Eric Barone drops the biggest Stardew Valley 1.6 update patch note yet: A new Meadowlands farm type with 'chewy blue grass that animals love' and some bonus chickens too

Stardew Valley key art - a player on a horse rides near a farmhouse while another harvests corn.

(Image credit: ConcernedApe)

As PC Gamer's BaroneWatch enters its ninth day, Stardew Valley creator Eric Barone has shared what is expected to be the final individual patch note for the Stardew Valley 1.6 update before it goes live. And folks, this is a big one: The update will include an all-new farm type called Meadowlands Farm.

Stardew Valley currently has seven farm types—standard, Riverland, Forest, Hilltop, Wilderness, Four Corners, and Beach—each with their own unique benefits, bonuses, and limitations. The addition of an eighth is a very big deal, because it gives players an opportunity (or excuse) to start all over again in a brand new setting. It's also the first new farm type to be added to the game since the Beach farm in 2020.

Added a new farm type: Meadowlands Farm. It has a chewy blue grass that animals love. You also start with a coop and two chickens. — (Image credit: Eric Barone (Twitter))

Added a new farm type: Meadowlands Farm. It has a chewy blue grass that animals love. You also start with a coop and two chickens.

This isn't entirely out of the blue: Barone said in September 2023 that a new farm type would be one of the big content additions in the 1.6 update. But this is the first time Barone has shared anything about what exactly players have to look forward to, and fans are predictably very excited about it.

Perhaps a little less predictably, there is also widespread eagerness to eat the blue grass:

Tweets reacting to the announcement of the new Meadowlands farm type in the Stardew Valley 1.6 update — (Image credit: Twitter)

I'm gonna smash me some blue grass pic.twitter.com/bEErS0U4VCMarch 18, 2024

Barone has been sharing individual patch notes from the Stardew Valley 1.6 update since the middle of last week, and most of them have been relatively minor things: A change in harvesting animations, for instance, or the addition of a one-week honeymoon period for newly-married couples. Today's patch note, by comparison, is a big one, even though it's lacking in detail: With the 1.6 update set to go live tomorrow, March 19, Barone clearly saved the best for last.

(That said, "you can now drink mayonnaise" is easily my favorite of the bunch, and may just be the best patch note ever.)

Stardew Valley players are clamoring more than ever to know exactly when the 1.6 update will go live. So far Barone hasn't said, but he did indicate last week that, barring any last-minute problems, he plans to wake up, slam a coffee, and "push the button." I'm not familiar with Barone's sleep schedule, but most of the patch notes he's been dropping have appeared on Twitter around 1 pm ET, so I wouldn't be surprised to see the update arrive at roughly the same time. We'll let you know when it happens.

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.