Farming and Taming

Growing crops with the Cultivator in the right biome, the Farming skill and Scythe, beehives and tree planting, and taming and breeding boars, wolves, lox, hens, asksvin and, since 1.0, moose fed on lingonberries.

0:32 Farming and taming are the two ways Valheim lets a Viking produce food and materials instead of foraging and hunting for them. Most biomes yield at least one crop that can be replanted at home, from carrots in the Black Forest to Jotun puffs and magecaps in the Mistlands, and the 1.0 release added kale, oats and poteitr from the Deep North. Six animals can be kept tame and bred, which turns boar meat, wolf pelts, eggs and lox hide into renewable resources and supplies the three mounts described on Carts, Mounts and Vehicles. Most of what farms produce ends up in the kitchen (Food and Cooking).

Rows of green-stemmed onion plants topped with round purple and white flower heads, growing in dark tilled soil inside a wooden rail fence at the edge of a sunlit forest. — Onions growing in a fenced plot of cultivated soil, from Iron Gate's Hearth & Home press kit. Iron Gate Studio

Quick facts

What it covers	Growing crops at home instead of foraging, and taming, breeding and riding animals
Key tool	The Cultivator, made at the Forge from 5 Core Wood and 5 Bronze
Growing conditions	A biome the crop tolerates, clear space around it, and an open view of the sky
Growing time	Most crops ripen in 4,000 to 5,000 seconds, roughly two to three in-game days
Tameable animals	Boar, wolf, lox, hen, asksvin and moose
Taming time	600 ticks, or 30 uninterrupted minutes fed and unalerted; 15 with the Brew of Animal Whispers
Farming skill	Added in The Bog Witch Update; up to a 25% bonus harvest and half the Cultivator's stamina and wear
Beehives	10 Wood and a Queen Bee; one Honey about every 20 minutes, four to a hive

The Cultivator

1:01 Every crop starts with the Cultivator, a two-handed tool made at the Forge from 5 Core Wood and 5 Bronze once Bronze has been smelted (Tools, Metals and Smelting). Its first mode tills a patch of cultivated soil; the same tool then plants seeds and crops into it. Carrots, turnips, onions and vineberries grow from seeds, while barley, flax, Jotun puffs and magecaps are replanted directly from the harvested crop. Trees are also planted with the Cultivator but need no tilled ground. A second mode regrows grass, lily pads and sand. Each use costs stamina and one point of durability (Cultivator, Valheim Wiki (Fandom)).

Growing conditions

3:36 A planted crop shows its status when looked at. It grows only if three conditions hold: it is in a biome it tolerates, nothing stands within its growing radius (other crops, walls, rocks, even buried stones), and it has an open view of the sky, however high the obstruction. A crop that fails a condition turns sickly and can recover if the problem is fixed before it matures; otherwise it dies. The usual spacing is about one meter (Cultivator, Valheim Wiki (Fandom)).

Most crops take 4,000 to 5,000 seconds to ripen, roughly two to three in-game days, and sleeping through nights shortens the wait in real time. Creatures attack growing plants, so fields are fenced. Because a roof kills a crop, the wiki recommends the Shield Generator for farms: its dome keeps off rain without counting as a roof (Shield generator, Valheim Wiki).

Crops by biome

4:25 No single biome grows everything, and no food crop grows in the open Mountain or Deep North. The fan wiki notes that heat-sensitive crops grow in the Ashlands, and cold-sensitive ones in the Mountain or Deep North, only under an active Shield Generator (Cultivator, Valheim Wiki (Fandom)). A farm on the border of the Plains and the Mistlands covers all eight pre-1.0 crops.

Crop	Planted from	Found in	Grows in	Harvest
Carrot	Carrot Seeds	Black Forest	Meadows, Black Forest, Plains, Ashlands (shielded)	1 Carrot; a planted carrot gives 3 seeds
Turnip	Turnip Seeds	Swamp	Meadows, Black Forest, Swamp, Plains, Mistlands, Ashlands (shielded)	1 Turnip; a planted turnip gives 3 seeds
Onion	Onion Seeds	Mountain	Meadows, Black Forest, Plains, Ashlands (shielded)	1 Onion; a planted onion gives 3 seeds
Barley, Flax	the crop itself	Plains	Plains	2
Jotun Puffs, Magecap	the crop itself	Mistlands	Mistlands	3
Vineberry Cluster	Vineberry Seeds	Ashlands	all but Mountain and Deep North; climbs a wall	3 clusters per picking
Kale	Kale Seeds	Deep North	the biomes that grow carrots and onions	Kale
Oats	Oat Seeds	Deep North	as kale	Oat Seeds, milled into Oats
Poteitr	Seed Poteitr	Deep North	as kale	Poteitr

Sources: Cultivator, Valheim Wiki (Fandom); Embr; Iron Gate 1.0 patch notes.

Vineberries behave differently from other crops. The seed must be planted one to two meters from a wall, pillar or other built piece, and the Ashvine then climbs and spreads on its own, with each segment able to carry berries and a 20 per cent chance of dropping seeds when picked. Ivy Seeds, sold by The Bog Witch for 65 Coins, grow the same way but are purely decorative (Furniture and Decoration).

4:46 The Deep North added four food plants at 1.0. Lingonberries grow on bushes in the biome's forests and are foraged, not planted; Iron Gate first showed them in March 2026 as berries "found and harvested in the woods" (Word from the Devs: Winter Adventures). Kale Seeds can be picked from wild sprouts, and Oat Seeds and Seed Poteitr come from the barrels of the pantry house in Abandoned Villages. Kale, oats and poteitr grow in the same biomes as carrots, onions and turnips, so they are farmed back home rather than in the snow. Oat Seeds go through the Windmill once for Oats and again for Oat Flour.

A Viking in a dark cap and fur-collared tunic stands among snow-laden bushes hung with clusters of red berries, with frosted trees behind. — Lingonberry bushes heavy with red berries in the snowy woods of the Deep North, from Iron Gate's March 2026 "Winter Adventures" post. Iron Gate Studio

Trees and Timberwood

Beech Seeds, Birch Seeds, Acorns, Fir Cones and Pine Cones are planted with the Cultivator in the Meadows, Black Forest or Plains (firs also in the Mountain), with four meters of clearance, or six for an oak. Saplings take 3,000 to 8,000 seconds to mature. Birch Seeds and Acorns arrived in the Hearth & Home Update of September 2021, letting players replant the trees that give Fine Wood. Version 1.0 added Timberwood as a plantable: felled Timber trees in the Deep North drop Timberwood Cones that grow new trees (Iron Gate 1.0 patch notes; PC Gamer). Timberwood goes into the Deep North's new building pieces and the Moose Saddle (Materials and Resources).

The Farming skill and harvesting gear

1:52 Farming became one of the Skills in The Bog Witch Update of Oct 29, 2024. It gains 0.25 experience for each use of the Cultivator, including planting grass, each crop or wild berry picked by hand, and each swing of the Scythe. Leveling it cuts the Cultivator's stamina and durability costs by up to 50 per cent and gives up to a 25 per cent chance of one extra item per harvest; the bonus depends on the level of the player who harvests, not the one who planted (Farming (skill), Valheim Wiki).

7:48 The Scythe, crafted at a level 2 Forge from 6 Silver and a Scythe Handle bought from the Bog Witch for 200 Coins after Moder falls, harvests a whole arc of crops in one swing. Its reach grows with the skill from 1.5 to 2.5 meters and its stamina cost falls by a third, but it cannot pick Jotun puffs, magecaps or vineberries. Two things add 25 levels to the skill: the Harvester set, Hildir's Straw Hat worn with the Harvest Tunic or Harvest Dress, sold once her brass chest is returned; and, since the Call to Arms Update, Yagluth's Forsaken Power (Straw hat, Valheim Wiki; Patch 0.221.4 notes).

Beehives

1:22 Wild bee nests hang from abandoned houses in the Meadows; shooting one down or dismantling the house yields Honey and a Queen Bee, and a Beehive is built at a Workbench from 10 Wood and one Queen Bee. A hive makes one Honey about every 20 minutes and holds four. The bees work only in the Meadows, Black Forest or Plains and only if the hive has less than 60 per cent cover. Queen bees are finite, around a hundred per world by the wiki's estimate, since wild nests do not respawn (Beehive, Valheim Wiki; Queen bee, Valheim Wiki).

Taming

0:41 Boars, wolves, lox, asksvin and moose are tamed from wild adults; hens hatch already tame. The usual method is to trap the animal first, in a pen or better a steep-sided pit, since a creature that sees the player becomes alerted and tries to break out. Wolves need stakewalls or stone, lox are safest in a ditch, and the Abyssal Harpoon can drag an animal into place.

1:24 Taming advances one tick every three seconds while the animal is fed, not alerted and within about 64 meters of a player; 600 ticks, or 30 uninterrupted minutes, finish the job, and yellow hearts show progress. One food item keeps an animal fed for ten minutes, so three are the minimum. Sleeping resets hunger, and boars are frightened by fire. The Brew of Animal Whispers from the Bog Witch update halves the time to 15 minutes (Taming, Valheim Wiki; Mead and Potions).

Animal	Biome	Food	Main return
Boar	Meadows	Blueberries, Carrots, Onions, Raspberries, Red Mushrooms, Turnips	Boar Meat, Leather Scraps
Wolf	Mountain	Boar, Deer or Lox meat, Neck Tail, Raw Fish, Chicken Meat, Sausages	follows and fights; Wolf Pelt
Lox	Plains	Barley, Cloudberries, Flax	mount; Lox Meat, Lox Pelt
Hen	from eggs	Carrot, Turnip, Onion, Beech or Birch Seeds, Barley, Dandelion	Eggs, Chicken Meat, Feathers
Asksvin	Ashlands	Smoke Puff, Vineberry Cluster, Fiddlehead	mount; Asksvin Hide, Tail, Bladder
Moose	Deep North	Lingonberries	mount; Moose Meat, Hide, Sinew

Sources: Taming, Valheim Wiki; Game8.

A tamed animal joins the player faction and can be petted, renamed with Shift+E, and harmed only with friendly fire on or the Butcher Knife (2 Wood, 4 Tin at the Forge). Tamed wolves follow or guard on command but will not pass through Portals. Fed animals regenerate health, and star levels are kept and passed on to offspring, which makes starred animals the ones worth catching.

Breeding and hens

6:15 Every 30 seconds a well-fed, calm tame animal with a partner nearby has a 33 per cent chance of gaining a love point, shown by pink hearts, provided the local population is under its limit. With enough points it becomes pregnant, and the young are born tame.

Animal	Love points	Population limit	Young grow up in
Boar	3	5 within 10 m	50 minutes
Wolf	3	4 within 10 m	50 minutes
Lox	4	4 within 20 m	100 minutes
Hen	3	10 within 10 m, eggs included	egg hatches after 30 warm minutes; chick grows in 50
Asksvin	3	10 within 10 m	egg hatches after 30 warm minutes; hatchling grows in 50

Source: Taming, Valheim Wiki (Fandom).

4:32 Poultry came with the Mistlands Update of December 2022. Haldor sells Eggs for 1,500 Coins once Yagluth is dead, and Sealed Towers hold more. An egg dropped singly under a roof and within range of a campfire, hearth or hot tub turns "warm" and hatches after 30 minutes into a chick, which grows into a hen. Hens lay more eggs when fed, and the eggs count against the flock limit until picked up.

Asksvin

0:26 Asksvin, the raptor-like lizards of the Ashlands added in May 2024, are caught in a ditch or a pen of stone, black marble or Grausten at least four meters high, and tamed with smoke puffs, vineberries or fiddleheads. Ashlands Dvergr who wander into the camp will attack a taming asksvin. Two-star asksvin spawn only at night and must be trapped or started on taming before dawn. Bred asksvin lay eggs instead of giving live birth; like hen eggs they need a heat source to hatch, so the young can be carried home through a portal as eggs (Asksvin, Valheim Wiki; Ashlands Creatures).

Moose

0:12 The Moose is the Deep North's tameable animal and the only new one in 1.0. It is aggressive, and it eats nothing but lingonberries, which grow on bushes that regrow if left intact. Guides trap one by digging a deep pit near it and luring it in, or by building a fence pen with a raised platform to hide on, then dropping lingonberries in and staying out of sight (Sportskeeda). One launch-week guide used 20 to 25 berries for a single tame, and PCGamesN's reviewer described "laborious, long taming times" and one moose that kicked him off a mountain (PCGamesN).

7:47 Tamed moose can be bred like the older animals, and the 1.0 patch notes list a Moose Calf among the biome's creatures; breeding limits had not been documented by launch week. Starred moose carry larger antlers. A hurt tame moose heals when fed lingonberries. Riding it requires the Moose Saddle, covered with the other mounts on Carts, Mounts and Vehicles; the creature itself is described on Deep North Creatures. Full page: Moose.

History

Early access began in February 2021 with carrots, turnips, barley, flax, beehives and tameable boars, wolves and lox. The Hearth & Home Update added onions, birch and oak seeds, pet names, the Butcher Knife and lox riding; the Mistlands Update added mushroom farming and hens; the Ashlands Update added vineberries and asksvin; the Bog Witch update added the Farming skill and the Scythe; and 1.0 on Sep 9, 2026 added kale, oats, poteitr, Timberwood and the moose (Deep North Update (1.0 Patch Notes)).

Frequently asked questions

How long does taming take in Valheim? Taming advances one tick every three seconds while the animal is fed, not alerted and within about 64 meters of a player, and 600 ticks finish the job, so 30 uninterrupted minutes. The Brew of Animal Whispers halves that to 15.

Why is my crop not growing? A plant grows only if it is in a biome it tolerates, has nothing within its growing radius, and has an open view of the sky, however high the obstruction. A sickly crop recovers if the problem is fixed before it matures. Because a roof kills a crop, the Shield Generator is the way to keep rain off a farm.

What do you feed a moose? Lingonberries, and nothing else. They grow on bushes in the Deep North's forests that regrow if left intact, and one launch-week guide used 20 to 25 berries for a single tame.

How do you get hens? Haldor sells Eggs for 1,500 Coins once Yagluth is dead, and Sealed Towers hold more. An egg dropped singly under a roof and within range of a campfire, hearth or hot tub turns warm and hatches after 30 minutes into a chick, which grows into a hen.

Which biome can grow every crop? None. No food crop grows in the open Mountain or Deep North, and a farm on the border of the Plains and the Mistlands covers all eight pre-1.0 crops.

Sources

Moments

The ULTIMATE Guide to Farming in Valheim!

Embr

0:32 Farming and taming are the two ways Valheim lets a Viking produce food and materials instead of foraging and hunting…
1:01 Every crop starts with the Cultivator, a two-handed tool made at the Forge from 5 Core Wood and 5 Bronze once Bronze…
3:36 A planted crop shows its status when looked at. It grows only if three conditions hold: it is in a biome it tolerates…
4:25 No single biome grows everything, and no food crop grows in the open Mountain or Deep North. The fan wiki notes that…
1:52 Farming became one of the Skills in The Bog Witch Update of Oct 29, 2024. It gains 0.25 experience for each use of the…
7:48 The Scythe, crafted at a level 2 Forge from 6 Silver and a Scythe Handle bought from the Bog Witch for 200 Coins after…

Ultimate Deep North Guide - EVERYTHING NEW!

EmmaTpotato

4:46 The Deep North added four food plants at 1.0. Lingonberries grow on bushes in the biome's forests and are foraged, not…

Valheim 1.0 COMPLETE BEGINNERS GUIDE in under 10 minutes!

Annarf

1:22 Wild bee nests hang from abandoned houses in the Meadows; shooting one down or dismantling the house yields Honey and…

Valheim - The Complete Taming & Breeding Guide! (incl. Chickens)

Embr

0:41 Boars, wolves, lox, asksvin and moose are tamed from wild adults; hens hatch already tame. The usual method is to trap…
1:24 Taming advances one tick every three seconds while the animal is fed, not alerted and within about 64 meters of a…
6:15 Every 30 seconds a well-fed, calm tame animal with a partner nearby has a 33 per cent chance of gaining a love point…
4:32 Poultry came with the Mistlands Update of December 2022. Haldor sells Eggs for 1,500 Coins once Yagluth is dead, and…