Meh, I sadly found out yesterday (I know, RTFM) that F2P peeps can't own land in any way, shape or form in the game. That was the majority of the reason I started playing, was for the ability to farm and craft.
GG
Do some trade runs to earn gold. 60 labor points to craft a trade pack, 60 more labor points to turn it in. Experiment (or ask around) for quick routes to maximum payout zones.
I do a quick run from Solz to Two Crowns, rowing my little row boat right along the coast. It's about a 20-30 minute journey for ~6g-8g payout.
It doesn't take long at all to earn enough gold to buy two Apex from the auction, convert those two Apex into store points and then buy one month of premium / patron status. Once you have patron status, you can own a house and a farm to raise your own chickens for eggs and whatever for trimmed meat. Plus, you can grow trees for wood.
Once you have 50 gilda stars, you can go to Mirage Isle and buy a blueprint for the clipper ship. Crafting it requires 10 lumber, 10 iron ingots (both of these for the dock to build it), 1 lumber pack, 1 iron ingot pack, 1 cloth pack, and 75 labor points.
While you're making, running, and turning in trade packs, you can be growing meat and eggs and wood and cotton to make the packs for construction.
The game is super restricted for F2P players, but there's a ton of stuff to do once you unlock patron, which you can do in about a week if you're a TryHard.