Having enough food is one of the most important prerequisites for survival in Minecraft. Being sustainable in doing so is also important. Although you can rely on meat, it always requires some work. On the other hand, crops grow all by themselves! Two types of vegetables you will find on your journey through the world are carrots and potatoes. In both Minecraft and real life, they are two very tasty foods that you should definitely grow in your world. You can not only replenish your food supply with them but also do some other exciting things. And with completely automatic fields, you never have to worry about farming again.
Why Carrots and Potatoes are Indispensable in Minecraft for Food and Trading
While wheat has been in Minecraft since the Alpha, other crops were introduced gradually. After the release version, carrots and potatoes were added, filling an important gap in Minecraft’s food chain. This allowed players to diversify their fields and grow significantly more food.
Minecraft Carrots: Locations, Uses, and Trading Opportunities
Carrots are a good food source in Minecraft. They are primarily found in village fields but sometimes you will also obtain carrots when killing zombies or one of their variations. Carrots are also loot in various chests, including in sunken shipwrecks or outposts.
You can grow them like any other crop. They are not only your food source but also necessary for breeding pigs and rabbits. You can also collect carrots and later trade them with villagers. This is one of the best trading options for many emeralds, especially with a discount.
There are also three crafting recipes. There is a carrot on a stick, which allows you to ride pigs. It is also an ingredient in rabbit stew. Lastly, you can use gold nuggets to craft a golden carrot – one of the best foods in the game!
Minecraft Potatoes: Cultivation, Loot, and Their Role in Trading
Potatoes are similar. They can also be found in villages, but zombies occasionally drop them as loot. They can also be found in shipwrecks and outposts.
When you grow potatoes, you sometimes get a poisonous potato. You can simply discard it, as it has no use. You should definitely not eat it! Otherwise, you can breed pigs with regular potatoes and trade them with villagers for emeralds.
In the furnace, you can make a baked potato from potatoes, which is incredibly delicious and filling! This baked potato is also part of the rabbit stew recipe.
Building Guide for an Automatic Potato and Carrot Farm
Unlike the wheat farm we have already introduced in another article (Build an Automatic Wheat Farm in Minecraft: Unlimited Wheat with Minimal Effort) , this time we’re building a slightly more advanced farm. The advantage is that it works completely automatically! We enlist the help of villagers. Although you can also build the farm with water, it is ultimately up to you.
Villagers can take on the job of a farmer and practically take care of themselves. We build the farm so that the villagers do the work for us, and we intercept the products in the process! This automatic farm works for the two crops presented here, as well as for beetroot and wheat. For wheat, you get bread directly.
Building Materials
- Building material
- 2 Composters
- 2 Light sources
- 2 Water buckets
- Potatoes and carrots + hoe
- 2 Trapdoors
- 4 Hoppers + chest
- 4 Minecart with hopper + rails
- 3 Villagers
- 1 Job station (e.g., fletching table)
Step-by-Step Instructions
The foundation for this farm consists of two squares measuring 9x9 blocks. Depending on capacity and use, you can also expand these. You can arrange new farms in a larger rectangle or build them on top of each other. The principle of our farm is simple and relates to one field of carrots and one of potatoes.
We also lay out these fields. First, you need to provide a water source. Dig a hole in the middle of the 9x9 field and place the water there. Above it goes the composter, which later acts as the job station for the villager. Then place a light source above the composter, in our case a glowstone. You can then till the fields. Make sure you plant only one type of crop per side, otherwise the villagers’ inventory will get mixed up.
Next, the collection mechanism is placed between the two chambers. First, use the chest and the four hoppers, and sink them into the ground. This way, all excess carrots and potatoes are collected.
Filling the gap is a bit more complicated. A third villager will later be between the chambers, whom the other two want to feed, so to speak. However, as players, we want to intercept the food. For this, we use stacked minecart with hoppers. First, place a rail over the hopper, place the minecart, and then remove the rail. Then repeat this one block above. When you remove the block underneath, the minecart falls onto the other and forms a sort of wall that collects all items. Place a trapdoor above and repeat this on the other opening.
Finally, you need to build a small chamber in between where the third villager will be. Place a job station for the villager on the ground between the hoppers. For example, we used a fletching table.
Finally, you just need to bring the villagers into their respective chambers. They must not have fixed jobs and will take the job stations directly. If you have two farmers and an additional villager in the middle, you can trade with them so that their job does not change.
Now wait for the carrots and potatoes to grow. The villagers will harvest them and store them in their internal inventory. You can also fill this yourself by throwing them some stacks. If they notice that the middle villager is hungry, they will share their food with him. But thanks to the minecart with hoppers, these will be intercepted and sorted into the chest!
Conclusion
Carrots and potatoes are not only an important food source but also wonderful opportunities to obtain many emeralds from villagers. With such an automatic farm, you kill two birds with one stone! Because the villagers do all the work for you. In the end, you just have to collect the harvest. Secure endless food and trading goods on your own server. Rent your Minecraft server and harvest without interruption!
