Almostima: Pile it High and Kiss it Goodbye

This year I read a great book called Turn Here Sweet Corn. One of the little lessons I took from it was a technique that farmers' markets (and supermarkets, for that matter) use in order to sell their goods. They create the appearance of plenty. I started noticing this at the markets. Large pyramids constructed of broccoli. Overflowing Bushels of carrots. Tables tops full of packed rows of strawberries, each open slot replaced as soon as a purchase is made -- careful not to display a gap in merchandise. "Pile it High and Kiss it Goodbye." There's an obvious psychological component here. You feel good buying something when you know there's lot more to be enjoyed by others (and presumably previously enjoyed by others). You feel squeamish about buying the last sad bag of potatoes -- even if there appears to be nothing wrong with those potatoes.

I started to wonder how this principle may be at play in my garden. There definitely have been times where I hesitated to harvest something from the garden because we didn't have too many of them. Then, before I knew it, said plant bolted, or a predator took it, or it became bitter and woody. Such a waste.

Compare that to this year where in some cases I planted way more than I ever thought we'd eat... like 26 lettuce plants. Lo and behold, because there's so much out there, I haven't been miserly about the crop, and have been picking lettuce for lots of salads, sandwiches, and snacking on the go. And the yield is not totally out of control. The plants seem to be happy at the pace of which I am 'pruning' them. We're happy because we're enjoying the harvest without stress.

I wonder what other parts of my life this could apply to .... shoe shopping?