Enshrouded: Crops Of Cinder’s Cradle Quest and How to Craft Basalt Farm Soil

Crops Of Cinder’s Cradle is a three-step side quest from Emily Fray, the Farmer in Enshrouded. She wants samples of the volcanic region’s produce. Once she has them, she asks for a new soil that can grow them. The gathering part is quick because four of the five crops sit in a single cave. The soil is the slower part. It needs milled basalt and a batch of Fertilised Farm Soil, and both have their own crafting chains.

Quick answer: Collect Aurora Beans, Prickle Pearl, Bloomheart Fruit, Grandleaf Cabbage and Thyme around the Cave Passage. Talk to Emily Fray, then craft Basalt Farm Soil at the Farmer from 5 Fertilised Farm Soil and 10 Basalt Dust.

Crops Of Cinder’s Cradle walkthrough: gathering the five crops

The first objective reads “Gather New Fruits, Vegetables, and Herbs” and counts from 0/5. The quest marks a spot on your map called Cave Passage in Cinder’s Cradle. Most of the crops grow there.

Follow the quest marker across the ruined bridges and ash-covered paths of Cinder’s Cradle. The yellow diamond on your compass shows how many meters you still have to go.

Heading to Cinder's Cradle Cave — On the way to the Cave Passage, the route crosses ruined walkways. Follow the objective marker. Shown at 00:23 in RIFAS’s video. Image: Keen Games GmbH

Cross the wooden bridge over the lava flows and keep going through Drak’dal Camp. The cave entrance is past the camp, and the map labels it Cave Passage.

Entering Cave Passage — The Cave Passage entrance past Drak'dal Camp. Four of the five quest crops grow inside. Shown at 01:08 in RIFAS’s video. Image: Keen Games GmbH

Inside the cave, harvest Aurora Beans, Prickle Pearl and Bloomheart Fruit. Each first pickup unlocks new recipes, such as seedlings at the Seedbed, dishes at the Kitchen and plant pots at the Ancient Researcher. You can also pick up Fertile Altered Dirt here.

Gathering Cave Plants & Dirt — Harvesting inside the overgrown cave. New crops trigger recipe unlocks, and Fertile Altered Dirt drops while you mine. Shown at 01:40 in RIFAS’s video. Image: Keen Games GmbH

Keep moving deeper and pick a Grandleaf Cabbage. That brings the counter to 4/5. If your inventory is full, salvage spare gear to make room before you harvest.

Collecting Grandleaf Cabbage & Managing Inventory — Grandleaf Cabbage is the fourth crop. The objective now reads 4/5, and only Thyme is left. Shown at 03:50 in RIFAS’s video. Image: Keen Games GmbH

Leave the cave by the path that runs out onto the rocky ridge and harvest Thyme on the cliffs just past the tunnel. The objective reaches 5/5 and changes to “Bring Fruits, Vegetables, and Herbs To The Farmer.”

Finding Thyme Outside Cave — Thyme grows on the ridge outside the cave. Picking it completes the 5/5 gathering objective. Shown at 05:18 in RIFAS’s video. Image: Keen Games GmbH

Open the world map and fast travel to your base. Keep all five crops in your inventory. The Farmer only accepts them if you are carrying them when you speak to her.

Fast Traveling to Base — Use fast travel from your home marker on the world map to get back to the Farmer. Shown at 05:32 in RIFAS’s video. Image: Keen Games GmbH

Talk to Emily Fray. She reacts to the produce and suggests that “basalt-enriched, volcanic earth” might grow it. The quest then updates to its last objective, Craft Basalt Farm Soil.

How to craft Basalt Farm Soil

Basalt Farm Soil is made at the Farmer, under the Soil tab of Emily Fray’s crafting menu. The recipe unlocks when you first pick up Basalt. Like the other farm soils, it must be crafted under a roof. One craft produces 10 Basalt Farm Soil.

Item	Made at	Ingredients	Output
Basalt Farm Soil	Farmer (sheltered)	5 Fertilised Farm Soil, 10 Basalt Dust	10
Fertilised Farm Soil	Farmer (sheltered)	2 Fossilized Bone Dust, 3 Nitrate, 10 Sand, 5 Farm Soil	10
Basalt Dust	Mill	Raw Basalt	1 per 180 s

Basalt Dust is the slowest ingredient to produce: the Mill makes one every 180 seconds, while the soil recipe calls for 10. Put Basalt in the Mill before heading out to gather crops, and the dust should be ready when you return. For the Mill to run, a force generator must be close. Windmill sails qualify, as does a water wheel that is partly underwater.

Put raw Basalt into the Mill and collect at least 10 Basalt Dust. The Basalt Dust recipe also unlocks when you first pick up Basalt.

Make sure you have at least 5 Fertilised Farm Soil. If you don’t, craft a batch of 10 at the Farmer from Fossilized Bone Dust, Nitrate, Sand and regular Farm Soil.

Open Emily Fray’s crafting menu, go to the Soil tab and select Basalt Farm Soil. Craft it while the Farmer is under a roof.

You’ll know it worked when “QUEST COMPLETED! Crops of Cinder’s Cradle” appears on screen and Emily Fray answers with “Bless the Ancients!”

Cinder’s Cradle crop stats

Four of the quest crops can be eaten raw, and their effects are very different. All four are Common rarity and stack to 20.

Crop	Type	Raw effect	Duration
Grandleaf Cabbage	Vegetable	+21% Ranged Damage, +21% Dagger Damage	1800 s
Bloomheart Fruit	Fruit	Health Regeneration 24	210 s
Prickle Pearl	Fruit	Health Regeneration 24	210 s
Aurora Beans	Raw ingredient	Food Poisoning: -80 Health, -70 Stamina	180 s

Bloomheart Fruit and Prickle Pearl give the same health regeneration buff for the same length of time. Grandleaf Cabbage lasts much longer, and its bonus applies to ranged and dagger damage.

Do not eat Aurora Beans raw. They give you Food Poisoning, which lowers your maximum health and stamina. Cook them first, for example in the Plantain Salad with Aurora Beans recipe at the Kitchen.

Crops Of Cinder’s Cradle rewards and Basalt Farm Soil uses

Finishing the quest gives you 225 experience and Basalt Farm Soil. In practice, the quest is what lets you farm Cinder’s Cradle crops at your base. The soil is meant for plants from that region, which do not grow in ordinary ground. It is used in these recipes:

Seedbed: Thyme, Prickle Pearl, Bloomheart Fruit, Aurora Bean and Grandleaf Cabbage Seedlings
Ancient Researcher: Large Bloomheart Fruit Plant Pot I and II, Large Grandleaf Cabbage Plant Pot
Ancient Researcher: Small Prickle Pearl Plant Pot, Small Aurora Beans Plant Pot
Coloring Station: Convergence

Basalt Farm Soil stacks to 250 and counts toward the Cinder’s Cradle terrain materials set. Each craft gives 10 units, so it is worth keeping the Mill supplied with Basalt if you plan to plant more than a few seedlings.