The life of a farmer is far from easy. Rising early before the sun has even peeked over the horizon, one must head to the fields to tend to the crops, and before you know it, evening has arrived. The next day brings the same routine, followed by yet another repeat. However, in Minecraft, there exists an item that lightens the burdens of farming—a little ray of sunshine for every player engaged in planting. This week’s featured item is the hoe.
Hoes were introduced in Minecraft Bedrock back in February 2010, alongside seeds, wheat, bread, and farmland. That update also included a glitch where mobs would walk backward, which was perhaps one of the funniest bugs in history, as they mimicked Michael Jackson’s moonwalk. Like many other tools, hoes can be crafted from various materials: wood, stone, iron, gold, and diamond. Each type varies in durability. 
To craft a hoe, simply place two of the aforementioned resources in the crafting grid along with a couple of sticks. Occasionally, you might discover hoes in woodland mansions, once inhabited by avid gardeners.
To utilize a hoe, simply right-click on a patch of grass. It will transform into farmland where you can plant any seeds your heart (or stomach) desires. Hoes can also be employed to change coarse dirt into regular dirt, and wooden hoes serve as fuel for furnaces. However, this is significantly less efficient than using standard wood, which you originally crafted the hoe from. It’s a double effort with a subpar outcome.
In the real world, hoes represent an ancient technology—one of humanity’s oldest agricultural tools. They are utilized for soil preparation and clearing, weeding, harvesting root vegetables, and much more.
In Sumerian mythology, the hoe was created by Enlil— the God of wind, air, earth, and storms. A poem consisting of 108 lines, dated to 2500 BCE, describes Enlil’s original hoe as being extraordinarily expensive; its base was made of gold, and it featured a head carved from lapis lazuli as an ornament. Perhaps this would make a fine addition to Minecraft Pocket Edition.
Nowadays, hoes are rarely used. They were replaced by the plow around the fourth or fifth millennium BCE. However, this tool did not gain much popularity, so most farmers continued to cultivate their land with the trusty old hoe for several more centuries.
In Minecraft, there is no plow either, which makes me fear we are lagging behind reality by several centuries. Maybe one day villagers will evolve and invent the plow. I believe that will mark the beginning of a new civilization in the game!
