If your mouse is pointed at one of the eight squares adjacent to your character, that's where you'll hit.
Then I discovered the 'Always Show Tool Hit Location' option in the settings menu, which shows a red outline around the tile you are targeting, and immediately understood what was happening.
It felt like I wasn't always watering/chopping/hoeing the square I was aiming at, and I couldn't figure out why. I really like Stardew Valley, but the controls were incredibly confusing for me at first. Activate 'Always Show Tool Hit Location' immediately
