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Foraging in Stardew Valley is a rewarding way to gather valuable resources and earn gold throughout the seasons. It provides players with free resources that can be used for crafting, gifting, and making a tidy profit. But with so many items available across the different seasons and locations, which ones stand out as the best?
We’ve compiled a list of the top five forageable items based on their base sell price, the number of locations they can be found in, and their in-game spawn chance. Let’s dive in!
Key Points 🔑
| Item | Base Price | Locations | Seasons | Processing Options |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Truffle | 625g | • Farm (with Pigs) | Spring, Summer, Fall | • Oil Maker (1065g) |
| Purple Mushroom | 250g | • Mines (81+) • Mushroom Cave • Ginger Island |
All Year | • Preserves Jar (550g) • Dehydrator (1900g/5) |
| Fiddlehead Fern | 90g | • Secret Woods • Ginger Island |
Summer | • Keg (202g) • Preserves Jar (230g) |
| Red Mushroom | 75g | • Secret Woods • Mines (81+) • Mushroom Cave • Ginger Island |
Summer, Fall | None |
| Morel | 150g | • Secret Woods • Mushroom Cave |
Spring | • Preserves Jar (350g) • Dehydrator (1150g/5) |
5. Morel 🍄
- Base Sell Price: 150g (Normal), 187g (Silver), 225g (Gold), 300g (Iridium)
- Locations and Spawn Chance: Secret Woods (32%), Mushroom Cave (8%)
- Season: Spring
Morels are among the most valuable spring forageables and are particularly useful if you’ve chosen the Mushroom Cave over the Fruit Bat Cave.
They fetch a high price and are an excellent ingredient for Life Elixirs, making them a must-have for adventurers.
Thinking of building up your friendship hearts? Harvey, Leah, Linus, and Maru are villagers who appreciate a gifted Morel.
Placing 5 Morels in a Dehydrator produces a bag of Dried Morels, which sells for 1150g. A Morel can also be turned into pickles by using a Preserves Jar. It takes 2-3 days, but sells for 350g each. This makes Morels a very profitable product for something you foraged for free!
4. Red Mushroom 🍄
- Base Sell Price: 75g (Normal), 93g (Silver), 112g (Gold), 150g (Iridium)
- Locations and Spawn Chance: Secret Woods (22%), Mines (from floor 81), Mushroom Cave (12%), Ginger Island
- Season: Summer & Fall
Red Mushrooms are one of the more abundant mushrooms, appearing in multiple locations and seasons. They are frequently found in the Mines.
While not the highest-selling item, Red Mushrooms can be used in crafting and quests. Plus, they are a required item for the Exotic Foraging Bundle in the Community Center.
Don't use them for gifting though, everyone hates receiving a Red Mushroom.
Also be careful not to eat them! Eating a Red Mushroom will drain your energy by 75, making it difficult to last a full day. However, they can be used in Life Elixirs, making them valuable for deeper mine exploration. If you have excess, selling them can provide a steady trickle of gold.
3. Fiddlehead Fern 🌿
- Base Sell Price: 90g (Normal), 112g (Silver), 135g (Gold), 180g (Iridium)
- Locations and Spawn Chance: Secret Woods (78%), Ginger Island
- Season: Summer
This rare summer-exclusive forage is required for the Chef’s Bundle in the Community Center. Its limited availability makes it valuable, and players often forage it to complete collections.
If you’re lucky, you can also find them in Ginger Island’s jungle year-round, making them more accessible later in the game. You can also get Fiddlehead Fern by chopping down those funky green rain trees.
If you have enough Fiddlehead Fern, you can gift it to most villagers and they will like it. Exceptions are Abigail, Haley, Jas, Sam and Vincent, they dislike it.
Fiddlehead Fern is a key ingredient in Fiddlehead Risotto. This Risotto is one of the few profitable dishes and is made by combining Fiddlehead Fern with Oil and Garlic. It sells for 350g and is loved by Clint and Kent as a gift.
In addition to crafting recipes, Fiddlehead Ferns can be pickled in a Keg or in a Preserves Jar, increasing their base value to 202g or 230g respectively. If you're looking for passive income from foraging, this is a great way to make extra profit.
2. Purple Mushroom 🍄
- Base Sell Price: 250g (Normal), 312g (Silver), 375g (Gold), 500g (Iridium)
- Locations and Spawn Chance: Mines (from floor 81), Mushroom Cave (3%), Ginger Island Mushroom Cave (random)
- Season: All Year
With one of the highest base prices among forageables, the Purple Mushroom is a fantastic find. It is one of the ingredients in crafting Life Elixirs, making it essential for fast energy restoration.
Its year-round availability in the Mines makes it a reliable source of income. If you have a Mushroom Cave on your farm, you’ll be able to collect them regularly without even having to venture into dangerous areas.
If you’d rather sell them, their high base price makes Purple Mushrooms one of the most profitable forageable items. However, if you use them in a Preserves Jar, the price will be more than double to 550g. A bag of 5 Purple Mushrooms from a Dehydrator will sell for 1900g!
1. Truffle 🐷
- Base Sell Price: 625g (Normal), 781g (Silver), 937g (Gold), 1,250g (Iridium)
- Locations and Spawn Chance: Farm with Pigs (100%, as long as they're fed and it's not raining)
- Season: Spring, Summer, Fall
While these Mushrooms are produced by pigs rather than naturally spawned, Truffles count as a forageable item in the game. With 625g a piece they have the highest base price of any 'forageable'. Putting them in an Oil Maker for 6 hours will generate a bottle of Truffle Oil, which sells for 1065g.
If you have multiple pigs, you can rake in a massive profit each season. Since pigs do not find Truffles in Winter, planning ahead and stocking up is essential if you are going to need them in that season.
Additionally, Truffles can be used as gifts. While not many villagers like receiving them, Leah and Gus are two who do. This makes them a great friendship booster if you're looking to befriend them quickly, especially Leah. Truffle Oil is liked by most people, only hated by Jas, Sebastian and Vincent.
Honorable Mentions
There are a lot more forageable items that didn't make this list because of some reason. Either they are not valuable enough, spawn rate is too low or the locations to find them are to few and far between.
That doesn't mean they're all bad though. Let's mention a few more items for good measure.
- Sweet Pea: Low value (50g) but you will find a lot of them all over the place in summer.
- Crocus: One of the few winter forageables with decent enough value (60g). It can be found almost everywhere in winter season.
- Winter Root & Snow Yam: Easily found by tilling soil in winter. Winter Root sells for 70g, Snow Yam for 100g.
Conclusion
Foraging in Stardew Valley is not only a great way to earn extra gold, but it also provides materials for crafting, quests, and Community Center bundles.
Whether you’re hunting for valuable mushrooms or collecting seasonal goods, knowing the best forageable items will help you along in your game of Stardew Valley.
Happy foraging!
