being grown (ready for harvesting) - when it's fully green, it's ready. You can upgrade your field via Dharma Exchange to increase the speed at which crops grow as well as increasing the probability of a rich harvest (when you get a lot more crops than you usually would with a regular harvest). You can also increase the size of your field, so you can grow more crops. When a crop is ready for harvesting, simply walk to the field and press circle (X on European consoles) to harvest them. Alternatively, you can select the second option on the menu (in the picture above) to harvest everything that is ready for harvesting in one go.

Having a scarecrow helps defend your crops from damage (from birds). The better your scarecrow, the more defence it offers. You can get(/upgrade) a scarecrow via Dharma Exchange.

Select the first option on this menu for the Planting Arrangement. You can remove the crops already there with the triangle button, or you can press the circle (X on European consoles) button to move the position of the crop on the field. Move to an empty space on the planting arrangement screen and press circle/X to bring up a list of crops you can plant. Select one and then move it around the field to where you want to place it and confirm with circle/X. For some crops, you can rotate their position with the R1 button. If you have purchased the "Unpredictable Planting Implementation" upgrade via Dharma Exchange, you can select this at the very bottom of the list of crops to have the game randomly choose the planting arrangement for you. You can obtain more crops to plant via Dharma Exchange.

Select the third option on this menu to use manure. Using manure moves the harvest timer up higher, meaning the crops will be ready for harvesting quicker. You can only use one at a time - if you want to use more manure, you have come back later (going inside the house, then leaving the house works).

Select the fourth option to reset the planting arrangement.

Examine the stove in the house to cook.

You have a list of meals that you can make. When you select a meal, it tells you what ingredients are required. If you have the necessary ingredients to make it, confirm your selection to make the meal. You can get more meals to make via Dharma Exchange (upgrading the kitchen).

After cooking, you sometimes get 1 of 3 equipment materials: Broken Chopping Board, Flint or Water God Stone.

Cutting

Simply press the right button at the right time.

BE WARNED that on a (PS3) European console, you will have to press the CIRCLE button even though it says press X (as you see on the picture above). Also, when it tells you to press CIRCLE, press X. I made this mistake the first time I did it and wasted some ingredients...

Pouring

Hold down the circle button to pour. The goal is to stop the line when it gets to the pink area on the bar. Note that it does not stop immediately, so you'll have to let go before it gets too close.

Heating

Repeatedly press the circle button as fast as you can.

Grilling

Press circle at the right time to flip the fish over. The right time is when you see large sparks: At first you'll see small sparks (when you wait a little while), then the large sparks will follow shortly after - turn it over as soon as you see the large sparks. If you leave it too late it will burn and if you do it too soon it will be undercooked.

Examine the cupboard in the house to peddle.

You get a list of orders. When you have the necessary items, select an order and then send Haruka out to deliver it, then she returns with the money/items. As you complete orders, more orders become available. When you select an order, you get a list of who placed the order, what item they want, how many of them they want, how much money they will pay you and, for some orders, the item they will give you as payment. Then when you confirm, you go to a screen where you add the items from your inventory to the order. Then confirm and it will be added to the delivery package Haruka will take out. You can continue adding as many more orders as you like. When you're finished, select the button at the bottom left of the menu to send Haruka out to deliver (confirm with top option).

Along with the money/items you get for the order anyway, your pet cats sometimes also bring back items (see above).

Order List

When you complete all the orders on a list (e.g - all the vegetable ones), the list is repeated but the money you receive from it increases each time - On your 2nd time through you get 50% extra, on your 3rd time through you get 100% extra, on your 4th time you get 150% extra, on your 5th time and onwards you get 200% extra.