The purpose of farming in Minecraft is to provide you with various resources that allow you to become self-sufficient and create items that you otherwise may not be able to obtain naturally. Growing crops, though not required, can be a renewable source of food and materials which can be helpful for in-game progression and animal raising and breeding. Whether you choose to do it for efficiency or leisure, there are multiple benefits to farming that are helpful to know.
To start, you’ll need a crafted Hoe and some open and flat terrain to work with. Though not necessary, a shovel can really help with the process of removing any dirt or land shaping you’d like to do. All Vegetables and Fruits will need to be planted on tilled soil, which is done by using the hoe on a dirt or grass block.
Plots will not require being watered manually, however, planting the crops within 4 blocks (straight or diagonally) of a water source will keep the soil hydrated on its own, allowing your crops to thrive and grow faster. Whether this means tilling near an already present body of water or digging your own trenches in the plot and using a bucket add water source to add to it, the choice is up to you!
Bones can be crafted into bone meal via a crafting table to accelerate the growing rate of all crops. If bones are not readily available, another way to obtain bone meal is to craft a composter which can convert unwanted materials into bone meal for your crops.
Most crops can be harvested easily with any tool or bare hands. Each crop plot should yield more crops than what was planted, with the exception being melons. Watermelon will split into slices, and pumpkins can only be harvested whole. Both will need to be taken to a crafting table to break it into seeds. Alternatively, sheers can be used to get seeds and carve the pumpkin without harvesting it.
Protecting your crops
Mobs and other animals can cause damage your farmland so it’s a good idea to take precaution to protect your crops! Building a fence around the field and keeping the area well-lit with torches can help keep out unwelcome guests!
Types of Crops
When you’re out exploring the world, one of the more common resources you might encounter are seeds, which can be obtained by digging through grass. These are used to grow wheat which can be easily crafted into bread via a crafting table-- No furnace required. Aside from bread, wheat itself serves a purpose to attract and breed certain farm animals.
The vegetables you can grow in Minecraft are Carrots, Potatoes, and Beetroot. Each have unique but similar uses.
Carrots, Potatoes, and Beetroot are all often found in villager farming plots (but occasionally can be a rare drop from a mob), and do not yield any seeds when harvested; however, they can be planted by placing them directly onto tilled soil. Each one of these crops can be eaten as a small source of food but will provide more benefit if cooked or used for special recipes. Your crafting table can show you multiple options and combinations of items and recipes you can make!
The varieties of fruit in Minecraft include Melons, Apples, Sweet Berries, and Chorus Fruits.
Melons can be split to create slices, which are a plentiful food source; however, they only recover a small bit of hunger with each slice.
Apples are primarily obtained through chopping down trees. When the leaves despawn there is a small chance to get an apple.
Sweet Berries can only be found in taiga forests and grow on thorny bushes. Getting too close to one will hurt you but the berries can be used as a decent food source due to growing so quickly.
Chorus Fruits can only be found in the End. Only after braving The End and defeating the Ender Dragon will you be able to find these fruits on the outer End islands. Eating them can often cause unpredictable movement! Cooking and crafting them can give you access to purpur blocks.
Other Harvestable Food Resources
There are other farmable items in the Minecraft world that have certain conditions that need to be met to grow properly.
Pumpkins have benefits as both a cooking item, such as a pumpkin pie, or can even be used to make more complex items such as jack-o’-lanterns and even Iron Golems!
Mushrooms will not grow directly on farmland and require a dark place to spawn. They can be used to make various soups.
Cacti can only grow on top of sand. It can be found in the desert or badland biomes and occasionally from wandering traders. It’s used to make green dye.
Sugarcane spawns throughout the world by bodies of water. It will not grow on tilled soil but can still be grown on various surfaces so long it’s adjacent to water, either by a body of water or by a player built water trench. It is used to make sugar for baking recipes and as paper for books.
Cocoa Beans can be found when fishing in a jungle biome or from wandering traders. It is primarily used in dyes and to make cookies.
Kelp can be found in most ocean biomes. It can be found underwater and works a bit differently than the other vegetables as it is grown underwater and not on a tilled plot on the surface. It can be used to make Dried Kelp, a small food source that can be consumed faster than regular food.
Bamboo is found in jungle biomes, typically in scattered shoots. They can be found scattered on the ground or looted from pandas. It is used to make various building materials and when breeding pandas.