Perfection requires to have shipped every crop and cook every food-recipe. So at least a little bit of every crop is needed to fill those objectives.

Nothing wrong with that really. other than aesthetics and sense of fulfillment when you’re over rich, there’s really no reason to grow other crops

There is a Qi quest where it would be helpful to have lots of crops saved up, but if you hoard them anyway, it's not a big deal.

I am so with you on that 😭 I just finished my first perfection run and didn't care about fertilizers at all. Didn't craft the bone mill till almost the end and only bc I needed to do so for perfection. Had stacks and stacks of 999 sap and could easily be at least doing basic fertilizer all this time lol. There is sooo much strategy that can be utilized with fertilizers and I literally just didn't even think about it haha!

I usually just use deluxe speed gro apart from spring year 1 when going for 5 gold parsnips since it usually let's you get an extra harvest in.

I used fertilizer until I started just putting everything into kegs

I think it's really really fun, finding specific crop combinations to grow giants is so satisfying

I do.

With snapped tills mod it's possible to get giants with 10 crops per square

This opens up a lot of self-sufficient combinations

Only as wormwood, because I hate tilling.

I got something like 100 dragon fruit seeds now. I need to get a rotation going since I only have 1 waxed giga dragon fruit

Personally,,, I have never ever done good at farming. You should write a tutorial or something!

Do I love it? Yes.

Do I do it? No, coz I die before that.

More trees. I feel like a lot of farms you see on here feel a bit sterile becuase the whole map is paved over and treeless save a concentrated tapper area. I love the designs that incorporate trees throughout the farm- along field edges, in odd gaps in the overall plan, around buildings. It looks so much more natural.

Also, I make good use of the decor seller at the winter market. I’ve bought about 50 of each seasonal plant, and use them all over the farm and town to add flowers to little gaps, corners, along fences, etc.

If you're paths are 3 wide, add trees in the middle, along with grass and lamps. If your paths are 4 wide, use 2 pathing types to frame the first path.

Actually just posted my farm lat night, it has a few areas like this: https://www.reddit.com/r/FarmsofStardewValley/s/OwjFWSAjE7

I always start with paths. Especially early game when you don't have enough energy. I take some rocks make them into a path of some kind and layout my pathways. Then has the game progresses I build around my pathways.

I follow my natural pathways and don’t do the big blocks of paving. It creates little nooks that can be decorated when I want. It’s easier with small areas vs big blocks missing. Also give plenty of space for the animals to run around even in enclosures. That’ll give you barn/coop themed decorating space and fill empty space. Take your time and do it when you wanna. I waited til almost 100% to start moving stuff to see how I’d like it without disturbing $ and processing. Take your time! Pinterest also has really great ideas! I find the planner sites to not be accurate to what is actually convenient for the character and look too factory-like. Also don’t sleep on using grass and trees!

It's tough, most people don't label images as modded on Pinterest! 😭 I actually have a folder on my camera roll where I save images from this sub (as well as r/StardewHomeDesign and r/StardewValleyLayouts) where it's generally clear from the flair and the comments whether or not something is modded.

I also have a Pinterest board where I've been saving images that are either unmodded, or that I feel I can still draw inspiration from despite their mods. It's here, although most of my pins are more about decor than layout specifically!

When I'm playing to decompress and unwind, I like to concentrate on my chores and get the farm up and running. When my farm is running smoothly (and I'm not under deadline pressure for some quest) I can get up in the morning, do the needful, and then kill the afternoon—just wandering around and idly wondering how I might improve upon what's already there.

I put down crops, I come up with an easy watering plan where I can be done by 8:30 or 9:00, then decide what I want to do with the rest of my day. I build the farm around doing what I enjoy, and then I form my farm's beauty around whatever catches my eye.

The way that helps me with my anxiety and depression is that I can get my fix of "busy-busy-busy" and then take a deep breath, put the work behind me and look around to see what I might enjoy doing next. I don't weigh myself down with the promise of a grand and perfectly foreseen design.

And if I can't decide on the right decorating, I'll knock off and go fishing instead. Plenty of time to come up with ideas when I'm fishing. Worst case scenario is I got some fishing in.

Don't cut the grass until you have a silo to turn it into hay. You don't want spend money buying hay for your farm animals, do you?

Energy is always in short supply in the early game, fishing is a good source of early game energy.

Most important thing is to remember that you can't ever mess up in a way that matters long term, so just have fun and explore the game. I think the less you know the more you'll enjoy working stuff out, but, there is a fantastic wiki if you decide to not go that route.

My number one tip is always make sure to read the text on the screen. Everything you need to know is in there, but the game doesn't spoon-feed it to you. You'll avoid most mistakes and "I never knew..." moments if you read the character dialogue, and check the tv and library.

scarecrow cover a lot

The poor creatures were freezing the first days of winter, Marnie

• Foraging - Make seasonal Wild Seeds (Sp), you unlock the recipes for seasonal seeds as you level up in foraging skill. Plant some of them but sell the excess seeds. You make 10 Spring seeds with 1 Leek, 1 Horseradish, 1 Daffodil, & 1 Dandelion. These 4 items sell for 180g for all but the 10 seeds you make sell for 350g.(Even if you start getting these in gold star they all 4 sell for 265g total so the seeds you make with them are still profitable).
• You will get mixed seeds as you scythe grass on your farm and around the map. You can plant these instead of buying a lot more seeds to plant, these will grow into spring crops. Just be sure not to plant them after the 16th of the season because cauliflower requires 12 days to mature if that is what they turn into.
• The Spring Onions in South Cindersap Forest are great for keeping as energy food along with Salmonberries you collect Spring 15-18.
• Fishing - It is difficult and takes a lot of your time but it can be profitable even though you don't get many fish early on in skill. You can eat the green algae and seaweed you fish up for energy. I also keep some of the cheaper fish like carp, herring, anchovy, they sell for only 30g and I eat them for energy. Sushi!
• Chopping trees will increase your foraging skill, increasing the quality of items you pick up. The Sap you collect is not a great source of income at 2g ea so use it to make the Basic Fertilizer that will help you get better quality crops to sell for better prices (and for the CC bundle quality crops). You just need to put it on the soil before placing the seed.
• Starting out can seem very slow but the more you learn and the more you acquire, the more it will pick up. I try to buy the 1st coffee bean I see on the Trader. It is 2500g but planting it gets me more beans that I can plant, and then more beans that I can put in my 1st keg to make coffee for a speed boost. I also work on getting the Minecart bundle done so that I have a faster route around the map.
• Don't be afraid to consult the wiki for help too.

Also - fill your silo with hay, empty it via the coop/barn, rinse and repeat until you're out of grass before Winter 1. You'll never run out again (or, by the time you do it won't be an issue anymore).

A few opinions to add here:

I say on your first play through, don't rush too much with relationships. Feel your way around. There's only 3 events in game I can think of you'll miss by going the relaxed route: Sam's 3 heart (can only be done in the first year), Clint's 6 heart (if you decide to level Emily before Clint, though I think it can be undone), and Penny's 6 heart (you have to purchase her house upgrade before seeing it, it's far off for 500,000 gold but I did manage to miss that one.)

I say same goes for the community bundles and unlocking things, but it is wise to save at least 5 of everything for personal use. That way when you need gifts, fetch quests, to cook, and decide to unlock things for the community center, you'll have it ready. And just save everything you get from the mines. You'll either need it to craft, donate to the museum, give as a gift, or save it for your own collection if you decide to make one.

On sprinklers, I wouldn't bother until you can get the second version at least. Save your materials for other stuff. I tend to wait for iridium, but you will spend more time watering, especially by the second year where you should be able to double or triple the size of your first years crops. It's wise to try to get to at least the steel upgrade for each of your tools during Winter, so you'll be able to water easier, hoe easier, clear hardwood, any useless debris, and move faster through the mines.

For Fall, I like doing giant pumpkins, it's satisfying when you get 20-something from a 4 tile square. You can also do giant cauliflowers in Spring and melons in Summer, but they aren't as profitable in comparison to others. Cranberries are the most profitable in Fall, until you are able to afford rare seeds from the Gypsy wagon. She usually has at least 1 every Friday and Sunday near the Secret Woods in every season besides Winter. They take 25 days to grow, so after you accumulate a bunch for Fall in your second year, plan accordingly.

And in Spring & Summer, you can also do coffee in your second year from the Gypsy Wagon. Much easier to accumulate many coffee seeds for your third year because you tend to harvest multiples. So if a few Fridays and Sundays in your first year you've managed to accumulate some spare cash, one or two is a good investment for start up.

Professions are important, though if you mess up or decide you like something better, you'll be able to switch later at a statue in the sewers. Remember, your first choice of a profession at level 5, decides what professions you can take at level 10 as well. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=640103954 This is a pretty good guide. I don't necessarily agree with all of his opinions, but it's about finding what you like and maximizing it. For instance if you decide to go Geologist then Excavator, which applies to geodes, well gems & completing the gem side of the museum becomes a breeze. However if you go Miner, crafting becomes easier because of more ore. You can always do like me and switch between the two later, but your early choices aren't so easy to change so choose wisely.

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I finished my greenhouse before/in the first winter of my first play through so it's possible

Tip for Fall: Plant as many cranberries as you can early on in the season, very profitable.

Another tip for fall: If you see a mushroom tree appear, DO NOT cut it down! Put a tapper on it and it will produce mushrooms! You can't put a tapper on it in winter because it becomes a little stump, but any other season you can.

Yes, https://stardewvalleywiki.com/

There's honestly just too much stuff and variations based on things like what professions you went with and etc. that I don't think you can really fit it all into one big guide.

There's the strategy guide by Fangamer but I'm not sure if it includes the things you mentioned

Well there's the wiki?

YouTube has lots of great content—Aavak and DangerouslyFunny have play throughs and give great tips too. DF also has some starter videos and the benefits (or not) of doing something, usually to the extreme, to test out different ideas. Many others have specific topic videos too for Stardew Valley.

Farming is going to start slow but its important in the first year so you can get some money coming in. You can't farm in the winter so you can do other stuff then.

But there's no wrong way to play the game have fun and explore!

Pickaxe clears tilled soil

Upgraded hoe and watering can need to be "charged" by holding down the tool button, and then will cover a wider area

Those little twigs sticking out of the ground can be dug up with a hoe

You should watch the TV every day

Build a silo before getting a chicken coop or barn, and use your scythe on grass to fill it with hay

Most people like fruits and vegetables from your farm

Don't do what I did as a brand new player: do not clear all the grass you might think is growing out of control on your farm, you'll sorely regret it when you get farm animals.

play at your own pace. try to discover by yourself some of the game mechanics and don't always rely on the wiki unless otherwise necessary only if you want to progress fast. most importantly, enjoy the game ;)

Don’t mistake the shipping container outside as a storage box.