Stardew Valley is more than just a simple farming sim, and there are many different techniques, strategies, and choices you’ll need to make to really build your ideal farm. In line with this thought, today, we’re outlining all of the main early-game choices you’ll need to make to help you learn how to farm in Stardew Valley, so you can really take your new farm to the next level.
Farming Guide: The Basics of Running Your Stardew Valley Farm
Before getting started with a new Stardew Valley farm, be sure to have a quick read through of our Stardew Valley farming guide as follows to help.
How to Farm Crops
One of the first tasks you’ll need to consider when running your Stardew Valley farm is how to farm crops. Indeed, you’ll be gifted with parsnip seeds right at the start of the game from Mayor Lewis to help you get started, so getting these into the ground ASAP is crucial.
Buying Seeds
At the start of the game, you’ll be given some parsnip seeds to use, however, you may want to buy more in addition to the starting parsnips. There are numerous ways to get hold of seeds, but in the very early game, the two easiest ways are as follows:
Purchasing seeds from shops: There are three early-game shops where you can purchase seeds. Pierre’s General Store and JojaMart both offer seeds from Day One, and the Traveling Cart can be found from Friday the 5th of Spring.
Finding mixed seeds: When cutting down forage weeds, there is a 5% chance of obtaining some mixed seeds. It’s advisable to use a scythe for this to prevent wasting energy.
How to Sow Seeds
Once you’ve got seeds, you’ll need to prepare the soil for sowing. This is easy to do, luckily! Simply head to your Stardew Valley farm and equip your hoe, then use this on an exposed patch of soil to create tilled soil. Each square
of tilled soil uses one bag of seeds. Then, once the soil is tilled, you can simply equip the seeds and sow them.
It’s worth noting, as the game progresses, you’ll unlock the recipe for several soil improvements, such as fertilizer. These must be applied to tilled soil before any crops are planted; you cannot apply soil improvements when the seeds are already planted.
Make sure you water your seeds every day to ensure they grow. If your seeds have not been watered, they will not grow that day; however, you don’t need to water your seeds if it’s raining.
How to Farm Livestock
Farming livestock is incredibly rewarding and one of the earliest milestones many people will be working towards; as such, it’s well worth making a plan in the early game to build a livestock barn and get into animals.
Building Livestock Barns
Before you’ll be able to farm livestock in Stardew Valley, you’ll first need to build them a barn or a coop. These are available from Robin the Carpenter, who can build a range of useful livestock buildings, including:
The main buildings you’ll likely want to consider in the early game are coops, barns, and fish ponds, allowing you to rear chickens, ducks, rabbits, dinosaurs (yes, really!) sheep, cows, pigs, ostriches, and fish. You can also rear slimes in a slime hutch, but that’s much further down the line.
Buying Livestock
Once you have a building built for them, you can purchase animals; these will only be available once an appropriate building is ready. Each species is tied to a certain type of barn at minimum; for example, cattle can live in a regular barn, but you’ll need a big barn for goats or a deluxe barn for sheep and pigs.
Animals are available from Marnie’s Ranch, which is located to the south of the farm. The ranch is open for animal says between 9 am and 4 pm from Wednesday to Sunday; you can also buy animal feed (hay) from Marnie’s ranch if you do not have a silo to make your own yet.
Rearing Livestock
Once you own animals, you’ll need to make sure they are well cared for! The most important part of this, of course, is ensuring that the animals are suitably fed and sheltered. All animals must be given feed every day—either by letting them out to graze or providing them with hay. Provided that they are then kept healthy and happy, they will provide you with yields: eggs, milk, wool, and even truffles. Fish also provide caviar and a range of other items, while slimes will produce slime balls.
Understanding Professions
Professions are an incredibly important aspect of farming in Stardew Valley, and keeping this in mind is important to ensure you are able to tailor your gameplay experience to the style that suits you best. Indeed, professions allow you specialize in certain fields, which is often incredibly important for many players.
You get your first profession when you reach a certain base level in a skill; most players will reach this in farming first, although this depends on your personal play style.
Rancher vs Tiller
One of the first professions you’ll likely need to choose between is rancher vs tiller. This depends on whether you want to specialize in crops or animal products. Overall, in terms of income alone, tiller will generally be a better choice; however, if you aren’t planning to grow many crops, choose rancher instead.
Stardew Valley Artisan vs Agriculturist
In Stardew Valley, artisan vs agriculturist is a decision you’ll need to make if you followed the tiller route. Generally speaking, you’ll see more returns from artisan than agriculturist, although this does require you to do a lot more work to make value-added products to benefit from the profession.
We’re proud to offer some of the best Stardew Valley servers for passionate players and those looking to play with friends, so you can be confident that your game will stay stable with 24/7 uptime and instant access.
Farming Guide: The Basics of Running Your Stardew Valley Farm
Before getting started with a new Stardew Valley farm, be sure to have a quick read through of our Stardew Valley farming guide as follows to help.How to Farm Crops
One of the first tasks you’ll need to consider when running your Stardew Valley farm is how to farm crops. Indeed, you’ll be gifted with parsnip seeds right at the start of the game from Mayor Lewis to help you get started, so getting these into the ground ASAP is crucial.Buying Seeds
At the start of the game, you’ll be given some parsnip seeds to use, however, you may want to buy more in addition to the starting parsnips. There are numerous ways to get hold of seeds, but in the very early game, the two easiest ways are as follows:Purchasing seeds from shops: There are three early-game shops where you can purchase seeds. Pierre’s General Store and JojaMart both offer seeds from Day One, and the Traveling Cart can be found from Friday the 5th of Spring.
Finding mixed seeds: When cutting down forage weeds, there is a 5% chance of obtaining some mixed seeds. It’s advisable to use a scythe for this to prevent wasting energy.
How to Sow Seeds
Once you’ve got seeds, you’ll need to prepare the soil for sowing. This is easy to do, luckily! Simply head to your Stardew Valley farm and equip your hoe, then use this on an exposed patch of soil to create tilled soil. Each square of tilled soil uses one bag of seeds. Then, once the soil is tilled, you can simply equip the seeds and sow them.
It’s worth noting, as the game progresses, you’ll unlock the recipe for several soil improvements, such as fertilizer. These must be applied to tilled soil before any crops are planted; you cannot apply soil improvements when the seeds are already planted.
Make sure you water your seeds every day to ensure they grow. If your seeds have not been watered, they will not grow that day; however, you don’t need to water your seeds if it’s raining.
How to Farm Livestock
Farming livestock is incredibly rewarding and one of the earliest milestones many people will be working towards; as such, it’s well worth making a plan in the early game to build a livestock barn and get into animals.Building Livestock Barns
Before you’ll be able to farm livestock in Stardew Valley, you’ll first need to build them a barn or a coop. These are available from Robin the Carpenter, who can build a range of useful livestock buildings, including:- Coops (regular, big, and deluxe)
- Barns (regular, big, and deluxe)
- Fish ponds
- Feed silo
- Slime hutches
- The stable
The main buildings you’ll likely want to consider in the early game are coops, barns, and fish ponds, allowing you to rear chickens, ducks, rabbits, dinosaurs (yes, really!) sheep, cows, pigs, ostriches, and fish. You can also rear slimes in a slime hutch, but that’s much further down the line.
Buying Livestock
Once you have a building built for them, you can purchase animals; these will only be available once an appropriate building is ready. Each species is tied to a certain type of barn at minimum; for example, cattle can live in a regular barn, but you’ll need a big barn for goats or a deluxe barn for sheep and pigs.Animals are available from Marnie’s Ranch, which is located to the south of the farm. The ranch is open for animal says between 9 am and 4 pm from Wednesday to Sunday; you can also buy animal feed (hay) from Marnie’s ranch if you do not have a silo to make your own yet.
Rearing Livestock
Once you own animals, you’ll need to make sure they are well cared for! The most important part of this, of course, is ensuring that the animals are suitably fed and sheltered. All animals must be given feed every day—either by letting them out to graze or providing them with hay. Provided that they are then kept healthy and happy, they will provide you with yields: eggs, milk, wool, and even truffles. Fish also provide caviar and a range of other items, while slimes will produce slime balls.Understanding Professions
Professions are an incredibly important aspect of farming in Stardew Valley, and keeping this in mind is important to ensure you are able to tailor your gameplay experience to the style that suits you best. Indeed, professions allow you specialize in certain fields, which is often incredibly important for many players.You get your first profession when you reach a certain base level in a skill; most players will reach this in farming first, although this depends on your personal play style.
Rancher vs Tiller
One of the first professions you’ll likely need to choose between is rancher vs tiller. This depends on whether you want to specialize in crops or animal products. Overall, in terms of income alone, tiller will generally be a better choice; however, if you aren’t planning to grow many crops, choose rancher instead.Stardew Valley Artisan vs Agriculturist
In Stardew Valley, artisan vs agriculturist is a decision you’ll need to make if you followed the tiller route. Generally speaking, you’ll see more returns from artisan than agriculturist, although this does require you to do a lot more work to make value-added products to benefit from the profession.FAQs
What’s better in the early game: crops or animals for Stardew Valley?
In the early game, it’s generally better to put your focus into crops to help make as much money as possible. In contrast, livestock are expensive to buy and don’t give as much yield, so this is worth keeping in mind.
What is the best Stardew Valley clay farming pattern?
Clay farming allows you to quickly harvest clay once you’ve found a single spot of clay. Head to the beach and till until you’ve come across some clay, then move up one space/along two spaces to the right. Then, till in this new spot again, and you should find that you get more clay consistently.
Final Thoughts
Have you been looking to get started with a new farm on Stardew Valley? Whether it’s your first ever farm or you’re looking to build a more efficient Stardew Valley farm this time around, knowing where to start is crucial. Luckily, this is what we here at ScalaCube can help with!We’re proud to offer some of the best Stardew Valley servers for passionate players and those looking to play with friends, so you can be confident that your game will stay stable with 24/7 uptime and instant access.