Spring is the season when the sun begins to warm the frostbitten ground left by winter. It’s a time when bears, squirrels, and bats slowly awaken from their cozy dens, venturing out in search of food and adjusting to their surroundings. Small buds start to appear on branches, soon blossoming into beautiful flowers. During this period, farmers are busy preparing for the summer season: planting seedlings, tilling the soil, and creating favorable conditions on their plots for future agricultural work.
Cultivation was introduced in Minecraft back in February 2010 during the development phase of the Indev version, making it one of the oldest features in the game. To grow something, you need to plant seeds, which happen to be the focus of this week. In Minecraft Bedrock, there are only four types of seeds: wheat, melon, pumpkin, and beetroot. However, you can also consider carrots, potatoes, chorus flowers, and cocoa beans as seeds, perhaps even mushrooms since they too can sprout, right?
Most seeds in Minecraft Pocket Edition follow the same planting procedure. First, use a hoe to till the soil and prepare it for seed planting. Then, check for access to water and sunlight; if all these conditions are met, you can plant the seeds by right-clicking. Before the plants reach maturity, they must go through several growth stages, which can be accelerated using bone meal if necessary. Finally, once everything is ready, simply right-click again, and your harvest will appear in your inventory.
With the harvest, you’ll receive seeds that you can replant (if you don’t have any, place the crop in a crafting grid to obtain them), so establishing and maintaining your own farm won’t be difficult. But what if you’ve never grown anything before and lack seeds? You could visit the nearest village and “borrow” some (but please replant whatever you take), consult with traders, or search chests. If you’re looking for pumpkins or melons, try checking the wild areas.
Image provided by: Alexander Klepnev and CC BY 4.0.
Despite the limited number of seeds in Minecraft, the real world boasts a vast array of shapes, sizes, and colors. The tiniest seeds belong to tropical orchids; they’re so small that they’re nearly invisible to the naked eye, floating in the air like dust. On the other hand, the largest seeds come from coconut palms, measuring up to 30 cm in length and weighing as much as 18 kg. This species is considered endangered, hence it’s carefully protected in its natural habitat—the Seychelles Islands.
We often overlook the significance of seeds in our lives, which is unfortunate because they are essential for survival. The advancement of agriculture allowed us to move beyond hunter-gatherer societies and develop into a full-fledged civilization. Without seeds and farming, we wouldn’t have food; even the animals we rely on for meat consume seeds. Scientists estimate that there are around 200,000 edible plant species on Earth, yet humans only eat about 200 (perhaps we’re a bit too picky). Approximately half of all calories consumed by humans come from corn, rice, and wheat.
Without these crops, humanity would not exist. That’s why scientists have established several secure facilities where samples of the most crucial agricultural plants are stored. These “seed banks” could save humanity and the planet, giving us a chance to restart in case of unforeseen circumstances, such as a plant disease outbreak.
The largest and most significant bank is located deep beneath the ice in the permafrost of Spitsbergen Island, near the North Pole. It houses copies of a million seed varieties collected from the farthest corners of our planet, serving as a backup for all backups!
Let’s hope we never have to utilize them!
