Just started a game, it's been a while. Farming, when I harvest a farm plot it doesn't regrow. Block Shapes, there initially white and when placed they look like Fiberboard. There's no reenforced block. I can't remember how to access the shape menu.
The above tip, R (or your reload-bind); but you can get straight to the shape menu with shift-R. The radial menu is great for copy shape / copy rotation.