Minecraft wiki entry for Desert_survival, associated text: Farming will not be available for a while. You may have possibly found dirt underground mining. Keep some of that. Carrots and potatoes can be rarely dropped by zombies. Desert temples generally contain iron ingots, or you may find some mining. Sticks are dropped from dead bushes. This eliminates the tool issue. Once you have a steady supply of food, you can now focus on more challenging tasks.