What's the fastest way to make life in infinite craft?

guides go stale on this one because the combinations are generated as you go, so anything written a few updates back is half wrong and nobody updates it. what works better is to stop dragging the four starting elements together over and over and start combining your own results instead. earth and water gets you a plant early on, and from there you want to head towards a swamp and then hit it with something hot or energetic. it's a direction rather than a recipe, which is why it feels like you're missing a step when you aren't.