My friend automated our game's farm, and now the part I enjoyed has disappeared

I logged into our farming game and found the watering, feeding and harvesting running through machines. My friend had spent Sunday building the system. "Now you don't have to do the boring stuff," he said.

The boring stuff was how I liked to start the evening. I would tend the rows while we talked, then sell what I'd grown. He enjoys designing systems, and his machine room is impressive. It just made me feel as if the small job I came for had been completed before I arrived.

I thanked him, then switched off one watering machine to do a row myself. He noticed and asked why I'd undo something he'd worked on. I hadn't explained that the routine mattered to me, so from his side I was breaking his solution.

How can we make room for a manual patch without turning his automation into an unwanted gift? I don't want to demand that the whole farm stay inefficient. I do want something to do besides inspect the output chest.