Introduction
Amaranth is a purple grain crop in Stardew Valley that is grown during the Fall season, offering players a relatively quick-growing option with a seven-day maturation period. This makes it a great choice for farmers looking to maximize their productivity in the limited time frame of the Fall. Once mature, Amaranth can be harvested with a scythe, which is a unique aspect compared to other crops that are harvested with a hoe.
The Stardew Valley Amaranth Guide provides detailed insights into how to effectively grow and utilize this crop, showcasing its wide range of benefits that make it a staple in many players’ farming strategies. Whether you’re new to the game or a seasoned player, understanding Amaranth’s advantages is key to getting the most out of your farming experience.
Aside from its use as a harvestable crop, Amaranth can be employed in numerous ways. It can be gifted to most villagers, which makes it a useful tool for increasing friendship levels and improving relationships with the people of Pelican Town. Amaranth is particularly valuable for players focused on socializing and maximizing their interactions with the community. It can also be used in cooking recipes, such as the Salmon Dinner, which restores significant health and energy, making it a practical option for those long days of farming, fishing, or exploring the caves.
Beyond cooking, Amaranth is important for tailoring, as it can be used in combination with cloth to create the Crop Top Shirt. It’s also a key ingredient in dyeing, with Amaranth being used to create both Pale Violet Red dye and a Purple Dye, which adds further customization options for players who enjoy experimenting with their character’s appearance.
Amaranth also plays a role in completing specific tasks and quests within the game. For example, Marnie requests Amaranth for the “Cow’s Delight” quest on Fall 3, offering a reward of 500 gold and a friendship heart, which can be especially helpful for players who want to build strong relationships and gain extra rewards. Additionally, Amaranth can be used to fulfill certain remixed Community Center bundles, making it a useful crop for those focused on progressing through the game’s larger goals.
Its versatile nature, both in terms of utility and profitability, makes Amaranth a highly practical crop that fits into various aspects of gameplay. The Stardew Valley Amaranth Guide highlights these diverse uses, showing just how valuable this relatively simple crop can be when incorporated into a well-rounded farming strategy. Whether you’re focused on making money, completing quests, or building relationships, Amaranth proves to be a valuable asset to any farm.
How to Get Amaranth Seeds
Amaranth seeds in Stardew Valley are an essential component for growing the valuable purple grain, which can be used for a variety of purposes, including gifting, cooking, tailoring, and completing quests. There are several ways to acquire amaranth seeds, making them accessible to players with different playstyles and priorities. One of the most straightforward methods is to purchase them from Pierre’s General Store, where they are available for 70 gold. This option becomes available early in the game once you unlock the store, making it a convenient and affordable choice.
If you’re a player who has aligned with Joja Corporation, amaranth seeds can also be bought at JojaMart for a slightly higher price of 87 gold. Although the price is a bit steeper, this option becomes available once you’ve progressed past the initial stages of the game, and it provides an alternative for those who prefer to shop at JojaMart.
In addition to buying from the general stores, players can acquire amaranth seeds from the Traveling Cart, which appears every Friday and Sunday in the forest south of your farm. The Traveling Cart offers a wide variety of items, including amaranth seeds, but the prices can be quite variable, ranging anywhere between 105 and 1,000 gold depending on the cart’s inventory. While the price range is broad, this option provides another chance to obtain amaranth seeds if you happen to miss the regular store purchases or if you’re looking for an alternative.
For players who are still in the early stages of the game or those who are interested in a special seasonal opportunity, the Night Market, which takes place on Winter 17th, also offers amaranth seeds for 70 gold. This gives you an opportunity to buy them during the winter season when other crops aren’t available, providing another seasonal option for obtaining this valuable seed.
Beyond these typical sources, amaranth seeds can also be obtained through special in-game events. During festivals or seasonal events, players may receive seed packages that contain amaranth seeds, especially if their relationship with the villagers is strong. These events often offer unique opportunities for players to acquire seeds they may have missed earlier. Additionally, if the player is married, their spouse may occasionally gift amaranth seeds as a gesture of affection.
Although these gifts are random, they provide a nice bonus and can help expand your farm’s crop variety without the need for purchasing the seeds directly. All in all, amaranth seeds are a versatile and rewarding crop for many players, offering numerous benefits as they are used not only for quests but also for gifting, cooking, and tailoring. Their multiple sources make them accessible at different stages of the game, ensuring that any player can incorporate them into their farming strategy.
How to Grow Amaranth
To grow Amaranth in Stardew Valley, you must plant the seeds during the Fall season, as this crop is exclusive to this time of year. The Fall season, which lasts from the 1st to the 28th of the month, offers a limited window for growing Amaranth, making it crucial to plant the seeds early enough to allow them to mature fully before the season changes. Amaranth takes exactly seven days to grow, so timing is essential to ensure that you can harvest it before the arrival of Winter.
Once planted, Amaranth requires basic care, including regular watering, unless it’s raining, in which case you can skip watering for the day. Other than this, Amaranth doesn’t require any special care or growing conditions, allowing players to focus on cultivating other crops during the same season. As long as you plant it within the Fall window, Amaranth will thrive in any standard soil.
To make the most out of your Amaranth crops, players can enhance their harvests with the use of Speed-Gro fertilizer. Speed-Gro reduces the growing time of crops, making it an especially useful tool when trying to maximize the number of harvests you can achieve before the Fall season ends. By applying Speed-Gro to your Amaranth crops, you can shorten the growing cycle, allowing you to harvest them faster and more frequently.
This is particularly helpful if you aim to gather more Amaranth before the weather turns cold. Another excellent option for speeding up crop growth is choosing the Agriculturist profession at level 5 in farming. This profession makes crops grow 10% faster, further boosting your chances of getting multiple harvests within the same period. When combined with Speed-Gro, the Agriculturist profession offers a great way to optimize your Amaranth yield and maximize your efficiency during the short Fall season.
Once Amaranth is ready for harvest after its seven-day growth period, you’ll need a scythe to collect it. Unlike most crops, which can be harvested with a hoe, Amaranth requires a scythe to be collected from the ground. Each Amaranth plant yields only one harvest per seed planted, so it isn’t as high-yielding as some other crops like corn or tomatoes, which can produce multiple harvests throughout the season. However, this single harvest still provides significant value due to its many uses.
Amaranth can be utilized in various cooking recipes, such as the Salmon Dinner, which restores health and energy. It can also be gifted to villagers to improve relationships, contributing to the social aspect of the game. Additionally, Amaranth plays a role in completing certain remixed Community Center bundles, making it an essential crop for progressing through specific game objectives. With its relatively quick growth cycle, multiple uses, and ability to contribute to different aspects of the game, Amaranth is a solid choice for diversifying your farm offerings during the Fall season.
How to Use Amaranth
Once you have harvested Amaranth in Stardew Valley, there are several ways you can use it to benefit your farm and gameplay. One of the most straightforward options is to sell it. The base selling price for a regular Amaranth is 150 gold, but if you have chosen the Tiller profession, you will earn 165 gold per Amaranth. Amaranth can also be sold for higher prices depending on its quality.
Silver quality Amaranth is worth 187 gold, while Gold quality Amaranth can be sold for 225 gold. The highest quality, Iridium, can be sold for up to 300 gold. If you process Amaranth into an artisan good, such as Pickles or Juice, its value increases significantly, with prices ranging from 337 to 490 gold, making it a profitable crop when processed.
Another useful way to utilize Amaranth is by gifting it to villagers. Most villagers like receiving Amaranth, making it a great option for building relationships. However, there are a few exceptions. Abigail, Caroline, Haley, Jas, Sam, and Vincent all dislike Amaranth, so it’s best to avoid gifting it to them. Elliott also hates Amaranth as a gift, so gifting him this crop will lower your friendship with him. On the other hand, for many villagers who enjoy it, giving Amaranth as a gift can help strengthen bonds and earn you affection points.
Amaranth is also a valuable ingredient in several recipes and quests. One of the most notable recipes that uses Amaranth is the Salmon Dinner, which requires Amaranth, salmon, and kale. This dish restores 56 health and 125 energy, making it a useful meal to have on hand. Gus sends you the recipe at 3+ hearts of friendship, so you can start making it once you reach this milestone.
Amaranth is also required for a quest on Fall 3, where Marnie requests it for the “Cow’s Delight” quest. Completing this quest rewards you with 500 gold and one friendship heart. Additionally, Amaranth is used in the remixed Dye Bundle on the Bulletin Board, so growing it can help you progress in this aspect of the game as well.
Beyond these uses, Amaranth plays a role in tailoring and dyeing. When combined with cloth, Amaranth can be used to create a Crop Top Shirt, which is a fun addition to your wardrobe. You can also use Amaranth to create a Pale Violet Red dye, giving you more customization options for your clothing. In addition, if you use Amaranth in the Dye Pots at Emily and Haley’s house, you’ll get a Purple Dye, which can be applied to clothes or other items. With so many uses across gifting, selling, cooking, tailoring, and dyeing, Amaranth proves to be a versatile and valuable crop in Stardew Valley.
Conclusion
Amaranth is a versatile and multifaceted Fall crop in Stardew Valley that can play a crucial role in shaping your farming strategy. Though it may not be the highest-yielding or the most profitable crop when it comes to raw gold income, Amaranth offers a plethora of benefits that make it a valuable asset for your farm. One of the key advantages of Amaranth is its relatively short growth cycle of just seven days, which means you can harvest it multiple times within the Fall season. This allows you to take advantage of the entire month, ensuring that you can get several harvests from your crop before the season changes.
While it may not provide a high gold return per individual plant, its ability to be processed into artisan goods, such as Pickles and Juice, increases its profitability significantly. Once you have access to the necessary processing equipment like a Preserves Jar or a Keg, you can convert Amaranth into these valuable goods, which can then be sold for a higher price. This makes Amaranth a flexible crop that serves not only practical purposes, like completing quests or gifting, but also offers potential financial gain, providing a balanced approach to making money while enjoying the other aspects of Stardew Valley’s gameplay.
Amaranth’s importance extends beyond just the financial and farming aspects of the game. It also plays a key role in quests and building relationships with the residents of Pelican Town. For instance, on Fall 3, Marnie will request Amaranth as part of her “Cow’s Delight” quest. This quest requires you to provide her with some Amaranth, and in return, you’ll be rewarded with 500 gold and a friendship heart, which helps increase your standing with her.
This makes Amaranth an essential crop if you’re aiming to build relationships with specific villagers, especially those like Marnie, who may be harder to befriend otherwise. In addition to completing quests, Amaranth is a popular gift among many villagers, making it a valuable crop for improving your social standing.
Many of the villagers, such as Gus, Shane, and Pam, enjoy receiving Amaranth, which makes it a great gift to give them. However, there are a few villagers, such as Abigail, Haley, and Vincent, who dislike the crop, so you’ll need to be strategic about who you gift it to. Offering Amaranth to the right people can help increase your heart levels with them, which is essential for unlocking new events, recipes, and rewards throughout the game. Whether you’re focused on completing quests or building friendships, Amaranth serves as a versatile and valuable crop in your relationship-building efforts.
Beyond its use in quests and gifting, Amaranth is a key ingredient in several in-game recipes, further enhancing its utility. One of the most notable recipes that include Amaranth is the Salmon Dinner, a hearty meal that requires Amaranth, salmon, and kale. This dish restores 56 health and 125 energy, making it a great option for replenishing your stamina during long days of farming, fishing, or exploring the caves. The ability to craft meals with Amaranth also opens up new possibilities for managing your energy levels more effectively, especially when tackling more labor-intensive activities.
Amaranth also holds value in the tailoring and dyeing system of Stardew Valley, providing more customization options for your character’s appearance. By combining Amaranth with cloth, you can create a Crop Top Shirt, a fashionable piece of clothing that can help express your style. In addition, Amaranth can be used in the Dye Pots at Emily and Haley’s house to create a vibrant purple dye, offering yet another way to personalize your look.
With its broad range of uses across different aspects of the game, Amaranth is undoubtedly a well-rounded and highly valuable crop that adds depth to both the farming and social experiences in Stardew Valley. Whether you’re using it for gifting, completing quests, cooking, or tailoring, Amaranth proves to be a crop that supports a variety of playstyles and objectives. Its ability to contribute to so many different aspects of the game ensures that it remains a staple of the Fall season on your farm.
