Grass Starter

Grass Starter

Type	Seed
Grows	Grass
Produces	1 Grass Starter per craft
Season	Spring; Summer; Fall
Pierre	100g
JojaMart	125g
Sell Price	50g

Grass Starter is not sown but set down, and the tile it lands on turns into a full patch of Grass the same moment. From there the patch widens by itself through Spring, Summer and Fall, which is why one or two starters near a Coop or a Barn eventually become a pasture. Grazing animals eat the result and leave the Silo untouched, and a Scythe turns the same grass into Hay for the cold months. Pierre's General Store sells finished starters, but the crafting recipe on his shelf is the better buy for any farm with animals, since ten Fiber makes one and Fiber is close to free. The thing to plan around is Winter, when the patch stops widening and every cut returns a fraction of what it would have given in Fall.

Growing

Putting a starter down skips every stage of farming. Nothing is hoed, nothing is watered and no sprout has to be waited out: the tile is grass at once, and the following morning it begins to creep outward.

That creeping only happens in the warm seasons and only onto bare ground. Paths, tilled soil and buildings all stop it, so the useful place for a starter is an open stretch with room around it rather than a gap inside a crop field.

Winter closes the whole process down. The patch stays where it is and goes dormant, no new tiles are taken, and a cut returns far less Hay than the same swing would have in Fall. A starter put down in the cold banks a patch for Spring rather than producing anything at the time.

Animals are the other complication. A herd grazes faster than a new patch widens, so a flock turned loose on a single starter can finish it before it ever takes hold. The usual answer is to set something on top of the starter tile. A Fence post, a Lightning Rod or most decorations will sit there quite happily, the animals cannot touch that square, and the grass under it carries on pushing out into the ground around it. One protected tile is enough to refill a whole field.

A starter will also go down inside a Farm Building or on ground away from the farm itself. It stays a single tile in those places and never widens, but it can still be cut for Hay, which makes it a way to keep feed growing in an unused corner.

Buying

Pierre's General Store sells finished starters over the counter, and JojaMart asks more for the same item. For one or two tiles that is the quickest route and the end of the matter.

For a real pasture the recipe is the thing to buy. Pierre lists it alongside the starters, as a single heavy payment, after which every starter costs only ten Fiber. Fiber comes off weeds roughly half the times they are cut, and the Mines are thick with weeds around the floors in the twenties, so one trip underground pays for a dozen starters. A bed of Fiber Seeds does the same work without leaving the farm, and the Desert Trader will swap Fiber for Stone on Tuesdays.

Because the recipe is a one-off cost while the starters are not, the break-even point comes sooner than it looks. A farm planning a Barn and a Coop will pass it during the first season of animals.

Uses

Grass means feed and Hay. An animal grazing outdoors eats for free, which leaves the Silo stocked for rainy days and for Winter, and every tile cut with a Scythe while a Silo stands adds to that store. Without a Silo the cut grass simply vanishes, so Robin's two-day build comes before the pasture does.

Only the Scythe makes Hay. Clearing grass with a weapon removes it and gives nothing back, which is a common and expensive mistake on a farm trying to fill a Silo before Fall ends.

Nobody in town wants one as a present. Grass in a bag is hated right across the village, which rules it out as a gift entirely.

Notes

Drop a Fence post onto one starter and then forget about it. That tile cannot be grazed, so it keeps feeding fresh grass out into the pasture however hungry the herd gets.

Buy the recipe before the second animal building goes up. The outlay comes back quickly once a pasture is being built a few tiles at a time, and few materials on the farm pile up as easily as Fiber.

Cut everything worth cutting in the last week of Fall. The Silo fills at full value then, and the same swing in Winter returns only a part of it.

Set starters where the animals walk rather than where the farmer does. The patch spreads towards open ground, so a line of them laid between the Barn door and the fence line fills the grazing area first.

All Seeds

Every entry in this group, with its key details.

Name	Grows	Season	Pierre
Acorn	Oak Tree	All	-
Amaranth Seeds	Amaranth	Fall	70g
Ancient Seeds	Ancient Fruit	Spring; Summer; Fall	-
Apple Sapling	Apple	Fall	4,000g
Apricot Sapling	Apricot	Spring	2,000g
Artichoke Seeds	Artichoke	Fall	30g (Year 2+)
Banana Sapling	Banana	All on Ginger Island; Summer in Stardew Valley	-
Bean Starter	Green Bean	Spring	60g
Beet Seeds	Beet	Fall	-
Blue Grass Starter	Blue Grass	Spring; Summer; Fall	-
Blueberry Seeds	Blueberry	Summer	80g
Bok Choy Seeds	Bok Choy	Fall	50g
Broccoli Seeds	Broccoli	Fall	-
Cactus Seeds	Cactus Fruit	All	-
Carrot Seeds	Carrot	Spring	-
Cauliflower Seeds	Cauliflower	Spring	80g
Cherry Sapling	Cherry	Spring	3,400g
Coffee Bean	-	Spring; Summer	-
Corn Seeds	Corn	Summer; Fall	150g
Cranberry Seeds	Cranberries	Fall	240g
Eggplant Seeds	Eggplant	Fall	20g
Fairy Seeds	Fairy Rose	Fall	200g
Fall Seeds	Blackberry, Common Mushroom, Hazelnut, or Wild Plum	Fall	-
Fiber Seeds	Fiber	All	-
Garlic Seeds	Garlic	Spring	40g (Year 2+)
Grape Starter	Grape	Fall	60g
Grass Starter	Grass	Spring; Summer; Fall	100g
Hops Starter	Hops	Summer	60g
Jazz Seeds	Blue Jazz	Spring	30g
Kale Seeds	Kale	Spring	70g
Mahogany Seed	Mahogany Tree	All	-
Mango Sapling	Mango	All on Ginger Island; Summer in Stardew Valley	-
Maple Seed	Maple Tree	All	-
Melon Seeds	Melon	Summer	80g
Mixed Flower Seeds	Varies	Spring Summer Fall	-
Mixed Seeds	Varies	Spring Summer Fall	-
Mossy Seed	Green Rain Tree	All	-
Mushroom Tree Seed	Mushroom Tree	All	-
Mystic Tree Seed	Mystic Tree	All	-
Orange Sapling	Orange	Summer	4,000g
Parsnip Seeds	Parsnip	Spring	20g
Peach Sapling	Peach	Summer	6,000g
Pepper Seeds	Hot Pepper	Summer	40g
Pine Cone	Pine Tree	All	-
Pineapple Seeds	Pineapple	All on Ginger Island; Summer in Stardew Valley	-
Pomegranate Sapling	Pomegranate	Fall	6,000g
Poppy Seeds	Poppy	Summer	100g
Potato Seeds	Potato	Spring	50g
Powdermelon Seeds	Powdermelon	Winter	-
Pumpkin Seeds	Pumpkin	Fall	100g
Qi Bean	Qi Fruit	All	-
Radish Seeds	Radish	Summer	40g
Rare Seed	Sweet Gem Berry	Fall	-
Red Cabbage Seeds	Red Cabbage	Summer	100g (Year 2+)
Rhubarb Seeds	Rhubarb	Spring	-
Rice Shoot	Unmilled Rice	Spring	40g
Spangle Seeds	Summer Spangle	Summer	50g
Spring Seeds	Wild Horseradish, Daffodil,; Leek, or Dandelion	Spring	-
Starfruit Seeds	Starfruit	Summer	-
Strawberry Seeds	Strawberry	Spring	-
Summer Seeds	Grape, Spice Berry,; or Sweet Pea	Summer	-
Summer Squash Seeds	Summer Squash	Summer	-
Sunflower Seeds	Sunflower	Summer; Fall	200g
Taro Tuber	Taro Root	All on Ginger Island; Summer in Stardew Valley	-
Tea Sapling	Tea Leaves	All	-
Tomato Seeds	Tomato	Summer	50g
Tulip Bulb	Tulip	Spring	20g
Wheat Seeds	Wheat	Summer; Fall	10g
Winter Seeds	Crocus, Crystal Fruit,; Snow Yam, or Winter Root	Winter	-
Yam Seeds	Yam	Fall	60g