Project Zomboid Farming: How to create a farm

The Project Zomboid Farming skill is the best way to create a consistent source of sustainable food, allowing you to secure your dietary needs for the rest of the apocalypse.

Sustainability is key to survival, especially so in Project Zomboid where resources are scarce, and the undead hordes can make scavenging risky. This makes the Farming skill an important part of the gameplay loop once you have found a safehouse and hunkered down.

So, if you need to know how to build a successful farm and get the crops going, check out our breakdown of the Project Zomboid Farming skill. 

• We also have a rundown on Project Zomboid foraging.

Project Zomboid Farming: What is the Farming skill?

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In Project Zomboid, Farming is a crafting skill that dictates how successful your agricultural skills are in planting, fostering, and harvesting crops.

As your Farming skill increases, you can see more information about the plants you have, along with its current status. At level 0, there isn't much information to learn about crops, and you will have to watch how your plants are doing by looking at visual cues.

As you gain more levels, you can begin to see the hydration level, growth phase, time to reach the next stage of growth, and potential diseases and infection levels of plants, letting you slowly master the farm lifestyle. 

To gain experience in farming, the easiest way is to directly harvest a crop, and you will be rewarded XP based on the condition of the crop. Alternatively, skill books, some VHS tapes, and the Life and Living TV channel do provide some experience in Farming that can be utilised early.

During character creation, you can also help your Farming by picking the Farmer occupation, which gives you +3 to the skill initially and lets you make mildew spray and insecticide spray. There is also the Gardner trait, which awards you +1 to Farming, and the same items that the Farmer can craft.

There are several types of crop which can be grown and then harvested. These are carrots, broccoli, radishes, strawberries, tomatoes, potatoes, and cabbages. There are also additional items which can be used to aid the growth of plants and success of the farm, by either using them as is or crafting them to create something else.

The watering can, NPK fertilizer, rain collector barrel, walls, composter, sack, gardening spray can, cigarettes, and milk are all items which can aid your farm in some way.

• We also have a guide on the best Project Zomboid traits.

Project Zomboid Farming: How to farm

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Firstly, to start a farm, players will need three key items: a trowel or shovel, seeds for crops, and something to hold water. After this, find a suitable spot for your farm, and consider how accessible it is to zombies, as they can trample crops and ruin them before they grow.

After you've acquired the needed resources and scouted a location, you will need to then prepare the dirt tiles for farming, or move dirt into the area your farm is in. If you need to do the latter first, this requires a shovel and a sack. Just right-click the dirt floor, select 'Take some dirt' and then 'Sack.' Afterwards, find where you want to dump the dirt, and select 'Spill dirt' and then 'Dirt bag.'

Next, the floor will need plowing, so select a trowel and select the option to 'Dig,' after which a patch of dirt three lines will appear on the ground. 

The next step in the farming process is to plant the crops themselves. You can open a seed packet to acquire loose seeds, or find seeds themselves, and from here it's a case of right-clicking the tilled soil and selecting the 'Sow seed' option, followed by the crop you want to plant.

It's also important to water the crop instantly, and continue to do so until the crop info box tells you the plants are well watered. As long as the crops stay in the well watered state, they will continue to grow and at some point will be available to harvest. You can then gather the food and more seeds to put back into the farm to keep it sustainable. 

It's worth mentioning that crops can gain diseases sometimes, and the chances of them gaining them is shown in the crop info box after you gain enough Farming levels. To counteract this, you will need the insecticide and mildew sprays which can be crafted. 

That's our rundown of the Project Zomboid Farming skill, and should be ready to make a farm to help you survive well into the zombie apocalypse.

If you need to change the game to your liking, here's our Project Zomboid cheats guide.