Stardew Valley Spring Guide: Profitable Crops, Festival Calendar, and Income Tips

Spring resets the clock in Stardew Valley. The frost retreats, the grass turns green again, and pink petals start drifting across the map. For your farm, that means planting season is back, and with it the first real chance of the year to fill your wallet.

This guide breaks down what to plant, when to show up at festivals, and which side hustles actually pay during the 28 days of Spring.

How Spring Works

Every season in Stardew Valley runs 28 days, and Spring is no exception. Trees regrow leaves, weeds creep back into your fields, and many crops only grow during this window. Miss the planting date and you will be staring at empty tilled soil until next year.

Most of your gold this season will come from three places: crops, festivals, and a few overlooked side activities. Crops first.

Spring Crops Worth Planting

There are 12 Spring-only crops in the game, but not all of them deserve real estate on your farm. Below are the standouts, plus one bonus crop that is not season-locked but pairs well with Spring.

Parsnip

Parsnip is the starter crop for a reason. Seeds are cheap, they mature in 4 days, and the harvest gives a respectable return for a fresh save. Do not expect to get rich from a single field, but it is the safest bet during your first Spring.

Selling prices:

• Regular: 35g
• Silver: 43g
• Gold: 52g
• Iridium: 70g

The Tiller profession adds a flat 10% to all values.

Cauliflower

Cauliflower takes 12 days to grow and does not regrow after harvest. That means at most two harvests per Spring outside of a Greenhouse, but the payout is high enough to justify the wait. Treat it as a mid-game investment crop.

Selling prices:

• Regular: 175g
• Silver: 218g
• Gold: 262g
• Iridium: 350g

Add 10% with the Tiller profession.

Strawberry

The famous Spring money-maker. Strawberries mature in 8 days and regrow every 4 days after that, so a Spring 1 planting can yield up to five harvests in a single season. Two catches: the seeds are sold only at the Egg Festival, and they cost 100g per pack.

The festival lands mid-season, so a fresh save only gets two harvest cycles. From Year 2 onward, stockpile seeds and plant them on Spring 1 for the full payout.

Selling prices:

• Regular: 120g
• Silver: 150g
• Gold: 180g
• Iridium: 240g

Tiller profession adds 10%.

Garlic

Garlic only unlocks in Year 2, when Pierre's General Store finally adds Garlic Seeds to the shelf. It grows in 4 days, does not regrow, and clears a healthy profit per seed. It is also a useful Community Center bundle ingredient.

Selling prices:

• Regular: 60g
• Silver: 75g
• Gold: 90g
• Iridium: 120g

Standard 10% Tiller bonus applies. Note that Iridium-quality Garlic became reachable through Deluxe Fertilizer in the 1.5 update.

Ancient Fruit

Not strictly a Spring crop, but worth mentioning because Spring is when most players start their first batch. To unlock Ancient Seeds you need to donate the Ancient Seed artifact to the Museum, then craft seeds from a Seed Maker or wait for the Traveling Cart to stock them.

Once planted, Ancient Fruit regrows continuously and sells for absurd prices, especially turned into wine.

Selling prices:

• Regular: 550g
• Silver: 687g
• Gold: 825g
• Iridium: 1,100g

Tiller profession adds 10%.

Spring Calendar: Festivals and Birthdays

Spring has 11 dated events. Birthdays are gift opportunities; festivals usually combine social progress with limited-time rewards or items.

• Spring 4: Kent's birthday
• Spring 7: Lewis' birthday
• Spring 10: Vincent's birthday
• Spring 13: Egg Festival
• Spring 14: Haley's birthday
• Spring 15 to 18: Salmonberry Festival window
• Spring 18: Pam's birthday
• Spring 20: Shane's birthday
• Spring 24: Flower Dance Festival
• Spring 26: Pierre's birthday
• Spring 27: Emily's birthday

The Egg Festival is the most economically relevant, since it is the only place to grab Strawberry Seeds. The Flower Dance is the social one to plan a gift around.

Other Ways to Earn Gold in Spring

Crops are the obvious income stream, but Spring rewards players who diversify. A few options that pay well early on:

• Fish the Mountain Lake. Carp sells for 30 to 90g and Bullhead for 75 to 225g, depending on quality. Bullhead is the more interesting catch.
• Run the Mayonnaise Machine. Once unlocked, it converts plain eggs into Mayonnaise jars worth significantly more than the raw input.
• Head into the Mines. Spring is a great time to push deeper, gather ore, and stockpile materials before Summer crops start demanding your attention.
• Forage Spring Onions. South of Marnie's house, in the wooded area, you can pick free Spring Onions and sell them or eat them for an energy boost.

A balanced Spring usually mixes one big-ticket crop (Strawberries or Cauliflower), a steady starter crop, and one or two of the activities above. Lock that rhythm in during Year 1 and the rest of the calendar gets noticeably easier.