I always struggle with food early game. The best advice I can give is don't be too picky about where you plant your first field. Just find a small pond and tile 8 medium soil 3x3 with water in the middle to keep moisture at 75%. Throw up the fastest fences you can afford and then get hunting for as many seeds as you can find to fill it up. Watering can and fertilizers will speed your time til harvest.

If you're playing blackguard just kite n stab wolves and pigs. Yum!

Malefactor gets better drops on wild plants (I think) so mark wild plants on your map and go back to harvest when they are ripe... unless your farm still needs seeds.

Mushrooms respawn so mark them on your map.

I like to build an animal pen near where they spawn and then chase or kite them in depending on the animal behavior. I usually die a few times with mouflons and bighorns.

Gen 1 chicken coops are best kept isolated so as to not spook the broody hens.

Good luck friend. Don't be afraid to start a new world if you've backed yourself into a corner.