Stardew Valley: Forest Farm Guide

Want to call the Forest Farm your home? Here’s everything you need to know about it!

Before you start a new save file in Stardew Valley, there are eight farm types, or maps, to choose from. While each of them boasts their strengths, none of them do the Foraging skill justice like the Forest Farm does. However, that's not the only reason you should consider picking this layout.

With early access to Hardwood, lots of room to build, and an absolutely beautiful landscape, this map is a favorite for Speedrunners. Whether you're doing some research into which farm type is right for you, or looking to learn more now that you've chosen it, here is everything to know about the Forest Farm.

Tillable And Buildable Space

Having reduced space for farming means there are less tillable tiles for you to use. These are tiles of space that can be hoed and used to grow crops.

The Forest Farm only has 1,413 tillable tiles. And, although that does mean you can technically grow 1,413 crops, you will have to give some of that space up to sprinklers.

The Forest Farm has the least number of tillable tiles in the game.

However, what it lacks in tillable tiles, it makes up with buildable tiles. That is, tiles that you can place farm buildings on. For example:

• Barns
• Cabins
• Coops
• Fish Ponds
• Mills
• Pet Bowls
• Sheds
• Silos
• Slime Hutches
• A Stable
• Wells

The Greenhouse and Farmhouse are also technically farm buildings , but you start with both of these buildings and can't build another of either .

The total number of buildable tiles is 1,490. And that amount is just un-tillable land. This means you can have more buildings set up without compromising any farming space. Not to mention, you can always build on land that could otherwise be used for crops.

This lends itself to many play styles. And, although you would have the least amount of space for farming, you can still easily have over 1,000 fruits or vegetables of your choice.

Plus, as the game progresses, you'll gain access to the Greenhouse as well as Ginger Island, which grants you two additional areas where you can grow crops.

So, what may sound like a con on the surface doesn't keep you from growing and selling a lot of crops throughout your save file, no matter how many in-game years you plan to play for.

Foraging

The skill that this farm helps you with the most is Foraging. This skill is difficult to master because it is so dependent on spawn chances, but the Forest Farm increases your chances of finding forgeable items right on your farm.

These are the following items you can find without leaving your home:

It doesn't increase your chances of finding any Winter foragables, but even in the Winter season, you can still get more Foraging EXP because of the Forest Farms design.

Although it doesn't increase foragable spawns in the Winter, you can still find Winter Roots and Snow Yams in any dig spots on your farm.

Berry Bushes

In addition to different foragables spawning on your farm, there are also more bushes, including more berry bushes.

During Spring 15 through 18, these will spawn salmonberries. Depending on your Foragaing level, when these berries start growing, you can harvest between one and three of them.

They won't produce anything during Summer. But between Fall 8 and 11 these bushes will instead grow blackberries you can harvest.

You will get one EXP for each berry you harvest. So, having more berry bushes on your farm increases the total number of berries and experience you can gain.

Berry bushes also spawn all over Stardew Valley. You can find them in the Cindersap Forest , all along the path leading to The Mountains , and even around the town itself . The only place you don't find them is on The Beach.

Hardwood Stumps

Each farm has Hardwood stumps you can chop up, but they never grow back. On the Forest Farm, however, there are eight that grow back every day.

The only other place Hardwood stumps behave like this are in the Secret Woods, where six stumps will grow back after you chop them apart.

That increases the number of Hardwood you can get each day from 12 to 28 pieces.

This also means a steep increase in Foraging EXP you can get every day from 150 to 550 .

These will keep growing back unless you cover them. A lot of people build farms and coops in the areas with the Hardwood stumps. If one of these buildings covers a stump, then it will be unable to grow back.

If you don’t want to cover up stumps, leave them in place any time you go and talk to Robin. You’ll know exactly where you can place these buildings without losing the stumps .

Fishing

Although this doesn't impact your Foraging level, the Forest Farm allows you to catch a special fish that can only be found in the Secret Woods. And that is the Woodskip.

This is a small chance, only five percent, but that's before your Daily Luck is factored in. The higher your Luck, the higher the chance you can catch the Woodskip. The rest of the time you're fishing, you can expect to either hook pond and river fish or, unfortunately, trash.

But, the Woodskip is needed for one of the Fishing Bundles you can be asked to complete by the Junimos in order to fix up The Community Center.

Being able to catch the Woodskip on your farm can help if you're struggling to get into the Secret Woods.