Once you have survived your first days in Minecraft and familiarized yourself with the game, it is time to establish a permanent base. For most players, this primarily means setting up a farm with fields and animals. This not only creates a place to live but also provides renewable food sources and other resources. In this post, we will show you step-by-step how to easily set up and run your own farm. This will provide a wonderful foundation for all your future endeavors, so you no longer have to worry about food supply or proper housing.
Basics for a Farm
A good location is essential for a farm. Feel free to wander around until you find a suitable spot. It should be as flat as possible, but you can also use a shovel to level the ground or add soil to create an appropriate area for your farm. A small house and some chests for the essential tools are a good idea. Build your farm near a water source, as you will need it soon.
Other tools you should have ready for a farm:
- Fences and Gates
- Bucket
- Shovel
- Hoe
- Possibly Gravel
- Possibly Bone Meal
Setting Up Your Own Fields
Once you have made all the preparations, you can start setting up your field. Choose a flat and open space to begin. It’s important to understand how water behaves in Minecraft. If you use a water source and pour it into a channel for your farm, it will flow for eight blocks. Based on this, farm fields can be irrigated up to four blocks away. This is crucial to prevent the soil from turning back into dirt or slowing down the growth of your crops.
For starters, a single water source is enough. It can sufficiently irrigate a 9x9 field. You can use the entire area as a field or add paths with a shovel or gravel for decoration. You should also fence the field and add gates to ensure only you can access it.
You can design the layout as you like. If you have already found a village, use their fields as inspiration! Otherwise, the appearance is entirely up to you. Just keep in mind how far the soil is irrigated.
What You Can Grow
Using the hoe, you can right-click on grass, dirt, or another type of soil to turn it into farmland. This is your starting point for your farm. We will quickly go through all the crops.
Wheat:
- Found: As wheat seeds from grass
- Uses: Bread, hay bales, cake, cookies, animal breeding
Carrot:
- Found: Village, zombies, chest
- Uses: Golden carrot, rabbit stew, carrot on a stick, animal breeding
Potato:
- Found: Village, zombies, chest
- Uses: Baked potato, animal breeding
Beetroot:
- Found: Beetroot seeds from village, chest
- Uses: Animal breeding, red dye, beetroot soup
Pumpkin Seeds:
- Found: Village, wilderness
- Uses: Pumpkin head, pumpkin pie
Melon Seeds:
- Found: Village, jungle
- Uses: Melon slice, glistering melon slice
Tip: Plant different crops next to each other to accelerate growth! This mechanic mimics the behavior of real farms, which also grow better this way. Monoculture is less effective, so feel free to create some variety in your field.
Care and Harvest
Once your field is properly set up and irrigated, not much can go wrong. Wait until your first harvest is ready. This can take several days. With bone meal, which we mentioned earlier, you can speed up the ripening of your crops. You can get it either from skeleton bones or by using compost.
You can recognize ripeness by the growth stage. If the color of the vegetable is already visible, it’s time to harvest! Use a left-click to harvest. You will either get multiple items at once or additional seeds. Depending on the crop, you can replant them and likely have a good surplus as profit.
Breeding Your First Livestock
For food, you don’t necessarily need to set up a field; you can also keep animals. However, the field will be important for breeding animals. To breed your animals, you need appropriate food.
Animals are not only good for food but also for other important resources. Once you have two adult animals of a kind, you are well-equipped. With breeding, you can easily increase their numbers. Keep the animals in a fenced area to prevent them from running away. The field can be as large or small as you like, but give your virtual animals some space to roam.
Breed the animals by right-clicking on two animals with their food. They will show hearts, and voilà! A baby animal is born! You also gain some experience. The animal will grow within a few minutes.
Livestock and Their Resources
Here is a brief overview of the most important animals to look out for. You can lure and bring them to your farm either with their favorite food or with a lead if you already have one. To get the products, you need to kill the animals. The meat should then be cooked in a furnace for better health benefits.
Cows:
- For breeding: Wheat
- Products: Raw beef, leather, milk
Pigs:
- For breeding: Carrots, potatoes, beetroot
- Products: Raw porkchop
Sheep:
- For breeding: Wheat
- Products: Raw mutton, wool (also obtainable without killing using shears)
Chickens:
- For breeding: Any seeds
- Products: Raw chicken, feathers, eggs (dropped by chickens)
Conclusion
Your first farm will likely also be your very first permanent home in Minecraft and will provide a wonderful foundation to expand and explore the world. With a well-stocked field and livestock, you create a good basis for food supply and other resources needed later. Of course, you can also build your farm with others. Imagine building your farm on your own server, where you set the rules and collaborate with friends. Rent your Minecraft server now and get the most out of your game!
