Stardew Valley: 15 Things You Have To Do Your First Year

Players take on the role of the new farmer in town in Stardew Valley, renovating their late grandpa's farm and making some friends along the way. In Pelican Town, there's a lot to do to make the farm boom, but for players who are brand new to farming simulator life, where should they start?

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With crops to grow, events to attend, and mysteries to unravel, new players of Stardew Valley might feel a bit overwhelmed with choices in their first year of their time in the town. The game runs in a seasonal format - four seasons, each 28 days long - so getting rid of all the trees and rocks that have populated ol' Grandpappy's farm is just the first thing to check off a lengthy first-year to-do list.

Updated on September 6, 2025, by Ashely Claudino: Even in their first year in Stardew Valley, gamers should always think ahead. This list has been updated and now features an entry that discusses making plans for the upcoming year. Additionally, we've expanded on several previous entries to ensure that they contain as much helpful information as possible.

Upgrade The Backpack

More Space Means More Money

From hoes to pickaxes, Stardew Valley provides players with everything they need to make their farm thrive at the beginning of the game. Despite this, the farmer’s five main tools take up nearly half of the starting inventory, meaning players will have to make frequent trips to the farm to sell valuable items and make space for new resources.

As soon as possible, players should save up to 2,000g to buy the first backpack upgrade from Pierre. Not only does it give the farmer a total of 24 inventory slots, but it also makes fishing, mining, and foraging trips more efficient. Once players have the expanded inventory, a second upgrade will be available for 10,000g.

Accept Bulletin Board & Special Order Requests

Good Deeds Never Go Unrewarded

Next to Pierre's General Store is a bulletin board where townsfolk leave daily requests they want the farmer to complete; these can be anything from catching a fish, slaying some slimes, or even bringing gemstones or Sea Cucumbers (for girls only, according to Haley's requests). Completing these quests will award players with gold, friendship, and even resources for their efforts.

In the 1.5 update, a Special Orders board was added to the game, which gets built in front of Mayor Lewis's house on Fall 2 of Year 1. These requests have longer deadlines to complete (a week or even a whole season), but require much larger amounts of goods. Of course, the rewards are scaled up with the requests - players that bring the needed items to the townsfolk are rewarded with a cut-scene for their efforts.

Dig In The Trash

One Man's Trash Is Another Farmer's Treasure

Digging in the trash may not seem like the most enjoyable activity in a cozy farming simulator, but players should consider the villagers’ trash their farmer’s treasure during the first year when money, food, and resources are tight.

In the garbage cans around town, players can find gems, food, and other valuables. Certain trash cans, such as the one near the saloon, even have the chance to drop unique items. Of course, players will occasionally find trash in the trash, but even that can be valuable if they save it until they have a Recycling Machine handy. No matter what players find, however, they’ll want to make sure no one else is around when they reach into the nearest garbage can, as getting caught can damage the farmer’s relationships with the townspeople.

Begin The Community Center or Joja Bundles

Bundles Unlock More Useful Features

On a sunny day around the fifth of spring, Mayor Lewis unlocks the Pelican Town Community Center, just behind the main town square. This building will be up to the player to renovate: either restore the center themselves by donating goods to the various bundles, or join competing mega-corporation Joja Mart's membership scheme, which makes Lewis sell the building to them for a new warehouse.

The bundles unlock super useful features around Pelican Town for players to utilize, from mine carts that allow fast-travel abilities to a greenhouse on the farm for year-round crops. To unlock the mine carts, the Boiler Room bundle must be completed; the greenhouse is unlocked by finishing the Pantry bundle.

Start Collecting Cooking Recipes

Tune Into The Queen of Sauce

Many recipes in Stardew Valley can only be obtained if the player tunes into The Queen of Sauce during a certain day of the year. During the first two years, players will be able to learn new recipes every Sunday. If they miss it, they can check back on Wednesday, as this is when there are reruns of the show.

To watch The Queen of Sauce in Stardew Valley, players must interact with the TV in their homes and choose The Queen of Sauce in the channel selection menu. Even if players don't have a kitchen set up yet, there's no harm down - it's simply a great way to learn recipes for free.

Gather Seasonal Forageables

Those Flowers Are Worth A Pretty Penny

As players walk around town, they can find various fruits, vegetables, or other forageable items to pick up. However, while some, like shells on the beach, appear consistently throughout the year, many change with the seasons.

With leeks, dandelions, daffodils, wild horseradish, spring onions, and salmonberries, spring has the widest variety of plants for players to gather as they explore. Nonetheless, players should take advantage of every season's forgeable items. Not only are they part of the community center if players choose to restore the building, but forageables can also be sold or used as food while enjoying other activities.

Spend Winter In The Mines

Hit The Jackpot With Much-Needed Resources

Winter brings a quiet period on the farm; crops don't grow under snow, after all. For players twiddling their thumbs and waiting for spring to come, there's a few different things to do after tending to animals - one of the most useful being the mines.

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Visiting the mines each day in winter will allow players to hoard precious wood and stone for crafting, as well as find the necessary ore for upgrading their tools for the new year. For players who decided to renovate the Community Center without the help of Joja-Mart, plenty of the bundles need gemstones and ore that can be found in the mines as well.

Don't Cut All Your Grass

Keep Some for Later

Grass can be turned into hay, but not unless the player has built a Silo on their farm. Since this requires some resources, it's likely that gamers won't have it until a little later into the year. If they cut down all their grass, it'll take a lot longer for them to start storing hay in the silo, as they'll have to wait for it to grow once again.

If fans get farm animals without a silo or hay, they'll spend tons of money purchasing hay from Marnie or their animals will have to remain hungry and unhappy for quite a while.

Upgrade Tools to Bronze

Find Time to Save Time

Players should attempt to upgrade their tools to bronze in their first year in Stardew Valley. During their first year, they'll start exploring the mines and gain access to coal and bronze ore. Unlock the bronze upgrade will make it much easier to complete day-to-day tasks both on their farm and in the mines.

Players take some time to plan their weekly activities when they get enough ore so they can schedule upgrades. Since each upgrade takes two days, check the TV and hand in the watering can whenever there's a scheduled rainy day. Hand in the hoe once you've planted most of your crops. Give Clint the axe if you're planning to spend a few days in the mines or the pickaxe if you're not planning on heading down so soon.

Save Materials for the Winter

Farm Now, Upgrade Later

It's much harder to be productive in the winter in Stardew Valley. During this time, some activities are severely hindered, especially during the first year when the player might not have access to Green House or Ginger Island. In these cases, gamers won't be able to farm at all, which makes winter the perfect time to upgrade their tools.

Players should farm as much ore as they can during the spring, summer, and fall so that when winter comes around, they can upgrade their tools to bronze and beyond. They should try to go as deep into the mines as possible to ensure that they're able to farm tons of bronze and iron.