Minecraft wiki entry for Crop_farming, associated text: At the beginning of the game when buckets are not available, you can till the dirt at the edge of a pond or lake or river, perhaps digging a trench to extend the water supply inland or straightening the shoreline by adding or removing dirt blocks at the top layer of the water's edge. However, once the player has a comfortable amount of resources, setting up some fenced farm plots prevents mobs from trampling the crops and attacking the farmer.