You may be picking up seeds and wondering, “How do I start farming in Crosswind?” This guide will walk you through everything you need to know to create the perfect farm.
Acquiring Fertile Soil
To get started, you will need to explore and sail to a Foothill island. These islands are located in the southeast. Once you are exploring the islands, look for points of interest labeled “Ancient Farms.”
Once there, equip your trusty pickaxe and begin to break apart the ground. This will allow you to gather fertile soil, the essential foundation for your future crops.
Preparing Your Plot
With fertile soil in your inventory, head back to your home. Now, it’s time to start building your farm.
- Press the ‘B’ key on your keyboard to open the build menu (also known as the building panel).
- Navigate to the “Farming” tab.
- Select the “seedbed” and place it on your plot of land.
This seedbed is where the magic happens and where most of your crops will grow.
Planting Your Seeds
Finding Seeds
In Crosswind, seeds are a bonus discovery while you are out exploring and gathering. When you harvest a wild plant, there is a small chance you will also receive a seed for that plant. For example, if you find and harvest wild flax, you might get a flax seed to take back to your farm.
Below is an image of the seeds that I have managed to discover just from roaming around the islands.
Plantable Seedlings
There are two main categories of seeds that you can plant:
- Seedbed Plants: These must be planted in the fertile soil of your seedbed.
- Peppers
- Batata
- Bean
- Leek
- Tomato
- Corn
- Flax
- Cocoplum
- Ground Plants: These larger plants can be placed directly on the ground anywhere on your plot.
- Shrub
- Ficus
- Palm
Note: As Crosswind is currently in its alpha stage of development, this list is subject to change, and more plant varieties may be added in future updates.
The Planting Process
Once you have seeds in your possession, return to your home. Open the building panel (‘B’ key) again and go to the Farming tab. Select the seedling you wish to plant and then left-click on your prepared seedbed to plant it.
Growth and Harvesting Your Crops
Once your seeds are planted, it’s simply a waiting game for them to grow. There is no need to water them; just wait until they are ready!
When your plants have fully matured, you are ready to harvest them. Simply walk up to the plant and press the “E” key to harvest it. You will notice that it will give you the resource and also give you your seeds back. This means you can keep a constant loop of planting and harvesting your crops.
Advanced Farming: The Farming Contract
For those who have progressed further in their adventures and have reached Tortuga, a more automated farming option becomes available.
The Farming Contractor can be purchased in Tortuga from the Recruitment Vendor for the price of 10 gold coins and then placed at your home.
Once you have placed the contractor, you can interact with the farming bench and see that the NPC requires you to bring 50 seeds of a plant and 20 silver coins.
Using this service is extremely useful, as within 8 hours, you can interact with the farming bench again to get your 50 seeds back, as well as heaps of the resource that you needed.
What is great about this service is that the farmer will work passively while you are not playing and also does not interrupt your own personal crops that you are growing.
