How to unlock Ginger Island
Ginger Island opens once the valley's big project is done: Willy mails you an invitation to the back room of his Fish Shop once you finish the Community Center bundles, or once you see the Joja Warehouse completion cutscene if you went the Joja route. In the back room is an old boat that needs:
- 200 Hardwood (hull)
- 5 Iridium Bars (anchor)
- 5 Battery Packs (ticket stand)
After you hand everything over, Willy and Robin repair the boat overnight, and from the next day you can buy a ticket in the back room. A ticket costs 1,000g and covers the return trip; going home is free from the boat on the island's south beach. The Hardwood is the slow part for most players: it comes from Large Stumps, Large Logs and Mahogany Trees. Six Large Stumps grow back in the Secret Woods every day, which is 12 Hardwood a day, so 200 takes about 17 days from the woods alone. Iridium Bars are smelted from Iridium Ore, mostly mined in the Skull Cavern, and Battery Packs come from Lightning Rods during thunderstorms, so start collecting those as soon as you see the invitation coming.
Golden Walnuts: what to unlock first
On the island the parrots take Golden Walnuts instead of gold. There are 130 walnuts to find, and every parrot unlock together costs 116. Finding 100 also opens Qi's Walnut Room. For farming, the order that matters is:
- Island North (1). Give one walnut to the parrot in Leo's hut on the east side. The parrot at the west path only shows up after that.
- Island West (10). The turtle blocking the west path moves when you pay the parrot next to it. The farm is in Island West.
- Island Farmhouse (20). The repair adds a Shipping Bin outside, so you can sell crops on the island, and a bed, so you can sleep there without passing out.
- Island Trader (10). The trader in Island North sells Taro Tubers and Pineapple Seeds, the two crops that are cheapest to start on the island, plus Banana and Mango saplings. It only unlocks after the farmhouse.
- Mailbox (5) and Farm Obelisk (20). The obelisk takes you straight back to your farm in the valley, and building it gives you one Warp Totem: Island.
That is 31 walnuts to start farming and 41 to reach the trader. The other unlocks (Island Dig Site 10, Volcano Bridge 5, Volcano Exit Shortcut 5, Island Resort 20, Parrot Express 10) can wait.
Every Golden Walnut unlock and its cost
| Unlock | Walnuts |
|---|
| Ginger Island North | 1 |
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| Ginger Island West | 10 |
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| Island Farmhouse | 20 |
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| Farmhouse Mailbox | 5 |
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| Farm Obelisk | 20 |
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| Island Dig Site | 10 |
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| Island Trader | 10 |
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| Volcano Bridge | 5 |
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| Volcano Exit Shortcut | 5 |
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| Island Resort | 20 |
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| Parrot Express | 10 |
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How the island farm is different
- No seasons. Any crop grows on the island farm whatever the valley season is, just like in the Greenhouse. A crop that would die at the end of Summer keeps growing and regrowing through Winter.
- Lots of room. Island West has 879 plantable tiles, 777 of them on the main farmland. The Greenhouse has 120. The farm starts covered in logs, stones and weeds, like your first farm, so bring an axe and pickaxe on the first trip.
- No crows. Crows never spawn on the island farm, so you do not need Scarecrows.
- Its own weather. The island only has sun and rain, and it rains on about 24% of days (never on your first visit). The weather report shows it after the valley forecast. It does not follow the valley's weather, so plan sprinklers rather than counting on rain.
- Sprinklers and fruit trees work. You can place sprinklers anywhere on the farm and plant fruit trees, which bear fruit every day here.
- Some indoor crops can go outside. Cactus Fruit seeds can only be planted indoors in the valley, but the island farm accepts them.
- No animals. Farm animals, your spouse and your children cannot move to the island; it is for crops and trees.
Two habits make island farming smoother. Buy seasonal seeds while they are in stock, because Pierre only sells each seed in its own season even though you can plant it on the island any time. And put your crops near the Farmhouse, the Shipping Bin and the Parrot Express stop (10 walnuts) so a day on the island is a quick loop.
Best crops for the Ginger Island farm
Because the island has no seasons, the fair comparison is a full year of 112 days on one tile. The table ranks all 44 crops by profit per tile in a year when they are already established (regrowing crops already grown, single-harvest crops replanted on harvest day), sold raw with no professions and farming level 0. The first-year column starts from a seed on day 1.
Best Ginger Island crops: profit per tile over a year
| Crop | Seed | Harvests a year | Raw, established | Per day | First year from seed | Kegs/Jars, Artisan |
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| Ancient Fruitregrows | not sold | 16 | 8,887g | 79g | 6,666g | 36,960g (Wine) |
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| Sweet Gem Berry | 1,000g (Traveling Cart) | 4 | 8,119g | 72g | 8,119g | 8,119g |
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| Pineappleregrows | 1 Magma Cap | 16 | 4,848g | 43g | 4,242g | 20,160g (Wine) |
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| Blueberryregrows | 80g (Pierre's) | 28 | 4,242g | 38g | 3,708g | 17,760g (Wine) |
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| Cranberriesregrows | 240g (Pierre's) | 22 | 3,499g | 31g | 3,100g | 14,630g (Wine) |
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| Strawberryregrows | 100g (Egg Festival) | 28 | 3,462g | 31g | 3,115g | 14,400g (Wine) |
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| Coffee Beanregrows | not sold | 56 | 3,384g | 30g | 3,082g | 6,754g (Coffee) |
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| Graperegrows | 60g (Pierre's) | 37 | 2,989g | 27g | 2,687g | 12,432g (Wine) |
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| Starfruit | 400g (Oasis) | 8 | 2,860g | 26g | 2,860g | 22,000g (Wine) |
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| Hopsregrows | 60g (Pierre's) | 112 | 2,827g | 25g | 2,489g | 47,040g (Pale Ale) |
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| Cactus Fruitregrows | 150g (Oasis) | 37 | 2,802g | 25g | 2,425g | 11,655g (Wine) |
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| Broccoliregrows | not sold | 28 | 1,979g | 18g | 1,838g | 7,448g (Pickles) |
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| Red Cabbage | 100g (Pierre's) | 12 | 1,951g | 17g | 1,951g | 8,628g (Juice) |
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| Pumpkin | 100g (Pierre's) | 8 | 1,785g | 16g | 1,785g | 7,264g (Juice) |
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| Tomatoregrows | 50g (Pierre's) | 28 | 1,785g | 16g | 1,608g | 7,015g (Pickles) |
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Profit is the sale value minus seeds bought for gold. Crops whose seeds have no gold price (traded, crafted or saved from your own harvest) count no seed cost. The last column assumes a free Keg or Preserves Jar for every harvest and the Artisan profession.
What the ranking means in practice:
- Ancient Fruit is the island's best raw crop. It regrows every 7 days for 16 harvests a year and never needs replanting. It is not sold in any shop, so the island is where you multiply it: plant the seeds you have, run a few fruit through a Seed Maker, and expand a little every week. The Ancient Fruit page covers where the first seed comes from.
- Sweet Gem Berry ranks high but cannot fill a farm. Its seeds come from the Traveling Cart a few at a time, so treat it as a bonus for the seeds you get, not a plan.
- Pineapple is the best crop you can start at scale. One seed costs 1 Magma Cap at the Island Trader, it regrows every 7 days, and the seed is bought once per tile, so a Magma Cap run in the Volcano Dungeon pays for itself for as long as you keep the plant: 4,848g a tile a year raw.
- Blueberry is the best cheap shop crop. Seeds at 80g (Pierre's), one planting a year, 4,242g a tile. Buy a stack in Summer and plant them on the island in any season.
- Starfruit slips down the list. It is worth more per harvest than Ancient Fruit, but it has to be replanted every 13 days with a 400g (Oasis) seed, so it makes 2,860g a tile sold raw. As Wine it does much better (22,000g), which is why Kegs change the answer.
With Kegs: what earns the most
If you can process everything, the order changes: Hops as Pale Ale earns 47,040g a tile a year, then Ancient Fruit as Wine at 36,960g. The catch is the number of machines. This is what 100 tiles of the leaders make in a year, and how many machines keep up with them:
100 tiles for a year: raw, processed, and machines needed
| Crop | Raw | Processed, Artisan | Kegs to keep up | Or Preserves Jars |
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| Ancient Fruit | 888,700g | 3,696,000g (Wine) | 90 | 36 |
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| Hops | 282,700g | 4,704,000g (Pale Ale) | 141 | 250 |
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| Sweet Gem Berry | 811,900g | 811,900g | — | — |
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| Pineapple | 484,800g | 2,016,000g (Wine) | 90 | 36 |
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Kegs to keep up: machines that process every harvest as it comes in, once the plants are producing steadily.
Hops is the extreme case: a harvest every day means you need well over one Keg per plant for Pale Ale, so it only wins on a farm that is already full of Kegs. Ancient Fruit Wine needs about 90 Kegs per 100 tiles, which most late-game farms can reach. If you have fewer Kegs than that, plant Ancient Fruit anyway and sell what the Kegs cannot take, or turn the rest into Jelly. How Many Kegs Do I Need? walks through the same maths for any crop.
Taro Root, Rice and the irrigated tiles
Part of the island farm is irrigated: tiles next to the water count as watered. Taro Root (from Taro Tubers, 2 Bone Fragments each at the Island Trader) and Unmilled Rice both grow faster there and need no watering.
Irrigated crops on the island: a year on one tile
| Crop | Days to grow, dry | Days to grow, irrigated | Raw a year, dry | Raw a year, irrigated | As Pickles, Artisan |
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| Taro Root | 10 | 7 | 1,111g | 1,515g | 5,250g |
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| Unmilled Rice | 8 | 6 | 112g | 155g | 3,746g |
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Taro Root on irrigated tiles makes 1,515g a tile a year raw, well below the regrowing fruit, but it costs no watering at all and its tubers are cheap to trade for. Use the wet tiles for Taro and put the regrowing crops under sprinklers on the dry land. The Taro numbers above do not count the tubers, since they are traded for Bone Fragments rather than bought.
Fruit trees on Ginger Island
A fruit tree on the island fruits every day of the year, so one tree gives 112 fruit a year instead of 28 in the valley. Every tree works here, not only the tropical ones. One tree, one year, sold raw:
One fruit tree on Ginger Island, per year
| Tree | Sapling | First year, raw | Iridium (year 4+), raw | Wine with Artisan |
|---|
| Apricot | 2,000g | 5,600g | 11,200g | 23,520g |
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| Cherry | 3,400g | 8,960g | 17,920g | 37,632g |
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| Banana | 5 Dragon Teeth | 16,800g | 33,600g | 70,560g |
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| Mango | 75 Mussels | 14,560g | 29,120g | 61,152g |
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| Orange | 4,000g | 11,200g | 22,400g | 47,040g |
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| Peach | 6,000g | 15,680g | 31,360g | 65,856g |
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| Apple | 4,000g | 11,200g | 22,400g | 47,040g |
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| Pomegranate | 6,000g | 15,680g | 31,360g | 65,856g |
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The Banana is the best tree on the island: 16,800g in its first year raw and 33,600g once its fruit is iridium. Its sapling costs 5 Dragon Teeth at the Island Trader, and the Mango sapling 75 Mussels. Trees need no water, so they are the easiest way to use the corners of the farm that sprinklers do not reach. A sapling still needs an empty 3x3 space to grow. For quality, chopping for saplings and Wine versus Jelly, see Best Fruit Trees.
Golden Walnuts from farming
The farm itself gives 20 of the island's walnuts:
- The Gourmand Frog (15). After the Farmhouse is repaired, a cave opens in the northeast corner of the farm. The frog asks for three crops, one at a time, in this order: Melon, then Wheat, then Garlic. Grow one plant of each on the island, leave it unharvested when it is ripe, and talk to the frog. He gives 5 walnuts per crop and does not take it. You can plant all three on the same day: the slowest, Melon, is ready after 12 days.
- Harvest drops (5). Each crop harvested on the island farm has a 5% chance to drop a walnut, up to 5 in total. Only crops that do not regrow and are not cut with a scythe count. On average that is about 100 qualifying harvests for all five, so a field of a fast single-harvest crop gets them in a few weeks.
Keep a few frog seeds in a chest before you sail. Melon seeds are sold in Summer (80g). Wheat seeds are sold in Summer and Fall (10g). Garlic seeds are sold in Spring (40g, and Pierre only stocks them from Year 2). If the island opens in Winter, you will not be able to buy any of them until the right season comes round.
Getting there faster
A 1,000g boat ride every day adds up, and the boat only runs while Willy's shop is open. Three things replace it:
- Farm Obelisk on the island (25 walnuts with the mailbox): a free trip from the island back to your farm.
- Warp Totem: Island: the recipe costs 10,000g from the Volcano Dwarf in the Volcano Dungeon, and each totem takes 5 Hardwood, 1 Dragon Tooth, 1 Ginger. Building the Farm Obelisk gives you one free.
- Island Obelisk on your valley farm: 1,000,000g plus 10 Iridium Bars, 10 Dragon Teeth, 10 Bananas from the Wizard. Together with the island's Farm Obelisk it makes the trip instant both ways, which is what turns the island into a daily farm instead of a weekly one. The bananas are one more reason to plant a Banana tree early.
A simple first plan
- Open the west side and repair the Farmhouse (31 walnuts). Clear a block near the house and the Shipping Bin.
- Plant one Melon, one Wheat and one Garlic for the frog, and a patch of a fast single-harvest crop for the harvest walnuts.
- Move your Ancient Fruit seeds to the island and fill sprinkler blocks as the Seed Maker produces more.
- Unlock the Island Trader (10 walnuts), trade Magma Caps for Pineapple Seeds and Bone Fragments for Taro Tubers, and plant the Taro on the irrigated tiles.
- Trade for a Banana sapling, then build Kegs to match your Ancient Fruit and Pineapple harvests.
Check your own numbers, with your farming level, professions and fertilizer, in the Crop Profit Calculator: pick "Ginger Island farm (one year)" as the season. The greenhouse setup guide covers the same choice on 120 tiles.
Quick questions
Do crops die on Ginger Island when the season changes?
No. The island farm ignores the valley season, so a Summer crop keeps growing in Fall and Winter, the same as in the Greenhouse.
Do I have to water crops on Ginger Island?
Yes, unless it rains there or the crop is Taro Root or Rice on an irrigated tile by the water. The island has its own weather with rain on about 24% of days, so use sprinklers.
Can I put Scarecrows on the island farm?
You can, but you do not need them: crows never spawn on the Ginger Island farm.
What is the best crop for Ginger Island?
Ancient Fruit sold raw (8,887g a tile a year once grown). With enough Kegs, Hops as Pale Ale.
How many walnuts do I need to farm on the island?
31: 1 for Island North, 10 for Island West and 20 for the Farmhouse and its Shipping Bin.
How do I get Pineapple Seeds?
From the Island Trader in Island North, 1 Magma Cap per seed, once you have paid 10 walnuts to open the shop.