You’ll trigger this quest on the 19th of Spring, early in a new game of Stardew Valley. Wake up that day and you’ll find a letter from Jodi waiting in your mailbox. She wants a Cauliflower for a recipe.

This presents a problem for new players. Cauliflower takes twelve days to grow, and by the 19th of Spring you only have nine days left. If you’re not already growing Cauliflower you’ll miss your window and have to wait until next year to fulfill the quest. You’ll basically have to bite the bullet and buy Cauliflower Seeds, which are a bit expensive during your first year. You have some options for getting this done:
  • Start off your year by purchasing Parsnip Seeds. Plant ‘em, harvest ‘em, and use the proceeds to buy your Cauliflower Seeds. Parsnips take only four days to grow and yield a good early-game profit. If you gather 300 Wood you can also repair the bridge to the tidal pools on the east side of the beach, which is filled with Corals and Sea Urchins most days. You can sell these items for decent amounts of gold.
  • Look for Minerals and Artifacts. Minerals typically don’t pop up unless you’re in the Mines, but you can find Artifacts by digging up wriggling worms around town. Occasionally these worms will yield up Artifacts. Find five such Artifacts and you can donate them to the Museum, in the east of Pelican Town, for nine Cauliflower Seeds. So long as you don’t take too long finding them you can get to work growing your Seeds into Cauliflowers.
  • Just wait. The quest won't disappear over the course of the year.
Take your Cauliflower to Jodi once you have one. She lives at 1 Willow Lane, the southwest-most home in Pelican Town, and she sticks around the house much of the day, particularly in the morning. She’ll give you 350 gold via the Journal as a reward for your labours.