What you should do on the first day of a new farm.

[Kqlem]

I would recommend selling the parsnip seeds so you can buy potatoes the next day. After that you can either forage around the map or clear out your farm. It comes down to personally reference, but I mainly made this discussion to talk about the potato seeds method.

[ChrillBill]

I usually plant my parsnips, starts cleaning up and also sell some foraging directly to Pierre. That way I can buy other seeds on the same day :>

[no1schmo]

Play the game. Honestly, for a new player, this isn't a great game to talk about, like, min/maxing strategies. Almost thematically inappropriate in a weird way. Just play the game, explore, learn the mechanics, learn the geography, have fun.

[Aidyn]

Originally posted by no1schmo:

Play the game. Honestly, for a new player, this isn't a great game to talk about, like, min/maxing strategies. Almost thematically inappropriate in a weird way. Just play the game, explore, learn the mechanics, learn the geography, have fun.

But for some, min/maxing IS the way they like to play games.

[Nakos]

Plant and water the parsnips.
Gather enough wood to make a chest.
When your energy level gets low, go foraging.
Try to visit the island south of the forest, south of your farm, that sometimes has Spring Onions you can use to replenish energy.
Visit town and sell some of the forage you found and buy some additional seeds. More Parsnips, Beans, Potatoes. Plant those too.

If at the end of the day you still have some energy, chop down a tree or two. But don't worry too much about trying to clear the entire farm right away. Do a little bit at a time, as you need the space to grow stuff.

[NBOX21]

I usually plant the parsnips and while growing those, gather enough wood to scrap up some coin to eventually buy more seeds, so long as I also have enough wood to craft a chest which is essential in a game like this!

However, I'm not going to rush it by planting the potato seeds as soon as I'm able to, as you lack the scarecrow at the start of the game since you get those at farming level 1, and crows only show up if you have 16 or more crops growing on your farm, which is why Lewis gives you 15 parsnip seeds at the start.
(I learned that the hard way)
So I may as well plant my parsnips and wait until they're ready to harvest so I can unlock the scarecrows and keep my crops safe. Plus, that'll eventually give me enough money to buy potato seeds later on anyway!

But that's just how I like to do the early game, personally.

[I Kinda Fail]

Plant parsnips, since you have a quest to harvest a parsnip. They also grow faster than potatoes so you'll get Farming level 1 faster, to make a scarecrow and hopefully protect your taters.

Day 2, 3 and 4 is all about the fishing though. Grinding out money to upgrade fishing rod, plant some green beans, and hopefully upgrade your backpack. Spend day 5 and 6 foraging for wood to repair the beach bridge. I think forage disappears / resets on Sundays, so I try to get the bridge repaired by then. Get all the forage from the east beach before a week's worth is gone. :P

[McJiggy]

I whip out the rod until I get to fishing 10 and never touch it again since by then I make more money from beer farming or whatever.

[Nakos]

Originally posted by NBOX21:

However, I'm not going to rush it by planting the potato seeds as soon as I'm able to, as you lack the scarecrow at the start of the game since you get those at farming level 1, and crows only show up if you have 16 or more crops growing on your farm, which is why Lewis gives you 15 parsnip seeds at the start.
(I learned that the hard way)
So I may as well plant my parsnips and wait until they're ready to harvest so I can unlock the scarecrows and keep my crops safe. Plus, that'll eventually give me enough money to buy potato seeds later on anyway!

Honestly, that's a fair point. Since the crows showing up isn't a 100% chance (as far as I know anyway) I tend to not think about it. But I'm pretty sure I have lost at least a few plants that way.

I suppose it's kind of a trade-off. You get more plants in the ground and get farming skill a bit faster because of it, but yes, you're risking losing some of your "seed money".

The growth period of Parsnips is pretty short, it's worth considering your method.

I'll have to try a run where I do that.

[no1schmo]

Originally posted by Aidyn:

Originally posted by no1schmo:

Play the game. Honestly, for a new player, this isn't a great game to talk about, like, min/maxing strategies. Almost thematically inappropriate in a weird way. Just play the game, explore, learn the mechanics, learn the geography, have fun.

But for some, min/maxing IS the way they like to play games.

Which is fine, especially for repeat playthroughs. I'm just saying, new players shouldn't feel like there's this pressure to min/max and perform flawlessly right from the get-go. It's not like an RTS where you need to immediately begin harvesting, training, building, and upgrading, in the right order, or you get steamrolled an hour later.

[Prometheus]

Originally posted by I Kinda Fail:

I think forage disappears / resets on Sundays

You may upgrade your certainty. This is definitively true. When you go to sleep on Saturn's Day all forage from the previous week despawns. You do get the first shot of daily spawn on the Day of the Sun though.

[Pizzahunter]

Clear an area for the parsnips, get those going. Gather enough wood for a chest so I can store my stuff. Spend the rest of the day walking around town meeting people while gathering any forage I come across. The fist season for me, is usually pretty much clearing out my farm, foraging, fishing, meeting the towns people. I really don't worry too much about crops until I get the greenhouse open. 1st year is for me anyway, getting to know the game.

[Sinclair]

Plant the parsnips, then wonder around gathering stuff and meeting everyone. I sometimes try to rush, but generally like to spend the day on one or two things.

[ChrillBill]

Originally posted by no1schmo:

Originally posted by Aidyn:

But for some, min/maxing IS the way they like to play games.

Which is fine, especially for repeat playthroughs. I'm just saying, new players shouldn't feel like there's this pressure to min/max and perform flawlessly right from the get-go. It's not like an RTS where you need to immediately begin harvesting, training, building, and upgrading, in the right order, or you get steamrolled an hour later.

I agree. I think rushing can make new players especially dislike the game since it is meant to be relaxing. Often when I see people mentioning they are feeling stressed in the game it is because they are trying to do everything all at once as fast as possible. That can all be fun for a challenge run when you have studied and learned how the game works. I have done a couple of speedruns myself to really put my farming skills to the test lol

[Queen Droxxanna]

on one of my early play through's, I think I played 10 in game years before finally getting Perfection award, so there is no need to rush for anyone new to the game.
Take you time and enjoy.

[Snowy Sprout]

I have two very different strategies I like. The first is to spend all your $500 on parsnip seeds, and plant/water all 40 that you now have, because when you harvest them on Friday it'll give you several advantages:
- You will raise your farming level significantly (almost to level 2), so that the next crop you plant will have more gold stars.
- If a crow eats any, it is less of a loss to lose a parsnip than any other (more expensive) crop.
- You can sell them for quick cash (40 x $35 = $1400).
- You have time to buy, grow, and sell a crop of potatoes before the Egg Festival, so you'll have plenty of money for strawberry seeds. If you planted two crops of potatoes, the second crop won't be ready until the day of the Festival, and you cannot sell them.
- $1400 buys you 28 potato seeds, which might get you 35 potatoes, for minimum $2800 cash in time to buy strawberries.

It's a decent start, and good enough for most people.