I attempted to play this game blindly without knowing much about it and it lead me to having a large settlement (10 people) and everyone was unhappy. I presume they were unhappy as they weren't working properly (they all had houses, food and water) due to not assigning them to duties with the right tools. I was in my second season and the tax was due and I was at a loss of over 300 coins without making any profit (I had yet to turn leather into simple bags).

I thought I would start over again and try to build more slowly. But I am looking for general tips for all stages of the game. I've read cabbage and flax is pretty good, but how big of a field do I need?

Is there anything else worth doing? Is it worth exploring the map and looting? Because I did that at the start and now I already have a large pouch and a backpack. Or is that enough to get me going?