Summer is often the first season where new Stardew Valley players will see large profits. Now that you have a handle on the basics of the game it is time to grind out those high-ticket summer crops.
For first-year summer players, there will be one single-harvest crop and one multiple-harvest crop that you will want to focus on. These will likely be your most profitable crops in the summer of year one. Make sure you stock up on seeds from Pierre’s General Store (or the evil Joja route if you enjoy the more chaotic route). These items are especially profitable when combined with either the artisan profession or the tiller profession.
Fruits
Melons
For single harvests, melons provide the most gold per day average of all of the started single-harvest crops. With a seed price of 80 gold and a base sell price of 250 gold, you will make an average of 14 gold per day per melon when this is sold. They will take 12 days to grow, allowing 2 cycles of planting per summer.
Melons are a community center item, so make sure you save one regular quality melon and five gold quality melons for the community center bundles. You will also get a quest from Demetri to deliver one of these fruits, so you will want to save an extra for that quest.
Melons are great for use in preserves jars or kegs. In preserve jars, your base sell price will raise from 250 gold per melon to 550 gold per melon. If you chose to make wine with your melons, you will raise the price to a starting 750 gold per melon.
Much like the cauliflower in spring, melons can also provide players with a giant crop. If you have nine of the same crop arranged in a square, you have a chance of creating a giant melon. If you chose to chop down the large crop, you will be able to collect 15-21 melons versus the 9 you would get from the regular harvest.
| Image | Name | Sell Price | Sell Price w/Tiller (+10%) | Sell Price w/Artisan (+40%) |
 | Melon | 250g 312g  375g  500g  | 275g 343g  412g 550g  | __ |
 | Melon Wine | 750g 937g 1,125g 1,500g | __ | 1,050g 1,311g 1,575g 2,100g |
 | Melon Jelly | 550g | __ | 770g |
Blueberries
The blueberry is a great crop for experience, profit, and large amounts of gold per day. With a base price of 80 gold and a base sell price of 50×3 gold per plant, you will be making an average of 20-21 gold per day. Blueberry seeds can be purchased from Pierre’s General Store or Joja.
One of the great things about blueberries is that you do not need to replant them after harvest. The crop will continue to grow every four days after the initial thirteen-day growth period. You will be able to have four harvests from this crop.
It is important to note that fertilizers will only affect the first harvest.
In addition to these summer crops, there are some crops that are more accessible later in the game, typically starting in year 2 that are also great money makers. When combined with the artisan profession, these sell for higher prices when crafted into other items.
| Image | Name | Sell Price | Sell Price w/Tiller (+10%) | Sell Price w/Artisan (+40%) |
 | Blueberry | 50g 62g 75g 100g | 55g 68g 82g 110g | __ |
| Blueberry Wine | 150g 187g 225g 300g | __ | 210g 261g 315g 420g |
| Blueberry Jelly | 150g | __ | 210g |
Starfruit
Starfruit is one of the most popular crops in the game. It can be purchased from Sandy’s shop in the Oasis for 400 gold. Starfruit is the most profitable summer crop with a gold per day production of about 27 gold per day. This crop will take thirteen days to grow and you can get one harvest out of each plant. You are able to plant two starfruit per season.
The way to make the most profit out of starfruit is by turning the fruit into wine. As an artisan food with the artesian profession, you can earn up to 6,300 gold for iridium quality wine.
Starfruit is also used for building a Junimo Hut from the Wizard’s Tower.
| Image | Name | Sell Price | Sell Price w/Tiller (+10%) | Sell Price w/Artisan (+40%) |
 | Starfruit | 750g 937g 1,125g 1,500g | 825g 1,030g 1,237g 1,650g | __ |
| Starfruit Wine | 2,250g 2,812g 3,375g 4,500g | __ | 3,150g 3,936g 4,725g 6,300g |
| Starfruit Jelly | 1,550g | __ | 2,170g |
Hot Pepper
Shane fans know all about hot peppers. This is one of the best summer crops as it is a loved gift for both Lewis and Shane. You can also give this to Shane to feel less guilty rather than gifting him a beer. It is also required for the summer crops bundle in the community center.
Much like potatoes, there is a chance of multiple crops from one harvest. This is a regrowing plant, so you will have a chance for eight harvests each summer. Be sure to hang on to the gold-quality ones for easy gifts for the rest of the year. You will also need to save one for a quest with George as he will request one for a quest in the summertime.
For some extra luck, you can use hot peppers to make spicy eel, too.
| Image | Name | Sell Price | Sell Price w/Tiller (+10%) | Sell Price w/Artisan (+40%) |
 | Hot Pepper | 40g 50g 60g 80g | 44g 55g 66g 88g | __ |
| Hot Pepper Wine | 120g 150g 180g 240g | __ | 168g 210g 252g 336g |
| Hot Pepper Jelly | 130g | __ | 182g |
Pineapple (End Game Spoilers)
Pineapple seeds joined the list of summer crops with the 1.5 update. When you unlock Ginger Island, you will be able to purchase these seeds from the island trader. It can also be found as a drop in the volcano mines and when opening golden coconuts.
Pineapples take 14 days to grow and then regrow every seven days. While these seeds will grow on the main farm during summer, it is better to leave them on the Ginger Island farm as they are able to grow year-round. They have a base sell price of 300 gold and can be worth up to 2,520 gold when turned into wine.
| Image | Name | Sell Price | Sell Price w/Tiller (+10%) | Sell Price w/Artisan (+40%) |
 | Pineapple | 300g 375g 450g 600g | 330g 412g 495g 66g | __ |
| Pineapple Wine | 900g 1,125g 1,350g 1,800g | __ | 1,260g 1,575g 1,890g 2,520g |
| Pineapple Jelly | 650g | __ | 910g |
Vegetables
Wheat
Wheat is another community center crop. It is cheap to plant at only 40 gold per seed and has a chance of dropping hay as well. This is another multi-seasonal crop that can be planted in both summer and fall.
When combined with the mill, wheat can be used to make wheat flour. This is a common ingredient in many cooking recipes. You can also put wheat in a keg to make beer. This is a great crop to use in cooking and brewing.
| Image | Name | Sell Price | Sell Price w/Tiller (+10%) | Sell Price w/Artisan (+40%) |
 | Wheat | 25g 31g 37g 50g | 27g 34g 40g 55g | __ |
 | Beer | 200g 250g 300g 400g | __ | 280g 350g 420g 560g |
 | Pickled Wheat | 100g | __ | 140g |
Hops
Hops, much like the green bean, grow on a trellis/hops starter. This is important to keep in mind as you are planting these so you are able to harvest everything that you plant. It takes an initial eleven days to grow but will produce hops once per day after that.
Hops are used to create pale ale, which has one of the highest returns on investment in the game. Pale ale is a loved gift by Pam and is used in a quest where Pam requests that you bring her a pale ale. You will get this quest in your first summer. Make sure you have a keg handy to complete it.
| Image | Name | Sell Price | Sell Price w/Tiller (+10%) | Sell Price w/Artisan (+40%) |
 | Hops | 25g 31g 37g 50g | 27g 34g 40g 55g | __ |
 | Pale Ale | 300g 375g 450g 600g | __ | 420g 525g 630g 840g |
| Pickled Hops | 100g | __ | 140g |
Flowers
There are a few different flower options that are great for planting in the summertime. These flowers, when used in conjunction with bee houses, are great money-makers and gift options for the villagers.
Poppy Flower
Poppies, while not having a high gold per day average on their own, raise the price of honey when produced near these flowers. The poppy flower raises the price of honey to 380 gold which is a 280 gold increase compared to honey on its own. You will also need one flower for the community center.
The poppy flower is also a loved gift by Penny, so it is great to stock up if you are interested in befriending her. Her birthday is on Fall 2, so you should save at least one high-quality poppy flower as an easy gift. You can also cook these into poppyseed muffins once you unlock the cooking recipe, which is also a loved gift of Penny as well as Leah.
| Image | Name | Sell Price | Sell Price w/Tiller (+10%) | Sell Price w/Artisan (+40%) |
 | Poppy | 140g 175g 210g 280g | 154g 192g 231g 308g | __ |
 | Poppy Honey | 380g | __ | 532g |
Sunflower
If you are a Joja fan, this will likely be one of your key reasons why. Sunflowers are the only crop that is cheaper to buy at Joja. Many players will often buy the seeds here prior to the completion of the community center even if they do not go the Joja route. They can be planted in both summer and fall.
The sunflower is also the only flower that provides a negative gold per day production at an average of -15 gold per day. However, there are a few ways to gain some money out of these crops. They have a chance of dropping an additional two sunflower seeds upon harvesting, which will allow for exponential growth of these flowers. This is a longer method to earn a small amount of gold from these flowers.
A more profitable option would be to plant these near bee houses and sell the honey that is produced from them. With a base price of 260 gold per jar of honey, you will be able to make a profit of 60 gold per flower. Due to its multi-seasonal use with the beehouses, this makes sunflowers one of the best summer crops as well as one of the best fall crops.
The sunflower is a loved gift of Haley. It is also a community center item, so make sure that you plant at least one your first summer.
| Image | Name | Sell Price | Sell Price w/Tiller (+10%) | Sell Price w/Artisan (+40%) |
 | Sunflower | 80g 100g 120g 160g | 88g 110g 132g 176g | __ |
| Sunflower Honey | 260g | __ | 364g |
 | Oil | 100g | __ | 100g |
Summer Spangle
If you are looking to befriend Caroline the summer spangle is a great summer crop. Make sure that you save at least one high-quality summer spangle for her birthday on Winter 7. Otherwise, this flower is most profitable when used to make honey for a 130 gold profit. When sold on its own, the base price only sells for a 40 gold profit.
| Image | Name | Sell Price | Sell Price w/Tiller (+10%) | Sell Price w/Artisan (+40%) |
 | Summer Spangle | 90g 112g 135g 180g | 99g 123g 148g 198g | __ |
| Spangle Honey | 280g | __ | 392g |
Other
Coffee Bean
The coffee bean is one of the most coveted seeds in the game. When you are in a time crunch, a boost to speed is essential. The most common way to find a coffee bean early game is by farming dust sprites. You may also find it at the traveling cart for 2,500 gold. Coffee beans are one of the best spring crops as well as summer crops. You will want to stock up on coffee beans so you will be able to make coffee year-round.
This is one of the few crops that you will likely not use for profit. It is not considered to be one of the artisan goods so you will not make any bonus on profit with it. You will want to keep all of the coffee beans you can for both coffee and triple-shot espresso. You will need 5 coffee beans per cup of coffee (made using a keg) and three cups of coffee to make triple-shot espresso. These both provide a speed boost, with coffee lasting 1 minute 23 seconds and espresso lasting 4 minutes 12 seconds.
Coffee is a loved gift by Harvey.
| Image | Name | Sell Price |
 | Coffee Bean | 15g 18g 22g 30g |
 | Coffee | 150g |
When summer rolls around, set up goals for your top priorities when planning your farm. You do not need to accomplish every goal in one season. Take your time and explore everything each season has to offer. If you want to finish the community center, make friends, or decorate your farm, make sure you are having fun with what you are doing.
