Iron Gate Studio / Sarah Arnold
Sarah loves RPGs, sandboxes, and sims. She's played every expansion of World of Warcraft and WoW Classic and spent hundreds of hours modding and playing Bethesda games.
Reviewed by Benjamin Barr
Food in Valheim gives you essential buffs for all of your activities and adventures. The best buffs come from more complex foods that are made from several ingredients, and many of those ingredients must be grown before they can be harvested.
Farming in Valheim isn’t too involved; you won’t need to fertilize, water, or otherwise tend your crops once they have been planted. But you will need to know where to find seeds, how to plant them, and how to ensure they make it to harvest. You’ll do all this using a Cultivator, so that’s where I’ll start!
How to Make a Cultivator
To make a Cultivator, you will first need to build a Forge. Then you can gather the following materials and use the Forge to combine them into a Cultivator:
- 5x Bronze
- 5x Core Wood
Core Wood can be gathered from Pine Trees in the Black Forest biome.
Bronze can be created by combining 2 Copper and 1 Tin at the Forge. Copper and Tin can be found as ore in the Black Forest biome and then turned into bars at a Smelter.
How to Use the Cultivator
To use the Cultivator, add it to your hotkey bar and equip it.
There are two things you can do with the Cultivator: cultivate land and plant crops. Most crops will require cultivated land to grow, so you should do that first.
To cultivate land, simply left-click with the Cultivator equipped. This will clear any grass or plants in the area and turn the soil a dark brown color. It will also level the land.
To plant crops, right-click with the Cultivator equipped and select the item you would like to plant. You will need to have the item in your inventory. When you’ve clicked an item, you can left-click to plant it, the same way you cultivated.
Crops will need a certain amount of space to grow. If you plant them too close together or too close to other objects, they will disappear before they can be harvested. Most crops require 1 meter of space on each side, but some Mistlands items require 1.6 meters. Trees require 4-6 meters.
Crops need plenty of sunlight, so you can’t plant them underneath roofs or other structures. They must also be planted in the correct biome. A plant that has the right conditions to grow to maturity will have a “Healthy” label when you hover over it.
Most crops take an hour to an hour and a half of in-game time to grow. Birch and oak trees take a bit longer.
How to Grow Carrots
Carrot seeds can be picked from white flowers in the Black Forest biome. They can then be planted using the Cultivator. Note that wild seeds never respawn.
Each carrot seed you plant will grow into 1 carrot. A carrot can be planted to grow 3 more carrot seeds, allowing you to plant even more carrots.
Carrots and carrot seeds can be planted in the Meadows, Black Forest, and Plains biomes.
How to Grow Turnips
Turnip seeds can be picked from yellow flowers in the Swamp biome. They can then be planted using the Cultivator. Note that wild seeds never respawn.
Each turnip seed you plant will grow into 1 turnip. A turnip can be planted to grow 3 more turnip seeds, allowing you to plant even more turnips.
Turnips and turnip seeds can be planted in the Meadows, Black Forest, Swamp, Plains, or Mistlands biomes.
How to Grow Onions
Onion seeds can be found in chests inside ruins and huts in the Mountain biome. They can then be planted using the Cultivator. Note that these chests never respawn.
Each onion seed you plant will grow into 1 onion. An onion can be planted to grow 3 more onion seeds, allowing you to plant even more onions.
Onions and onion seeds can be planted in the Meadows, Black Forest, or Plains biomes.
How to Grow Barley
Barley can be found growing in patches of cultivated soil in fuling villages in the Plains biome. You might also find it inside chests in the Plains. It can then be planted using the Cultivator.
Each piece of barley you plant will grow into 2, allowing you to plant more barley. Barley does not have seeds.
Unlike most other crops, barley can be harvested by destroying it with a weapon. This is generally quicker than picking each plant individually.
Barley can only be grown in the Plains biome.
How to Grow Flax
Flax, like barley, can be found growing in patches of cultivated soil in fuling villages in the Plains biome. It appears more rarely than barley. It can then be planted using the Cultivator.
Each piece of flax you plant will grow into 2, allowing you to plant more flax. Flax does not have seeds.
Unlike most other crops, flax can be harvested by destroying it with a weapon. This is generally quicker than picking each plant individually.
Flax can only be grown in the Plains biome.
How to Grow Jotun Puffs
Jotun puffs can be found as yellow bulbs growing in the Mistlands biome. They can then be planted using the Cultivator.
Each jotun puff you plant will grow into 3, allowing you to plant more jotun puffs. Jotun puffs do not have seeds.
Jotun puffs require a little more space to grow than most crops (1.6 meters rather than 1).
Jotun puffs can only be grown in the Mistlands biome.
How to Grow Magecaps
Magecaps can be found as blue bulbs growing in the Mistlands biome. They can then be planted using the Cultivator.
Each magecap you plant will grow into 3, allowing you to plant more magecaps. Magecaps do not have seeds.
Magecaps require a little more space to grow than most crops (1.6 meters rather than 1).
Magecaps can only be grown in the Mistlands biome.
How to Grow Honey
Honey isn’t a plant, but it’s an essential part of any farm in Valheim. You can get honey from beehives. To build a beehive you will need:
- 10x Wood
- 1x Queen Bee
Queen Bees can be obtained by finding beehives in the wild. You can find them inside ruined houses. The hive must be destroyed to get the queen bee, but you should avoid getting close until it’s destroyed as you will take poison damage if you do so.
Like crops, beehives must have a good amount of space around them. They will only function in the Meadows, Black Forest, or Plains biomes.
Beehives produce 1 honey for every 20 minutes of real time, as long as the bees are happy. They can hold up to 4 honey total.
How to Protect Your Farm
Once you have planted your crops, they will grow on their own as long as they have enough space. You won’t need to tend them at all – you can leave them alone indefinitely until you are ready to harvest. However, any enemies that come near your crops will attempt to destroy them, just as they would anything else you’ve built.
To prevent this, you’ll want to surround your crops with defensive walls or fences, or even a trench. Anything that will keep enemies out. You’ll also want to have a workbench nearby to prevent them from spawning inside the area.
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