Outbound Guide: How to Plant Seeds and Use Crop Plots
Grow Endless Food and Never Go Hungry in Your Camper Van
Quick Answer: Outbound does not actually use seeds. To farm, you simply plant an existing piece of food into a Crop Plot. Once you unlock the Gardening Blueprint, build a planter, interact with the orange label on the front, and deposit a crop from your inventory. Keep it watered, and a single planted fruit will yield a massive harvest.
Keeping your camper van fueled and upgraded is only half the battle in Outbound. You also have to keep yourself alive. Every time you scavenge for resources or build new machinery, your hunger gauge drops. Let it deplete entirely, and you will lose the ability to sprint or get much of anything done.
While you can survive by eating random berries off the ground, setting up a proper farm is the ultimate way to secure an endless food supply for advanced cooking recipes. Here is exactly how to get your mobile garden up and running.
Gathering Your Gardening Gear
Before you can play in the dirt, you need the right tools. Your first step is tracking down the Gardening Blueprint, which unlocks the ability to build a basic planter. As you progress into the second and third biomes, you will eventually find upgraded schematics like the Efficient Crop Plot that drastically reduce growing times.
To get your starter farm going, you need to craft two essential items:
| Item | Crafting Cost | Notes |
| Basic Crop Plot | 2 Everwood, 2 Everwood Planks | Place this wherever it fits inside or on your van. |
| Watering Can | 4 Scrap Metal | You can easily find scrap lying on the ground near signal towers. |
If you are currently driving through the harsh canyons and struggling to keep your vehicle alive while scavenging for these materials, take a quick detour. Check out our engine overheating guide to permanently solve your temperature problems so you can focus on farming!
How to Actually Plant Crops
If you have been driving around desperately searching for a seed vendor, you can stop right now. Outbound skips seeds entirely. If you want to grow carrots, you just plant a whole carrot.
Here is exactly how to interact with your new farming plots:
- Walk up to the front of your newly built planter.
- Aim your cursor directly at the small orange label flanked by wooden pegs.
- Interact with the empty box icon to pull up your inventory menu.
- Select whatever fruit or vegetable you want to multiply and confirm your choice.
Once planted, green text will pop up under the menu showing exactly how long you need to wait before harvest time.
Watering and Harvesting
Keep a close eye on that orange label. If a tiny red watering can icon appears, your plant is thirsty. Walk over with your equipped Watering Can and interact with the soil to hydrate it. You will burn through water doing this, so make it a habit to drain every well and grab every water bottle you see during your travels.
The payoff is absolutely worth the effort. Planting a single coastberry in an Efficient Crop Plot and keeping it watered for one in-game day yields ten berries. That is a massive return on investment.
Do You Really Need to Farm?
Honestly, you can beat the game without ever touching a crop plot. If you do not care about crafting elaborate meals, you can totally survive by just eating raw forage as you explore. However, if you want to dive into the cooking mechanics or just prefer the comfort of knowing you will never run out of stamina on a long scavenging run, setting up a couple of planters is a no-brainer.
If you want to master every aspect of your campervan adventure, be sure to check out all of our other guides at Novus Vektra.
