Farming Guide: Irrigation, Crops & Processing Tips

Farming is the backbone of any Timberborn colony: it supplies food (and in some cases fuel or ingredients), affects well-being and reproduction, and requires careful water and space planning. This page summarizes crop types, buildings, irrigation and layout principles, processing chains, drought-safe options, faction differences, and practical ratios and tips.

Core crop types and characteristics

• Surface crops (Farmhouse / Efficient Farmhouse for Folktails; Farmhouse for Iron Teeth):
  • Carrot — grows fast; harvested crop yields 3 Carrots; edible raw. Short grow time makes it ideal early or for emergency planting.
  • Sunflower — yields 2 Sunflower Seeds; edible raw without processing; moderate grow time.
  • Potato — yields 1 Potato per mature tile; requires a Grill to process (1 Potato → 4 Grilled Potatoes). Slower growth than Carrots but better when processed.
  • Wheat — yields 3 Wheat per mature tile; processed via Gristmill then Bakery to produce Bread (high food-per-tile). Long grow time and requires power/infrastructure.
• Aquatic crops (Folktails only, Aquatic Farmhouse):
  • Cattail — yields 3 Cattail Roots; must be ground to Cattail Flour in a Gristmill and baked into Cattail Crackers.
  • Spadderdock — yields 3 Spadderdock; processed in a Grill to produce Grilled Spadderdock.
• Iron Teeth-specific crops:
  • Kohlrabi — small, fast starter crop; edible raw.
  • Cassava, Soybean, Corn, Eggplant, Canola — many require processing (Fermenter, Oil Press, Food Factory) and form multi-step chains unique to Iron Teeth.

Notes:

• Crop yields listed are per harvested crop tile (game UI/values consistent across sources).
• Some crops are edible raw (Carrot, Sunflower Seeds, Kohlrabi); most higher-yield chains require processing.

Farm buildings and workers

• Farmhouse (Iron Teeth & base Folktails): assigns farmers; Farmhouse has a planting radius shown when selected.
  • Farmhouse worker counts: Farmhouse (2 workers), Efficient Farmhouse (3 workers for Folktails), Aquatic Farmhouse (2 workers).
• Efficient Farmhouse (Folktails upgrade) covers a larger radius and is more land-efficient.
• Hydroponic Garden (Iron Teeth): indoor, drought-proof growth building that produces Mushrooms or Algae; requires water goods and workers (gardeners). Produces slowly but with excellent food-per-surface-area; yields require processing (Fermenter or Food Factory).
• Beehive (Folktails): placed next to farmland; applies a growth boost to crops within a 7x7 area centered on the Beehive (effective coverage up to 48 farmable tiles). Boost reduces crop growth time by roughly 30% (sources report ~28–32% reduction depending on crop). Boost mechanics apply periodically and have cooldown behavior—treat Beehives as a strong growth accelerator but not an infinite multiplier.

Irrigation and placement

• Crops and planted trees require irrigated soil (moisture) to grow. Watered blocks (in contact with water) irrigate soil outward: at same elevation up to 15 tiles; each height difference reduces effective distance (approximately 7 tiles per height difference).
• For maximum irrigation range, a 3x3 block of water tiles provides the best reach. Plan reservoirs or irrigation towers to cover large contiguous farm areas.
• Irrigation planning rules:
  • Do not build structures on irrigated tiles you intend to farm—every building tile is a lost crop tile.
  • Place Farmhouses on the edge of irrigated areas so the farmhouse tile does not waste irrigated land.
  • Orient Farmhouse entrances toward nearby storage to shorten harvest-to-store trips.
• Iron Teeth Irrigation Barrier blocks contamination spread but also blocks irrigation—do not place barriers between your water source and farms unless you provide alternative irrigation on the farm side.

Growth modes, planting behavior, and practical layouts

• Farmhouse work modes:
  • Planting: immediately replants a tile after harvest—recommended for constant harvest fields and single-farmhouse setups.
  • Harvesting: waits until harvesting all available tiles before planting—can be useful with multiple farmhouses cooperating.
• Set crop priority if needed (e.g., prefer Potatoes), but work mode is the stronger control.
• When using multiple farmhouses over the same area, setting all but one farmhouse to Harvest mode can reduce redundant replanting and increase throughput.
• Efficient layout goals:
  • Minimize irrigated tiles covered by non-farm buildings.
  • Cluster farms near Gristmills, Grills, Bakeries and Warehouses to reduce hauling time.
  • Place Beehives to cover the largest contiguous crop blocks without routing primary footpaths through their AoE (to avoid bee stings lowering well-being).

Food processing chains and ratios

• Folktails:
  • Grill: early processing building. Notable recipe: 1 Potato → 4 Grilled Potatoes (Grill is the best early-processing building).
  • Gristmill → Bakery: Wheat and Cattail chains. Gristmill converts Wheat → Wheat Flour (and Cattail Root → Cattail Flour). Typical ratio: 1 Gristmill supports 2 Bakeries (Wheat chain). Plan Wheat fields accordingly—Wheat is highest food-per-tile once processed.
  • Refinery: produces Biofuel from crops + water; recipes vary in efficiency (e.g., Potatoes, Spadderdock, Carrots give differing Biofuel per input).
• Iron Teeth:
  • Fermenter: converts Cassava, Soybeans, Mushrooms into fermented products. Example: Fermenter converts 4 Cassava → 10 Fermented Cassava (recipe runtime and horsepower required).
  • Oil Press: converts Canola Seeds → Canola Oil for Food Factory recipes.
  • Food Factory: high-throughput building for Corn Rations and Eggplant Rations; requires multiple inputs and logs.
• General production tips:
  • Each processing building can run only one recipe at a time; if you need multiple outputs build duplicates.
  • Match farm production to processing throughput to avoid raw crop stockpiles filling warehouses.
  • Place Small or Large Warehouses adjacent to high-throughput production chains to prevent idle production due to full building inventories.

Drought-proof and indoor options

• Hydroponic Garden (Iron Teeth): grows Mushrooms or Algae indoors without irrigation; consumes stored water from tanks. Mushrooms: long grow time but compact yield; Algae yields larger but slower; both require downstream processing (Fermenter for Mushrooms, Food Factory for Algae). Hydroponics have the best food-per-surface-area and are ideal for space-constrained or drought-prone maps.
• Berries: wild berry bushes regrow and can survive many droughts; a useful supplement early-game but low nutrition tier contribution.
• Food buffers and drought planning:
  • Plan food storage to cover drought duration plus recovery days (crops do not grow during drought). Processed foods store more nutrition per unit and are more space-efficient than raw crops—prefer Bread or rations for long droughts.
  • Aim for diversified food production (ideally 3+ food types) to maximize well-being and reproduction.

Calorie efficiency and common comparisons

• Wheat → Bread is the highest calorie return per farmland tile but requires power and processing infrastructure.
• Processed foods beat raw crops in space efficiency; transition to a processed chain by mid-game.
• Example per-tile (7x7 examples referenced by community data): Bread and Cattail Crackers yield very high food-per-day; Carrots are fast and farmer-intensive but lower per-tile return; Spadderdock and Grilled Chestnuts are strong aquatic/tree options when available.
• Biofuel potential: some crops are also valuable for Refinery recipes—Spadderdock and Potatoes give very good Biofuel per tile.

Workforce and reproduction considerations

• Farmers: Farmhouses and Efficient Farmhouses employ farmers (see worker counts above). Hydroponic Gardens use gardener-type workers.
• Kits take time to mature (~6 days) and consume food during maturation—account for this delay when planning workforce increases.
• Reproduction (Folktails) responds positively to well-being and nutrition variety—maintaining varied, processed diets accelerates population growth. Iron Teeth reproduction depends on Breeding Pods and resource supply.

Common mistakes and practical tips

• Don’t build on irrigated land you plan to farm; reclaimable farmland is precious.
• Don’t delay food processing—raw crops are inefficient for long-term storage.
• Diversify foods early to improve well-being and breeding rate.
• Time planting to avoid starting long-growth crops (Wheat, Spadderdock) right before drought.
• Use Beehives to accelerate fields but place paths to avoid beehive AoE when possible.
• For large-scale farms, balance number of Farmhouses, Gristmills, Bakeries, Grills, and Warehouses to match expected throughput (example: 1 Gristmill supports ~2 Bakeries for Wheat).

This guide condenses the practical rules and numbers most relevant to designing and maintaining efficient farms in Timberborn. Use irrigation overlays, farmhouse ranges, and production building inventories to iterate layouts that keep crops irrigated, processors fed, and beavers well-fed and content.