Even after you’ve mastered the basics of farming, relationships, and tool upgrades, there are plenty of small tricks that can make life in Stardew Valley even smoother. In this chapter, we’ll cover useful miscellaneous tips—like managing your daily routine, optimizing foraging, and organizing your farm efficiently. For PC players, we’ll also introduce beginner-friendly mods that enhance gameplay without breaking the game. These tips and mods will help you enjoy Stardew Valley to the fullest, whether you’re here for efficiency, fun, or both!
Keep Land Clearing to a Minimum
When you first start the game, your farm looks like a total mess — rocks, weeds, and trees everywhere. It’s tempting to clear it all up right away, but resist the urge!
Just clean up a small area for your crops and a path to your water source.
Clearing land (chopping trees, breaking rocks, etc.) costs Energy, and early on your tools are weak and your skills are low.
If you spend too much time cleaning, you’ll end up too tired to actually grow anything.
So, just make enough space to get started — that’s totally fine for now.
For convenience, I recommend setting up your first crop field near the pond in the middle-right of your farm.
That way, watering is quick and easy.
Keep Your Energy Up with Foraged Items
At the very start, when your skills are low and your tools aren’t upgraded yet, running out of Energy is a real problem.
If your Energy hits zero, your character gets “Exhausted”, and your Energy recovery the next day is cut in half.
If your Energy drops to -15 and you pass out outside your house, you’ll also lose 10% of your money.
A simple way to prevent this is by eating foraged items.
Just select the item and right-click to eat it.
- Dandelions restore 25 Energy
- Leeks restore 60 Energy
Since watering a single crop costs a set amount of Energy, this is perfect for those moments when you’re like: “I just need a little more energy to finish watering!”
Salmonberries are so helpful
Also, after Spring 15, Salmonberries start appearing in bushes around town — another great early-game energy snack.
The red berries you see in bushes around town are Salmonberries.
Just walk up, hover over them, and right-click to collect.
Each Salmonberry restores 25 Energy, and since they grow all over town, it’s easy to stock up.
Plus, they only sell for 5G, so you don’t have to worry about wasting money — just eat them whenever you need a quick energy boost.
Crafting Chests and Scarecrows Early
There are tons of items you can craft in Stardew Valley, but early on, two of the most useful ones are chests and scarecrows.
Chests can be crafted from 50 Wood, which is doable right from the start.
Your inventory fills up pretty quickly, so it’s a good idea to start chopping wood early and craft some chests.
Chests let you store items, and you can even change their color by right-clicking and opening the menu — makes it super easy to organize and tell them apart.
Scarecrows protect crops from crows within a radius of 8 tiles, so you’ll want to craft them early to keep your valuable crops safe.
You can craft them once you reach Farming Level 1.
To make a scarecrow, you’ll need:
- 50 Wood
- 1 Coal (usually drops from breaking rocks with your pickaxe, using Charcoal Kiln)
- 20 Fiber (gathered by cutting grass with your scythe)
Both chests and scarecrows can be picked up by holding left-click, so you can relocate them wherever you want on your farm.
Check Trash Cans for Useful Stuff
You can search each trash can once per day by right-clicking it.
It’s mostly random, but sometimes you’ll find things like bread (restores 50 Energy when eaten).
Early on, this little boost can really help keep your Energy up.
Upgrade Your Backpack Once You Have Enough
Once you’ve saved up 2,000G, you can upgrade your backpack.
Just check the backpack at the right side of the counter in Pierre’s shop, and you’ll be able to expand your inventory.
With a bigger backpack, you can carry work items and energy-restoring food, go fishing on the go, or pick flowers to give as gifts — basically, it opens up a lot more options and makes your farm life much more flexible.
Upgrading your backpack should be a top priority for a comfortable start.
Keeping around 500G on hand after the purchase is plenty.
If you’ve saved enough for a backpack, it usually means your character’s skills and your player knowledge have grown enough that earning money from here on out isn’t too hard.
You can do the next backpack upgrade too, but it costs 10,000G, so that’s usually something you aim for around Summer.
Thinking About Installing Mods (PC Version)
As you play more, you’ll probably start thinking, “I wish this part of the game worked differently…”
There’s a Japanese saying: “The best day to act is the day you think of it.” And that’s exactly the mindset for mods!
I’ve also written a guide on installing mods, so if you’re a PC player, check it out for some tips.
Key Takeaways
- Avoid wasting energy and obtain it from foraging.
- Crafting Chests and Scarecrows Early.
- Check Trash Cans for Useful Stuff.
- Upgrade Your Backpack Once You Have Enough.
- Modding guide you can read.
Wrapping Up
So, that’s a quick walkthrough of the early game!
Remember, the real charm of Stardew Valley is its freedom — you don’t have to follow this guide to the letter.
Part of the fun of your first playthrough is making mistakes and figuring things out as you go. Feel free to experiment and do your own thing, and if you ever get stuck, come back to this guide for some tips.
If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to drop a comment!
Thanks so much for reading!
