Out of all of the crops in Stardew Valley, Parsnips are one of the ones you are asked to grow the fastest. An introductory crop that brings you into the valley, this little yellow vegetable is, quite honestly, not very useful by itself. At least, that’s what it looks like on the surface.
If you’re wanting to get more of this particular root for your farm, then you’ve come to the right place! Before you begin learning how to rotate furniture or remove bushes from your farm, let’s investigate this relatively basic ingredient and see where it shines.
How to Grow Parsnips
Parsnips, like most generic vegetables in Stardew Valley, grow by placing the seeds in tilled soil. This can only be done in the Spring, which happens to be the season you start in. Once they are in the ground, they must be watered consistently until maturity. After four days, the vegetable can be harvested.
The Parsnip is an excellent starting crop, which is why the game asks you to grow some! It grows quickly, reaching maturity in four days. To make it even easier, the crop’s sprite changes each day, showing that you are growing them correctly. As long as you see the leaves change shape, or five leaves grow from the crop, you’ve done things correctly.
Since this is a root vegetable, it must be replanted for a consistent harvest. You pluck the whole plant out, after all! Without additional fertilizer for speed, you can grow six full harvests per season.
Remember that a crop must be watered every single day in order to let it grow. Check the soil beneath the crop if you’re worried that you forgot to harvest a tile. You’re looking to see dark brown — like wet topsoil. Don’t worry — upgraded Watering Cans can cover more ground at a time, and, after a while, you can start replacing that Watering Can with a decent Sprinkler layout.
How to Get More Parsnip Seeds
Once your stockpile of Parsnips run out, you will have to purchase additional seeds. Their seeds can be bought from Pierre’s General Store for 25g, from JojaMart for 25g, from the Traveling Cart for 100 to 1,000g, or from the Night Market in Winter 15 for 20g. You can also use the Seed Maker to get up to three seeds by placing the fully-grown vegetable into it.
Pierre is the most consistent source of Parsnip Seeds in the game. His store only sells this type of seed during the Spring, which is good, since that’s the only time you’ll want to grow them. The JojaMart sells for a markup, that is unless the JojaMart Membership is purchased.
It is never worth buying these seeds from the Traveling Cart, and you have more interesting things to do than go these bottom-of-the-bin seeds from the Night Market on Winter 15!
Other Uses for Parsnips
Other than being sold, Parsnips can make the Farmer’s Lunch and Parsnip Soup food items. They can be used for the Spring Crops and Quality Crops bundles, are needed for the “Getting Started” quest, and can be randomly requested as well. Most villagers like Parsnips, with Pam loving them, but with Abigail, Haley, Jas, Sam, and Vincent disliking them. Finally, you can use one in the Tailoring feature, as well as cloth, to make the Shirt and Belt item, or to make yellow dye.
Parsnip Soup is nothing special, but the Farmer’s Lunch (made from an Omelet and a Parsnip) grants +3 to your Farming Skill! That’s the largest Farming buff from a food source in the game. You’ll get the recipe at Farmer Level 3. It’s a really good option if you need to ensure that your crops grow into high-quality variants.
This is an obvious choice for the Spring Crops and Quality Crops bundles, since this is a Spring vegetable that is relatively inexpensive and quick to grow.
It’s also a good idea to tailor with the yellow vegetable. If you want to customize your clothing or make yellow dye, you’re not losing too much by throwing this root into the mix!
Expert Tip
There are two points in the Farming process where your Farming levels matter. The first is when you hoe and water your crops, since Farming Level reduces the amount of energy you spend on the acts. The second is when you harvest, since Farming Level improves your chances of getting high-quality crops.
