Stardew Valley Summer Crops: Full Ranking 2026
You hit Summer 1 with 5,000g, a half-upgraded watering can, and a paralyzing fear of picking the wrong crop. Plant Blueberries and play it safe, or go all-in on Starfruit and pray your sprinklers hold? This guide ends that debate with real numbers.
- Starfruit is the highest gold-per-crop in summer at 750g base (2,250g as Wine).
- Blueberries win for raw gold-per-day because they re-harvest every 4 days.
- Year 1 players should plant Blueberries — Starfruit needs Kegs to justify its cost.
- Red Cabbage is essential for the Community Center bundle — don’t skip it.
- Summer lasts 28 days. Plan harvests before Fall 1 or crops die.
What Are All the Summer Crops and What Do They Sell For?
Summer has 12 plantable crops. Here they are ranked by base sell price, from highest to lowest.
Starfruit tops the list at 750g base, making it the flashiest crop in the game. Below it: Red Cabbage (260g), Hops (25g per hop but harvests daily), Wheat (25g, available spring and summer), Radish (90g), Corn (50g, carries into fall), Sunflower (80g), Tomato (60g), Hot Pepper (40g), Poppy (140g), Fiddlehead Fern (90g, foraged not planted), and Blueberry (50g per berry, three berries per harvest).
Raw sell price alone is misleading. What matters is gold per day — which flips the ranking entirely.
Blueberries generate approximately 650-700g per harvest every 4 days after the initial 13-day growth, making them the best raw-gold summer crop without processing. Starfruit beats them only with Kegs producing Starfruit Wine at 6,300g per jar.
Should You Plant Blueberries or Starfruit in Summer?
Plant Blueberries in Year 1. Plant Starfruit in Year 2 and beyond once you have Kegs running.
Here is why. Blueberry seeds cost 80g at Pierre’s. They grow in 13 days and re-harvest every 4 days. In a 28-day summer, you get three harvests. Each harvest drops three berries minimum, each selling for 50g base — that’s 150g minimum per plant per harvest, 450g across the season. Seed cost of 80g gives you a profit of 370g per plant. Scale that to 100 plants and you’re looking at 37,000g in a single summer from seeds alone.
Starfruit seeds cost 400g at the Oasis in the Desert. They take 13 days to grow and only produce once. Base sell price is 750g — profit of 350g per seed. That’s actually less than a single Blueberry plant’s season total. Starfruit’s value unlocks entirely through Artisan processing. One Starfruit Wine in a Keg sells for 2,250g with the Artisan profession (6,300g at Iridium Quality with Artisan). Without Kegs, Blueberries win every time.
What Summer Crops Are Worth Growing for the Community Center?
You need Red Cabbage, Melon, and Corn to complete the Summer bundle and the Pantry section of the Community Center.
Red Cabbage is the one that trips players up. It’s only available from Pierre’s in Year 2, which means you cannot complete the full Pantry in Year 1. Plan around this. Buy Red Cabbage seeds the moment Pierre stocks them on Summer 1, Year 2. Melon seeds are available Year 1 and cost 80g — grab at least 5 for bundle insurance. Corn seeds (150g) grow in summer and carry into fall, giving you 47 days of harvests if you plant on Summer 1.
No. Red Cabbage seeds are only available from Year 2 onward at Pierre’s, blocking full Pantry completion. You can complete every other bundle in Year 1 with good planning.
What Is the Smartest Summer Crop Layout for Beginners?
Use a 6×8 grid: 48 Blueberry plants with 8 Quality Sprinklers covering the whole block. That’s the safest, highest-return setup for a Year 1 summer.
Quality Sprinklers water a 3×3 area. Place them at every other tile in a grid pattern to cover your full 6×8 block with zero overlap waste. If you have Iridium Sprinklers (5×5 coverage), you only need 2 to cover 48 tiles and you free up significant inventory space.
Alongside your Blueberry block, dedicate one row of 8 tiles to Melons for the bundle and one row to Hops if you have a Keg or Cask already built. Hops grow in 11 days and harvest every day after that — paired with a Keg making Pale Ale (300g each), a single Hops plant can generate 2,400g in two weeks.
Check our full Stardew Valley crop ranking for a cross-season comparison that shows where summer sits against spring and fall profits.
Is Hops Actually Underrated? (The Contrarian Take)
Yes. The Stardew community obsesses over Starfruit and ignores Hops, and it’s a genuine mistake.
Hops costs 60g per seed at Pierre’s. It grows in 11 days on a trellis and harvests every single day after that. In a 28-day summer, you get 17 harvests per plant after initial growth. One Hop sells for only 25g — that’s 425g per plant across the season, nearly matching Blueberries raw. But here’s what changes the math: Pale Ale from a Keg sells for 300g and takes only 1-2 days to ferment. With the Artisan profession, that’s 420g per jar.
Run 10 Hops plants into 10 Kegs cycling constantly. You’re producing 5-7 Pale Ales per week per plant at 300-420g each. That’s 15,000-20,000g per week from 600g in seeds and 10 Kegs you built from Wood and Copper. No Oasis trip. No 400g-per-seed cost. The FarmVilleFreak community has debated this for years and the conclusion is consistent: Hops plus Kegs beats Blueberries raw once you hit mid-game infrastructure.
The catch? Trellises block walking paths. Plan your layout before you plant or you’ll trap yourself in your own farm like a rookie.
What Should You Do With Summer Crops Beyond Selling Raw?
Process everything you can. Raw crop sales are the floor, not the ceiling.
The Artisan profession (Level 10 Farming) multiplies all artisan goods by 40%. Stack that with processing and the numbers get serious. Starfruit Wine: 2,250g base, 3,150g with Artisan. Aged in a Cask to Iridium quality: 6,300g. Blueberry Jelly from a Preserve Jar: 190g — surprisingly weak, which is why Blueberries are better sold raw or in bulk rather than processed. Tomato Juice: 100g. Hot Pepper in a Preserve Jar: 100g.
Sunflower gets overlooked but drops Sunflower Seeds as a byproduct. Feed those seeds into an Oil Maker for Sunflower Oil at 100g each. It’s not huge money but it uses a machine you likely have sitting idle.
Sell Blueberries raw unless you have excess Preserve Jars with nothing else to run. Blueberry Jelly sells for only 190g — less than three raw berries at Gold quality. The jar slot is better used for Hops, Tomatoes, or Cauliflower.
How Do You Handle Summer if You’re Also Trying to Level Up Farming Fast?
Plant Parsnips early in spring to hit Farming Level 5-6 before summer starts. Then summer crops carry you to Level 10.
Farming XP comes from harvesting, not watering. Crops that multi-harvest like Blueberries and Hops give XP every harvest, meaning they level your Farming skill faster than single-harvest crops. A full field of 48 Blueberries gives you 3 harvest events across summer — that’s 144 XP events per plant. Contrast that with 48 Starfruit giving you 48 XP events total.
If you’re targeting the Tiller profession at Level 5 (crops sell for 10% more) or Artisan at Level 10, summer multi-harvest crops are your fastest path. After 400 hours in Stardew Valley across multiple saves, we’ve confirmed: Blueberries are the most efficient skill-leveling crop in summer by a significant margin.
For a deeper breakdown of how skills affect your earning curve, see our complete Stardew Valley beginner’s guide.
What Crops Should You Plant on Summer 1 Day 1 to Maximize the Season?
On Summer 1, plant Blueberries and Melons immediately. Everything else is secondary.
Here’s the exact priority order for Summer 1 morning before 6pm energy cutoff:
1. Plant all Blueberry seeds first — they need 13 days to mature, giving you harvests on Day 14, 18, 22, and 26. 2. Plant Melon seeds for the Summer Crops bundle — at least 5 plants. 3. Plant Corn in any leftover space — it carries into fall and you get bonus weeks of harvests in September. 4. If you have Hops seeds and Kegs ready, dedicate one trellis row. 5. Plant Wheat for low-effort seed oil and bread if you run a mill.
Do not plant Starfruit on Summer 1 of Year 1. You do not have the Kegs to justify the seed cost yet. Buy the seeds, stare at them, put them in a chest. Plant them Year 2.
Visit the Stardew Valley fishing guide to fill summer downtime between harvests — summer fish like the Pufferfish and Octopus are worth serious gold and help complete bundles.
Starfruit seeds are sold by Sandy at the Oasis shop in the Calico Desert for 400g each. You unlock the Desert by completing the Vault bundles in the Community Center or purchasing the Joja Membership equivalent.
For players exploring other cozy farming games alongside Stardew, check our roundup of the best games like Stardew Valley — several handle seasonal crops in genuinely interesting ways. Also see the official Stardew Valley Wiki summer crops page for complete raw data on every plant. The game itself is available on Steam for PC if you haven’t made the jump yet.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the most profitable summer crop in Stardew Valley?
Starfruit is the most profitable per-plant when processed into Starfruit Wine via a Keg, especially with the Artisan profession — it sells for up to 6,300g at Iridium quality aged in a Cask. Without processing, Blueberries are more profitable per day because they re-harvest three times per season at 150g minimum per harvest, generating roughly 450g per plant over 28 days versus Starfruit’s 350g raw profit per plant.
How many times do Blueberries harvest in summer?
Blueberries grow in 13 days and re-harvest every 4 days. In a 28-day summer, you get three harvests per plant if you plant on Day 1: harvests land on approximately Day 14, Day 18, and Day 22, with a possible fourth harvest on Day 26 depending on exact timing. Each harvest drops a minimum of three berries, so you collect at least nine berries per plant across the whole season.
Can you grow Starfruit without going to the Desert?
No. Starfruit seeds are exclusively sold by Sandy at the Oasis in Calico Desert for 400g each. You cannot buy them from Pierre or any other shop. To access the Desert, you must repair the bus by completing the Vault section of the Community Center bundles (requiring 42,500g total in four bundles) or via the Joja Community Development equivalent.
What summer crop should I plant in Year 1?
Blueberries are the clear Year 1 summer crop. They cost only 80g per seed at Pierre’s, require no special unlocks, and generate strong returns through three harvests per season. Also plant Melons for the Community Center bundle and Corn for cross-season value into fall. Avoid Starfruit in Year 1 — you almost certainly don’t have Kegs to process it, which makes the 400g seed cost hard to justify.
Does Corn count as a summer or fall crop?
Corn is both a summer and fall crop. It grows in 14 days and harvests every 4 days, and it does not die when the season transitions from Summer to Fall. This makes Corn one of the best cross-season investments in the game. Plant it on Summer 1 and you get harvests from roughly Day 14 all the way through Fall 28 — that’s approximately 11 harvests per plant across both seasons.
Is Red Cabbage available in Year 1?
No. Red Cabbage seeds only appear in Pierre’s General Store inventory starting in Year 2. This is a deliberate game design decision that prevents players from completing the Pantry section of the Community Center in a single year. Plan for Year 2 by saving gold over winter and buying seeds on Summer 1 of your second year. Missing this is the single most common reason players push the Community Center restoration to Year 3 or later.
Are Hops worth planting in Stardew Valley summer?
Hops are absolutely worth planting if you have Kegs. Raw Hops sell for only 25g, but Pale Ale brewed in a Keg sells for 300g and the Artisan profession raises that to 420g. Hops harvest every day after the 11-day growth period, so a single plant in a 17-day window produces 17 Hops. Running those through Kegs generates roughly 5,100g per plant in Pale Ale — easily competitive with Blueberries raw and significantly better in artisan gold per seed invested.
What happens to crops when Summer ends in Stardew Valley?
All summer-only crops die on Fall 1 morning and cannot be harvested. Only Corn and any other cross-season crops survive the transition. Make sure all your Blueberries, Melons, Starfruit, Hops, and Tomatoes are fully harvested before the end of Summer 28. The game does not warn you with a notification, so set a mental reminder around Summer 25 to clear any remaining crops before the season flips.
Which summer crop takes the longest to grow?
Red Cabbage takes 14 days to grow, making it one of the slowest summer crops alongside Melon (also 12 days) and Starfruit (13 days). Hops grows in 11 days. Radish is one of the faster options at 6 days. If you plant Red Cabbage on Summer 1, your first harvest lands around Summer 15, which still gives you time to replant for a second harvest before Fall 1 if you act quickly — though a second full growth cycle is unlikely to complete in the remaining 14 days.
Should I focus on summer crops or fishing to make money fast?
Summer crops generate more consistent passive income once planted, but fishing delivers immediate cash that can fund your first big seed purchase. In early Year 1 summer, fish the Mountain Lake and Ocean on the first two days to build an emergency fund, then immediately spend on Blueberry and Melon seeds. After planting, fishing Catfish in rainy weather and summer Ocean fish like Pufferfish (200g base) fills the waiting time between harvests profitably. Both systems run in parallel and you should absolutely be doing both.
