Spring 1: what to do with 500g
You start with 500g and 15 Parsnip Seeds from Mayor Lewis (on every farm map except the Meadowlands Farm). Plant the free seeds first: 15 Parsnips sell for 525g and give 120 Farming XP. Then buy seeds with the gold. 500g buys 25 Parsnip Seeds, 10 Potato Seeds or 6 Cauliflower Seeds.
Which one? It depends on whether gold or space runs out first. Spending exactly 500g on day 1, with room for up to 40 tiles and the same tiles replanted after each harvest, the season ends like this:
Spring 1 with 500g: profit by Spring 28
| Crop | Tiles you can plant on day 1 | Profit by the end of spring |
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| Parsnip | 25 | 2,299g |
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| Potato | 10 | 2,032g |
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| Green Bean | 8 | 1,459g |
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| Cauliflower | 6 | 1,161g |
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The free Parsnip Seeds come on top. Worked out by the What to Plant Today engine with a 500g budget.
Why does What to Plant Today say Potato? It opens with only 15 tiles and counts your 15 free seeds, so land, not gold, is the limit there and each Potato earns more per tile. From 19 tiles up it picks Parsnip too.
Parsnip comes out ahead because the gold buys more of them and each one repays its seed in 4 days. Potatoes earn more per tile, so once you have more gold than empty soil, switch to Potatoes, and to Cauliflower if you have even more gold than time to water. The point of spring is to grow the pile of gold, not to fill the farm.
Every spring crop you can buy in Year 1
Spring crops in Year 1, planted on Spring 1
| Crop | Seed | Days to grow | Harvests | Profit per tile | Seed paid back after | Gold back per 1g of seed |
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| Potato | 50g | 6 | 4 | 203g | 6 days | 2.02g |
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| Cauliflower | 80g | 12 | 2 | 193g | 12 days | 2.21g |
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| Green Bean | 60g | 10, then every 3 | 6 | 182g | 13 days | 4.04g |
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| Kale | 70g | 6 | 4 | 164g | 6 days | 1.59g |
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| Parsnip | 20g | 4 | 6 | 92g | 4 days | 1.77g |
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| Blue Jazz | 30g | 7 | 3 | 61g | 7 days | 1.68g |
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| Tulip | 20g | 6 | 4 | 41g | 6 days | 1.51g |
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How to read it: "Profit per tile" is the whole season on one tile with replanting. "Seed paid back after" is how long the seed's cost is tied up before it comes back. "Gold back per 1g of seed" is everything the tile sells for over the season divided by everything spent on its seeds.
- Potato is the best spring crop per tile (203g) and pays its seed back in 6 days. It beats Kale, which grows just as fast, because its seed is cheaper and a plant sometimes gives an extra potato.
- Parsnip earns the least per tile of the main crops but repays the seed fastest (4 days). It is the right crop for your first few days, not for the whole season.
- Cauliflower (193g a tile) has the best single harvest, but your gold is locked up for 12 days. Plant it once you have spare gold, and it can grow into a giant crop.
- Green Bean returns the most per gold of seed over the season because it keeps producing, but the first harvest takes 10 days and each harvest is small, so it is slow to get going.
Strawberries at the Egg Festival
The Egg Festival on Spring 13 sells Strawberry Seeds for 100g each. Planted the same day after the festival (Spring 13), a Strawberry gives 2 harvests before the season ends (on days 21 and 25) and makes 147g a tile. A Potato planted the same day makes 102g, so this year's Strawberries are worth it, just not by much.
The bigger win is next year. Buy extra seeds at the festival and keep them in a chest: planted on Spring 1 of Year 2, a Strawberry gives 5 harvests and 518g a tile, the best spring crop you can buy. Spend what the festival leaves you on as many seeds as you can afford to keep.
Crops you cannot buy in Year 1
Some seeds on crop lists are not for sale in your first year, and planning around them wastes a season:
- Spring: Garlic, Unmilled Rice (Pierre sells the seeds from Year 2); Rhubarb (seeds from the Oasis in the desert).
- Summer: Red Cabbage (Pierre sells the seeds from Year 2); Starfruit (seeds from the Oasis in the desert).
- Fall: Artichoke (Pierre sells the seeds from Year 2); Beet (seeds from the Oasis in the desert).
The desert opens when the bus is repaired, by finishing the Vault bundles (42,500g in total, as bundles of 2,500g, 5,000g, 10,000g, 25,000g) or by paying Joja 40,000g. Either way it costs at least 40,000g, so don't build your first spring and summer around Starfruit or Rhubarb.
Summer: Blueberries first
Summer crops in Year 1, planted on Summer 1
| Crop | Seed | Days to grow | Harvests | Profit per tile | Seed paid back after | Gold back per 1g of seed |
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| Blueberry | 80g | 13, then every 4 | 4 | 526g | 13 days | 7.58g |
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| Corn | 150g | 14, then every 4 | 11 | 405g (into Fall) | 22 days | 3.7g |
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| Hops | 60g | 11, then every 1 | 17 | 369g | 13 days | 7.15g |
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| Sunflower | 125g | 8 | 6 | 360g (into Fall) | 8 days | 3.88g |
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| Melon | 80g | 12 | 2 | 345g | 12 days | 3.16g |
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| Hot Pepper | 40g | 5, then every 3 | 8 | 293g | 5 days | 8.33g |
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| Tomato | 50g | 11, then every 4 | 5 | 269g | 11 days | 6.38g |
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| Radish | 40g | 6 | 4 | 204g | 6 days | 2.27g |
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| Wheat | 10g | 4 | 13 | 198g (into Fall) | 4 days | 2.52g |
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| Poppy | 100g | 7 | 3 | 124g | 7 days | 1.41g |
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| Summer Spangle | 50g | 8 | 3 | 123g | 8 days | 1.82g |
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Blueberries are the best summer crop you can buy in Year 1: 526g a tile and 7.58g back for every gold of seed. They take 13 days for the first harvest, then give several berries every 4 days until the end of summer, so one purchase covers the season. Plant as many as you can on Summer 1.
Melons earn less per tile (345g) but each harvest is worth 252g and repays its seed in 12 days. Plant some anyway: the Summer Crops bundle needs one, and the Quality Crops bundle can take five gold-quality Melons. They also give 27 Farming XP per harvest, the most of any summer crop Pierre sells in Year 1, which gets you to Preserves Jars sooner.
Hops are a trap in Year 1 if you sell them raw: 25g a harvest. They only pay once you have Kegs to make Pale Ale, at Farming level 8. Corn grows through summer and fall from one seed but repays it slowly (22 days); if you only want one for the Fall Crops bundle, plant a few seeds in fall.
Fall: Cranberries and Pumpkins
Fall crops in Year 1, planted on Fall 1
| Crop | Seed | Days to grow | Harvests | Profit per tile | Seed paid back after | Gold back per 1g of seed |
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| Cranberries | 240g | 7, then every 5 | 5 | 555g | 12 days | 3.31g |
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| Pumpkin | 100g | 13 | 2 | 446g | 13 days | 3.23g |
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| Grape | 60g | 10, then every 3 | 6 | 425g | 10 days | 8.08g |
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| Eggplant | 20g | 5, then every 5 | 5 | 284g | 5 days | 15.18g |
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| Amaranth | 70g | 7 | 3 | 244g | 7 days | 2.16g |
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| Yam | 60g | 10 | 2 | 203g | 10 days | 2.69g |
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| Fairy Rose | 200g | 12 | 2 | 186g | 12 days | 1.46g |
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| Bok Choy | 50g | 4 | 6 | 185g | 4 days | 1.62g |
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| Sunflower | 125g | 8 | 3 | 117g | 8 days | 1.94g |
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| Wheat | 10g | 4 | 6 | 91g | 4 days | 2.52g |
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| Corn | 150g | 14, then every 4 | 4 | 52g | 22 days | 1.35g |
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Cranberries make the most per tile in fall (555g), but at 240g a seed they need gold up front, and the seed is paid back only after 12 days. If summer went well, plant Cranberries on Fall 1. If gold is short, Pumpkins (446g a tile, 323g a harvest) or Eggplant (20g seeds that regrow, 15.18g back per gold) are cheaper ways in. Pumpkins can grow into giant crops, and they give 31 Farming XP a harvest.
Whatever you plant, check it finishes before Fall 28. Crops die when winter starts, and no crop seed sold by Pierre or JojaMart grows outdoors in winter, so fall is the last field income of the year. For a mid-season planting, the What to Plant Today tool counts the days that are left.
Get to Farming level 4 for Preserves Jars
The Preserves Jar recipe comes at Farming Level 4 (1,300 XP) and the Keg at Farming Level 8 (6,900 XP). Farming XP comes from harvests, and bigger crops give more, so the crop you pick changes how soon machines arrive:
Harvests of one crop to reach each level from zero
| Crop | Level 4 (Preserves Jar) | Level 8 (Keg) |
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| Parsnip | 163 | 863 |
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| Potato | 93 | 493 |
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| Cauliflower | 57 | 300 |
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| Blueberry | 130 | 690 |
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| Melon | 49 | 256 |
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| Cranberries | 93 | 493 |
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| Pumpkin | 42 | 223 |
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A harvest is one picked crop; extra items from the same plant give no extra XP. Mixed crops add up the same way.
Forty tiles of Potatoes harvested 4 times in spring is 160 harvests, past the 93 needed for level 4, so a busy spring gets you Preserves Jars by summer. Level 8 takes far longer. A Preserves Jar costs 50 Wood, 40 Stone, 8 Coal, all from chopping trees, breaking rocks and the first floors of the mines, so start collecting wood and coal before you reach the level. A Keg needs 30 Wood, 5 Copper Ore, 5 Iron Ore, 2 Coal, 1 Oak Resin once the bars are smelted.
Here is what a jar or keg does to the Year 1 crops (no professions):
Raw price against Preserves Jar and Keg products
| Crop | Raw | Preserves Jar | Keg |
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| Blueberry | 50g | Jelly 150g (2.5 days) | Wine 150g (6.25 days) |
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| Melon | 250g | Jelly 550g (2.5 days) | Wine 750g (6.25 days) |
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| Hot Pepper | 40g | Jelly 130g (2.5 days) | Wine 120g (6.25 days) |
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| Cranberries | 75g | Jelly 200g (2.5 days) | Wine 225g (6.25 days) |
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| Pumpkin | 320g | Pickles 690g (2.5 days) | Juice 720g (3.75 days) |
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| Grape | 80g | Jelly 210g (2.5 days) | Wine 240g (6.25 days) |
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A jar triples a Blueberry and more than doubles a Melon or Pumpkin, and it finishes in 2.5 days, so each jar you build turns crops you already grow into two or three times the gold, over and over. When you have more fruit than machines, put your most valuable crop in the Keg and the cheap fruit in jars; How Many Kegs Do I Need? works out the numbers per crop.
Finish the Pantry for the Greenhouse
The Community Center's Pantry gives you the Greenhouse, which grows any crop all year and is the biggest step up for Year 2. Most of it is Year 1 crops, so plant at least one of each of these as you go:
- Spring Crops Bundle (all 4): Parsnip, Green Bean, Cauliflower, Potato
- Summer Crops Bundle (all 4): Tomato, Hot Pepper, Blueberry, Melon
- Fall Crops Bundle (all 4): Corn, Eggplant, Pumpkin, Yam
- Quality Crops Bundle (any 3 of 4): 5 gold Parsnip, 5 gold Melon, 5 gold Pumpkin, 5 gold Corn
- Animal Bundle (any 5 of 6): Large Milk, Large Brown Egg, Large Egg, Large Goat Milk, Wool, Duck Egg
- Artisan Bundle (any 6 of 12): Truffle Oil, Cloth, Goat Cheese, Cheese, Honey, Jelly, Apple, Apricot, Orange, Peach, Pomegranate, Cherry
A bundle item you miss in its season waits a whole year, so keep one of each crop in a chest. The Quality Crops bundle wants gold-quality crops, which come easier with Quality Fertilizer (see Speed-Gro vs Fertilizer). Tick off what you have in the Bundle Tracker.
Animals and fruit trees in Year 1
A Coop costs 4,000g plus 300 Wood and 100 Stone, and a Chicken 800g. A new Chicken earns about 53g a day and one at full hearts about 165g, so animals are a slow start, but they keep producing in winter when the fields are empty. Build the coop once your summer crops are paying; Coop or Barn First? compares every animal.
Fruit trees are a poor first-year buy. The cheapest sapling, an Apricot, costs 2,000g, earns 1,400g in its first season sold raw and pays back in its second. The same gold in seeds turns over many times in one season. Buy trees with gold you will not need for seeds, and see Best Fruit Trees for which ones and when to plant them.
Your Year 1 plan
- Spring 1: plant the free Parsnips and spend your 500g on Parsnip seeds. Reinvest every sale.
- Spring, second week on: move to Potatoes and Cauliflower as your gold grows. Keep one Parsnip, Green Bean, Cauliflower and Potato for the bundle.
- Spring 13: buy Strawberry Seeds at the Egg Festival, some to plant and some for next spring.
- Summer 1: Blueberries on most of your soil, a few Melons, Tomatoes and Hot Peppers for the bundle.
- Farming 4: craft Preserves Jars and start turning Blueberries into Jelly.
- Fall 1: Cranberries if you can afford them, Pumpkins otherwise, plus Corn, Eggplant and Yam for the bundle.
- Before winter: a Coop, and saplings planted where you want your orchard.
Try your own day, gold and tiles in What to Plant Today, or compare crops for a whole season in the Crop Profit Calculator.
Quick questions
What is the fastest way to make money in Year 1?
Reinvest every harvest in fast crops in spring (Parsnips, then Potatoes), plant Blueberries on Summer 1, and turn crops into Jelly once you reach Farming level 4.
What should I plant on Spring 1?
The 15 free Parsnip Seeds, and Parsnip seeds with your 500g. Switch to Potatoes once you have more gold than empty soil.
What is the best crop in Summer of Year 1?
Blueberries: 526g a tile planted on Summer 1. Starfruit needs the desert, which most players do not reach in Year 1.
Can I buy Red Cabbage or Garlic in Year 1?
Not from Pierre: their seeds go on sale in Year 2.
Are Strawberries worth it in Year 1?
A little: 147g a tile from the Egg Festival against 102g for Potatoes. Keep extra seeds for Spring 1 of Year 2, when they make 518g a tile.