You don't need the Farmer boots, they help but aren't necessary. Once you learn how to make the seed, you become self-sufficient because you can also make seed from what you harvest.With one point in living off the land, you will eventually be able to make all the seeds. Sometimes I use most of what I harvest to make the seed that I need but I always have a few left over. Sometimes I use very little because I harvested more seed.
Suppose I harvest three corn and only get one seed. I'll take 10 corn, make two seeds, and plant three. The next harvest I might get two seeds. I'll turn 10 of them in to seed and plant four. Sometimes I don't get any seed and I only plant two corn but when that happens I generally loot an extra seed or two or I harvest supply in the world. Once I plant six of any plant, I very quickly get a surplus because out of six I'm always getting some seeds.
This this is a normal loot abundance and normal difficulty.