To understand how to build a farm in Valheim, start with the distinction in Iron Gate’s Steam announcement of February 2, 2021: Iron Gate describes the Cultivator as preparing ground for crops and the Hoe as changing terrain. The announcement describes their roles at that time; by itself, it does not confirm that all planting instructions are the same in version 1.0.
How to build a farm in Valheim version 1.0: check what you plant
The official detailed version 1.0 notes list Kale, Oats, Poteitr and Timberwood under “Plantable.” That list does not specify their biome, spacing or other growing conditions.
Location can matter in a world where biomes have distinct environments, resources and enemies, as the Valheim Steam store page notes. However, this general information does not identify specific biomes for the 4 entries in the version 1.0 list.
If you’re playing an older version
GameCluebook’s guide covers live branch 0.221.12 through Ashlands; its author says it was checked on September 4, 2026, and has not been verified for version 1.0. For version 0.221.12, it recommends crafting the Cultivator at the Forge with 5 Core wood and 5 Bronze, then cultivating the soil before planting. These costs are not confirmed for version 1.0.
For crops in that same version, GameCluebook advises checking the biome, the space around plants and access to the sky. If a plant is not growing, read its status message to identify a problem. The guide places Barley and Flax in the Plains, and Magecaps and Jotun puffs in the Mistlands; these details have not been verified for version 1.0.
Harvesting and improving your farm
The 0.219.13 patch notes, published on October 29, 2024, say that the Scythe speeds up harvesting. They also state that the Farming skill reduces the Cultivator’s stamina cost, increases the durability of farming items and can grant a bonus harvest yield. These effects are documented for that patch; the sources consulted do not explicitly confirm them for version 1.0.
The detailed instructions in this guide apply to version 0.221.12. For version 1.0, the cited notes provide a list of plantable entries without specifying their growing conditions. For more, see our Valheim farming guide.
