Farming in Enshrouded starts with rescuing the Farmer, Emily Fray, who unlocks the Seedbed and Farm Soil. You turn a harvested plant into seedlings at the Seedbed, lay Farm Soil inside your Flame Altar's area with the Construction Hammer, and plant the seedlings in it; animals come later, once you tame them with food she makes. Since the 1.0 release in October 2026, small plants grow faster, large plants and trees grow slower, and farm animals produce their goods much more quickly.
We checked this against the Enshrouded Wiki's Farmer, Seedbed, Farm Soil and Flame Altar pages, Keen Games' Wake of the Water, Forging the Path, Patch 12, 1.0 and Patch 1.0.1.0 notes, and the official tips and Server Gameplay Settings articles in November 2026.
Rescue the Farmer First
Everything starts with one survivor. The wiki names the Farmer as Emily Fray, a talented farmer and cook, found in the Ancient Vault marked for the Farmer, and lists the quest Growing Stronger Together as the one that rescues her and unlocks her workshop. She is one of the Springlands survivors on the wiki's Biomes page, so you can have a working farm long before you leave the starting region. Keen's own tips article puts it simply: plants can be grown in the base once the Farmer is acquired.
Once she is placed in your base with the Summoning Staff, Emily becomes the hub of your food economy. The wiki lists the workstations she unlocks through her quests:
- Seedbed: from Growing Stronger Together, the station that makes seedlings.
- Cooking Station and Oven: from Cooking Equipment For The Farmer and Almanac of Plants and Seedlings For The Farmer.
- Beehive: from A Beehive Smoker, which supplies honey.
- Seafood Grill: from Seafood Grill For The Farmer. 1.0 moved this quest so it starts only after you reach the Veilwater Basin.
- Coffee Drum Roaster and Coffee Brewery: from Coffee, The Greatest Good.
Forging the Path added two new crafting tables and a new factory to break up the Farmer's and Carpenter's long recipe lists, so do not be surprised if she asks for extra stations as you progress.
Soil Is the Foundation
Plants in your base need soil, and the right soil makes them grow faster. The wiki describes Farm Soil as healthy soil that increases the growing speed of most plants. You can mine it at farms around the world, but most players craft it: the Farmer turns 7 Springlands Dirt and 3 Bonemeal into 10 Farm Soil, instantly. Forging the Path standardized all farm soil recipes to produce 10 at a time.
- Fertilised Farm Soil: 10 Farm Soil, 2 Fossilized Bone Dust, 3 Nitrate and 10 of any sand, crafted at the Farmer. Several later seedlings require it.
- Flower Soil: 10 Farm Soil and 1 Honey, used for potted plants.
- Fertile dirts: fertile versions of Springlands, Revelwood, Nomad Highlands and Blackmire dirt, made at the Workbench from 9 of the matching dirt plus 1 Farm Soil.
You place soil with the Construction Hammer like any building material and shape it with the Rake. Keep beds inside a Flame Altar's area: according to the wiki, changes outside an altar's boundaries reset after 30 minutes or a restart, and a field is a change like any other. The wiki's Farmer page also notes that crops grow faster in their preferred soil, and that some special plants need water to grow at all.
Turning Plants Into Seedlings
You do not plant seeds directly. Instead, the Seedbed turns a harvested plant, fruit or cutting plus a little soil into seedlings. The wiki lists the Seedbed recipe as 10 Wood Logs, 2 Metal Scraps and 10 Farm Soil, and each seedling recipe takes 3 minutes, usually producing 5 seedlings.
- Early staples: Corn (Corncob and Farm Soil), Berry Bush (Purple Berries and Farm Soil), Beet (Forest Beet and Farm Soil) and Chamomile all use basic Farm Soil.
- Fibers: Flax gives 10 seedlings from one Flax and one Farm Soil, a cheap way to keep string and linen flowing.
- Trees and tropical crops: Banana, Coconut Palm, Coffee, Bamboo and Conifer seedlings need Fertilised Farm Soil.
- Special cases: Date Palms and Cacti use Fine Sand, Algae needs Veilwater Basin dirt, and Chanterelle needs Enshrouded Ice and Fossilized Bone Dust.
Collecting a sample of each plant is the real work, so grab one whenever you pass something new. A Revelwood trip for amber and copper is a good chance to pick up that biome's plants too. 1.0 added a seedling for thyme and made all night plants available as potted plants, and Patch 1.0.1.0 made Azure Russula seedlings cheaper to produce.
Water and the Watering Can
Water became part of farming with Wake of the Water in November 2025. Keen added underwater seedlings: rice needs to stand in water and algae only grows when fully submerged. 1.0 extended the idea so cattails and reed can be planted in shallow water. Water itself is simulated, so you can dig channels from a stream or pond into your fields inside the base.
The watering can is your farming information tool. Wake of the Water introduced it as a way to view each plant's soil information and growth state, and to cap how far a plant grows, for example to stop a young tree from becoming a full-grown one. The wiki says the Blacksmith crafts it, and 1.0 added a tutorial that explains how it helps you keep an eye on each plant's needs.
- Water sources need Flame. The wiki's Flame Altar table lists a water source capacity that grows with your Flame level, from 1 at Flame level 2 to 50 at level 9.
- Stations need water too. Since Wake of the Water, crafting factories that use water have their own water storage, filled with a watering can, a nearby well or water pouches.
- Drainage. Patch 11 slowed how fast water drains away on soil, sand and dirt, so irrigation channels stay wet longer.
Growth Times and Settings
1.0 redesigned plant growth times to make them lower overall and less confusing. Keen's rule of thumb: large plants and trees now take longer, while small plants are faster. That means vegetable and herb beds turn over quickly, while an orchard is a long-term investment you plant early and leave alone.
If growth still feels slow, the official Server Gameplay Settings article lists a plant growth speed factor from 0.25 to 2 for worlds using the Custom preset; in peer-to-peer worlds, the same option sits in the world settings. Our Enshrouded dedicated server guide shows where to change it in a server's configuration file. Raising it is a reasonable choice for groups who want to build more and farm less.
A practical way to use those timings: put fast crops such as corn, berries and flax in beds right next to the Farmer and the Cooking Station, where you pass every day, and plant trees and palms at the edge of the altar zone where they can grow undisturbed for a long time. Use the watering can to stop trees you only want for decoration at a smaller stage. Leave a clear path between beds as well, so survivors and animals do not wander through your crops on their way around the base.
Decorative plants count too. Forging the Path added over 20 potted versions of existing plants, and 1.0 raised the health of props such as potted plants so they are less likely to be destroyed by accident in your base. Comfort-focused builders can mix crop beds and potted plants freely.
Taming and Breeding Animals
Animal husbandry runs through the Farmer as well. The wiki describes the process: give a wild animal Farmer-made animal food until it is tamed, then bring it to your base, where it needs an enclosure, animal feeders and beds. To breed, keep at least two happy animals together and have a spare bed nearby.
- Faster products. 1.0 made farm animals significantly faster at producing their goods.
- Animal limit. Patch 12 set the global farm animal limit at 128 and counts fish in your base toward it. If you keep a fish pond, our Enshrouded fishing guide covers releasing fish into water.
- Beds. Patch 1.0.1.0 fixed fish occupying beds that other animals needed for offspring, and let you craft big farm animal beds from any wood type.
- Safety. 1.0 stopped weapon gems from affecting animals in player bases, and co-op players without the right permissions can no longer throw fish into a base to fill the animal limit.
Plan space for pens when you choose a site. Our guide to the best base locations in Enshrouded explains why flat ground near water suits a farm best, and our comfort guide covers how cooked food and furniture feed into the Rested buff.
Fill the Storehouse Without the Harvest
A working farm takes several in-game days to pay off, and crops are only part of what a base consumes. If you would rather have the materials on hand right away, the store's resource storage service provides a Resource Storage building that stores all of the game's resources, laid out in separate chests for quicker access.
Like most of the store's Enshrouded services, this one is for PC only. On PS5, the modded save is the listing that covers your platform, and everything else sits on the Enshrouded services page.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you start farming in Enshrouded?
Rescue the Farmer, Emily Fray, through Growing Stronger Together, craft a Seedbed and Farm Soil, then turn plants into seedlings and plant them in soil inside your base.
How do you make Farm Soil?
The Farmer crafts 10 Farm Soil from 7 Springlands Dirt and 3 Bonemeal. You can also mine it at farms in the world.
How do you place farm soil in Enshrouded?
Select it in the Construction Hammer like a building block and place it inside your Flame Altar's area, then use the Rake to shape it.
Why are my plants not growing?
Check them with the watering can. Some plants need water or a specific soil, and you may have capped their growth in the watering can's menu.
How do you get honey in Enshrouded?
Complete the Farmer's quest A Beehive Smoker to unlock the Beehive, then build hives in your base.
How many farm animals can you have?
Patch 12 set the global limit at 128, and fish in your base count toward it.