What are the best crops for each season in Stardew Valley?

A great farmer checks back here every season to maximize their growth.

The player watering some crops in Stardew Valley.
Screenshot by Dot Esports

Crops are by far the most important aspect in Stardew Valley since you need them for food, crafting, gifting, festivals, quests, and many other purposes. Selling crops is one of the best ways to earn gold with some far more lucrative than others.

Recommended Videos

There are many important considerations you have to make when trying to figure out what the most profitable crops are which can make figuring out which ones you should grow and which ones you should avoid rather tricky.

Based on the gold you can make from them, how long they take to grow, and other important factors, here are the best crops for each season in Stardew Valley.

Best crops for each season in Stardew Valley

The player standing by many Sprinklers that just watered crops in Stardew Valley.
You need a massive farming space to efficiently sell crops. Screenshot by Dot Esports

Before you get to work planting the best crops for each season in Stardew Valley, there are a couple of important details to keep in mind.

  • You can only plant and harvest crops in their designated seasons.
  • Some plants keep producing more harvests after the initial one. With these types of crops, you only have to plant them once and they then have a regrowth timer for when they produce more, which is noted in the tables below.
  • Some crops can be grown in multiple seasons. These crops are listed in all seasons they can be grown in.
  • There are a couple of special crops that don’t have a designated season and instead flourish all year. These are listed as separate categories.

Below are the important details to know about each Stardew Valley crop, such as how much you can sell them for, where you can find them, how long they take to grow, and what you can do with them. How well you take care of each crop and the quality will determine how quickly it grows and how much you can sell it for.

Best Spring crops in Stardew Valley

CropGold (normal selling price)How long to growUsesWhere to Find
Strawberries120Eight days
Regrowth: Four days
Gift for Maru and DemetriusPurchased at Egg Festival
Coffee Beans1510 days
Regrowth: Two days
CoffeePurchased from Traveling Cart
Rhubarb22013 daysRhubarb PiePurchased from Oasis
Kale110Six daysSalmon Dinner and Stir FryPurchased from Pierre’s/JojaMart
Potatoes80Six daysHashbrowns and Spring Crops BundlePurchased from Pierre’s/JojaMart
Garlic60Six daysOil of Garlic, Fiddlehead Risotto, and EscargotPurchased from Pierre’s shop
Cauliflower17512 daysCheese Cauliflower, Spring Crops Bundle, make a giant crop, and Maru (gift)Purchased from Pierre’s/JojaMart
Green Beans4010 days
Regrowth: Three days
Bean Hotpot and Spring Crops BundlePurchased from Pierre’s/JojaMart
Parsnip35Four daysFarmer’s Lunch, Parsnip Soup, Spring Crops Bundle, Quality Crops Bundle, and Pam (gift)Purchased from Pierre’s/JojaMart
Blue Jazz50Seven daysLucky LunchPurchased from Pierre’s/JojaMart
Unmilled Rice30Eight daysRicePurchased from Pierre’s shop
Tulip30Six daysEvelyn (gift)Purchased from Pierre’s/JojaMart
Carrots35Three daysMake Shirt and Belt at the Sewing Machine•Trading with the Raccoon’s Wife
•Using the Seed Maker
•Breaking crates in The Mines
•Using the Prize Machine
•Digging up seed spots and opening golden fishing treasure chests between Winter 21 and Spring 23

Strawberries are the best crop you can plant and grow in Spring. You can only get the seeds for them from the Egg Festival on Spring 13 though, so they’re easy to miss, especially when just starting out.

Outside this crop, the other best options are Potatoes and Cauliflower. Beyond these three, all other options aren’t really massive moneymakers, although I find it’s always a great idea to grow a little bit of everything so you have items to gift or turn into other goods.

A player standing near planted Strawberries and other crops in Stardew Valley.
Plant as many Strawberries as you can fit on your farm. Screenshot by Dot Esports

Best Summer crops in Stardew Valley

CropGold (normal selling price)How long to growUsesWhere to Find
Starfruit75013 daysJunimo HutPurchased from Oasis
Red Cabbage260Nine daysColeslaw, Fish Taco, Red Plate, and Dye BundlePurchased from Pierre’s shop
Blueberries5013 days
Regrowth: Four days
Blueberry Tart, Fruit Salad, and Summer Crops BundlePurchased from Pierre’s shop
Coffee Beans1510 days
Regrowth: Two days
CoffeePurchased from Traveling Cart
Melons25012 daysFruit Salad, Pink Cake, Summer Crops Bundle, Quality Crops Bundle, make a giant crop, and Penny (gift)Purchased from Pierre’s/JojaMart
Summer Squash45Six days
Regrowth: Three days
Can be pickled and is a liked gift by most•Trading with the Raccoon’s Wife
•Using the Seed Maker
•Using the Prize Machine
•Breaking barrels in Skull Cavern, digging up seed spots, and opening golden fishing treasure chests between Spring 24 and Summer 20
Hops2511 days
Regrowth: One day
Pale AlePurchased from Pierre’s/JojaMart
Poppy140Seven daysPoppyseed Muffin, Chef’s Bundle, and Penny (gift)Purchased from Pierre’s/JojaMart
Radish90Six daysRadish Salad and Red PlatePurchased from Pierre’s/JojaMart
Hot Peppers40Five days
Regrowth: Three days
Pepper Poppers, Spicy Eel, Tropical Curry, Summer Crops Bundle, Lewis (gift) and Shane (gift)Purchased from Pierre’s/JojaMart
Tomato6011 days
Regrowth: Four days
Bruschetta, Eggplant Parmesan, Fish Stew, Pizza, Spaghetti, Vegetable Medley, and Summer Crops BundlePurchased from Pierre’s/JojaMart
Summer Spangle90Eight daysgift for CarolinePurchased from Pierre’s/JojaMart
Sunflower80Eight daysOil, Dye Bundle, and Haley (gift)Purchased from Pierre’s/JojaMart
Corn5014 days
Regrowth: Four days
Tortilla, Oil, Fall Crops Bundle, Quality Crops BundlePurchased from Pierre’s/JojaMart
Wheat25Four daysBeer, Wheat Flour, Fodder BundlePurchased from Pierre’s/JojaMart

In Summer, the best crops to sell are Starfruit, Melons, and Blueberries. Starfruit becomes the ultimate best Summer crop once you have access to the Desert to get this fruit, but since this takes a lot of time and effort, primarily focus on Melons and Blueberries while you work up to it.

There’s also one festival to watch out for: The Luau on Summer 11, where you need to have an ingredient ready. Having high-quality crops ready makes passing this event to earn the 1.6 Stardew Valley achievement called Blue Ribbon a lot easier.

Best Fall crops in Stardew Valley

CropGold (normal selling price)How long to growUsesWhere to Find
Sweet Gem Berry3,00024 daysGifted to Old Master Cannoli for a StardropPurchased from the Traveling Cart
Pumpkin32013 daysAutumn’s Bounty, Pumpkin Pie, Pumpkin Soup, Jack-O-Lantern, Fall Crops Bundle, Quality Crops Bundle, make a giant crop, Abigail (gift), Krobus (gift), and Willy (gift)Purchased from Pierre’s/JojaMart
Fairy Rose29012 daysFairy Dust, Evelyn (gift), and Jas (gift)Purchased from Pierre’s/JojaMart
Grapes8010 days
Regrowth: Three days
Summer Seeds, Summer Foraging Bundle, and Vincent (gift)Purchased from Pierre’s/JojaMart
Broccoli70Eight days
Regrowth: Four days
Create a dyeable Button Down Shirt•Trading with the Raccoon’s Wife
•Using the Seed Maker
•Using the Prize Machine
•Breaking crates in the Volcano Dungeon and the Mines
•Breaking barrels in Skull Cavern, digging up seed spots, and opening golden fishing treasure chests between Summer 21 and Fall 20
Yam16010 daysAutumn’s Bounty, Glazed Yams, Fall Crops Bundle, and Linus (Gift)Purchased from Pierre’s/JojaMart
Eggplant60Five days
Regrowth: Five days
Eggplant Parmesan, Survival Burger, Fall Crops BundlePurchased from Pierre’s/JojaMart
Sunflower80Eight daysOil, Dye Bundle, and Haley (gift)Purchased from Pierre’s/JojaMart
Amaranth150Seven daysSalmon DinnerPurchased from Pierre’s/JojaMart
Artichoke160Eight daysArtichoke Dip and Super MealPurchased from Pierre’s shop
Beet100Six daysVegetable Medley, Sugar, and Evelyn (gift)Purchased from Oasis
Bok Choy804 daysSuper MealPurchased from Pierre’s/JojaMart
Cranberries75Seven days
Regrowth: Five days
Cranberry Candy, Cranberry Sauce, Stuffing, Super MealPurchased from Pierre’s/JojaMart
Poppy140Seven daysPoppyseed Muffin, Chef’s Bundle, and Penny (gift)Purchased from Pierre’s/JojaMart
Corn5014 days
Regrowth: Four days
Tortialla, Oil, Fall Crops Bundle, Quality Crops BundlePurchased from Pierre’s/JojaMart
Wheat25Four daysBeer, Wheat Flour, Fodder BundlePurchased from Pierre’s/JojaMart

Sweet Gem Berries, Pumpkins, and Cranberries are the most profitable Fall crops. In this season more than any other, you want to plant as much as possible since you can’t grow much of anything in the winter. You can’t get Sweet Gem Berries right away since this item is exclusively sold by the Traveling Merchant. It’s called Rare Seed when you purchase it from her and takes a whopping 24 days to grow, so make sure you plant it with enough days left in the season for it to fully grow.

A Grange Display in Stardew Valley.
You can have some of your best crops judged for rewards. Screenshot by Dot Esports

Fall is when the Stardew Valley Fair takes place and you can win the Grange Display contest. This is a great time to submit the best and highest quality crops you’ve grown.

Best Winter crops in Stardew Valley

CropGold (normal selling price)How long to growUsesWhere to Find
Powdermelon60Seven daysCreate dyeable Farmer Pants, make a giant crop•Trading with the Raccoon’s Wife
•Using the Seed Maker
•Using the Prize Machine
•Breaking crates in the Volcano Dungeon and the Mines
•Breaking barrels in Skull Cavern, digging up seed spots, and opening golden fishing treasure chests between Fall 21 and Winter 20
Winter SeedsChanges depending on what’s grown (random)Seven daysMakes Winter forage fruitsPurchased from the Traveling Cart

You want to grow both Powdermelon and Winter Seeds during Winter, but neither of these options makes you much gold. In this season, your options are pretty limited. For a long time, the only seeds you could grow were Winter Seeds, but luckily, the 1.6 update introduced Powdermelon. They don’t sell for a super impressive profit, but they’re certainly better than nothing.

Even with Powdermelon, you still primarily need to focus on other endeavors for gold like mining and fishing in the Winter. Fishing is especially important since the Festival of Ice, SquidFest, and the Night Market revolve around it, and it helps to have a high level of this skill to make both easier.

Special Crops in Stardew Valley

CropGold (normal selling price)How long to growUsesWhere to Find
Ancient Fruit55028 days
Regrowth: Seven days
The Missing Bundle and Rare Crops BundlePurchased from the Traveling Cart
Cactus Fruit7512 days
Regrowth: Three days
Exotic Foraging Bundle, Linus (gift), Pam (gift), and Sam (gift)Purchased from Oasis
FiberOneSeven daysCrafting different itemsA weed that grows randomly
Mixed SeedsDepends on what grows (random)Depends on what grows (random)Fiber SeedsFound randmly while exploring
Pineapple30014 days
Regrowth: Seven days
Tropical CurryPurchased from Island Trader
Taro Root10010 daysPoiPurchased from Island Trader
Tea Leaves5020 days
Regrowth: One day
Green TeaFound randomly
Wild SeedsDepends on what grows (random)Depends on what grows (random)Depends on what grows (random)Crafted out of foraged plants

There’s not a specific season for special crops. These can be grown all year round (except Winter) and will thrive as long as you give them the right care. In addition to bundles, gifts, or other special occasions, these crops are also useful for making extra gold.

Author
Image of Jorge Aguilar
Jorge Aguilar
The Weekend Editor for Dot Esports. Aggy loves the video game industry and loves telling stories. Aside from that, he is an Author, Illustrator, and Computer Animator. https://linktr.ee/SirAggy
Author
Image of Kacee Fay
Kacee Fay
Staff Writer at Dot Esports covering new releases and a wide array of topics including Minecraft, Disney Dreamlight Valley, Phasmophobia, general gaming, streaming, and more. She has been avidly writing and gaming her whole life and now spends her time combining the two. Kacee graduated from San Diego State University in 2021 with a Bachelor’s Degree in English and a Certificate in Creative Editing and Publishing. She then joined Dot Esports as a Freelance Writer in 2022 before transitioning to a Staff Writer in 2023. In her spare time, she enjoys buying more books than she can read, gaming alone or with friends, drinking too much tea, attending concerts, fangirling over movies and television, listening to music, and spending time with her family, friends, and pets, who are the most important parts of her world.