Linus' Basket in Stardew Valley: Where to Find It, Rewards, and Full Schedule

Stardew Valley loves to drop small, easy to miss quests on the player, and the missing Blackberry Basket is one of those moments. Returning it to Linus takes about five minutes and gives you a lasting friendship boost, so it is well worth a detour from your usual farm chores.

Where to find Linus' Basket

The quest fires automatically on Fall 8 of Year 1. You do not need any prior friendship with Linus for it to trigger, the game just hands it to you on the calendar.

To recover the basket:

1. Head to the Bus Stop, but skip the bus itself.
2. Walk one screen west and follow the paved path.
3. Keep going until you reach the Backwoods.
4. Inspect the two bushes near the tunnel entrance.

The basket is hidden inside one of those bushes. Fair warning: it blends in with the autumn foliage almost perfectly, so look carefully before deciding the bushes are empty. Once you have it, deliver it to Linus to close out the quest.

Quest reward and the Wild Bait recipe

Handing Linus his basket back bumps your friendship with him by one full heart. He is not a marriage candidate, so the long term goal here is unlocking the Wild Bait recipe, which he sends you in the mail once you reach four hearts.

Wild Bait is genuinely useful: each cast has a chance to hook two fish at once, which is a serious upgrade for anyone serious about fishing income. The recipe produces 5 Wild Bait per craft and needs:

• 10x Fiber
• 5x Slime
• 5x Bug Meat

All three ingredients are easy to stockpile from regular farming and dungeon runs.

Linus' full schedule

Linus does not sit by his tent all day waiting for you. He moves around with a routine that shifts with the season and weather, so if he is not at the small tent west of the Mines, use the lists below to track him down.

Spring

• 6:00 AM: Inside his tent
• 6:30 AM: Behind a bush to the right of the tent
• 7:00 AM: At the campfire in front of the tent
• 9:30 AM: West side of the lake
• 2:00 PM: Back at the campfire
• 7:00 PM: Inside his tent
• 11:00 PM: Asleep

Summer

• 6:00 AM: Inside his tent
• 6:30 AM: On the cliff east of the tent, overlooking the lake
• 9:40 AM: South of the fence on the lake's western edge
• 1:00 PM: A bit further south from the previous spot
• 4:00 PM: At the campfire
• 8:00 PM: Behind the bush right of the tent
• 8:20 PM: Inside his tent

Fall

• 6:00 AM: Inside his tent
• 7:00 AM: Behind the bush right of the tent
• 7:40 AM: At the campfire
• 9:00 AM: East side of the spa
• 2:00 PM: West side of the lake
• 6:00 PM: Inside his tent

Winter

• 6:00 AM: Inside his tent
• 11:00 AM: At the campfire
• 2:00 PM: At the entrance of the spa
• 6:00 PM: Inside his tent

Rainy days

• 6:00 AM: Inside his tent
• 9:30 AM: Behind the bush right of the tent
• 10:10 AM: Back inside his tent
• 3:00 PM: Under a tree right of the tent
• 7:00 PM: Inside his tent
• 11:30 PM: Asleep

Green Rain days

• 6:00 AM: On the cliff south of the tent
• 12:00 PM: On the cliff west of the tent
• 5:00 PM: At the campfire
• 10:00 PM: Asleep

This weather event was added in Stardew Valley Update 1.6.

Spring 16, after the bus is repaired

• 9:50 AM: Boards the bus to the Calico Desert for the Desert Festival
• 10:20 AM: Near the trash can behind the Calico Egg merchant
• 1:40 AM: Catches the bus back to his tent

Winter 15, Night Market

• 6:00 AM: Inside his tent
• 11:00 AM: At the campfire
• 4:00 PM: Walks down to the Night Market
• 11:30 PM: Returns home for the night

One last note: Linus never travels to Ginger Island, so do not waste time looking for him there.