To Pie or Not to Pie?

David Sawallisch
Jun 23
4 min read

Your Portfolio Is Really Just a Garden... Or a Pie!

“A garden grows in quiet truths: some branches stretch too far, some roots thirst for more, and balance is the hand that guides them. Wealth follows the same rhythm — not in sudden bursts, but in the gentle shaping of what we choose to tend.”

I’ve always had a soft spot for The Wealthy Gardener by John Soforic.

There’s something grounding about the way he ties money to soil — the patience, the persistence, the seasons, the quiet daily care. Wealth doesn’t grow from hype or luck. It grows the same way a garden does: slowly, unevenly, and with a lot of tending in between. Winnie loves this analogy even more than I do. She grew up on a farm, spending long days weeding rows of vegetables, watering plants under the heat of the sun, and chasing away stray animals determined to snack on her hard work. To her, a garden isn’t a metaphor — it’s muscle memory. It’s discipline. It’s survival. And it’s joy. So when we talk about investing, the garden analogy just fits. It’s how we think. It’s how we plan. It’s how we grow.

And your portfolio?

It’s not a mystery.

It’s not a gamble.

It’s a garden bed — one you planted, one you shape, and one that occasionally tries to grow out of control like a tomato plant with big dreams.

Your Portfolio is a Garden Bed Where Each investment is a different plant:

VOO — your sturdy tomatoes

Bonds — your potatoes (boring but dependable)

Real estate — the oak tree in the corner

Bitcoin — that exotic plant you bought because it looked cool on Instagram

You decide how much space each plant gets.

That’s your asset allocation — your garden layout.

Maybe it looks like:

60% tomatoes

20% potatoes

15% oak tree

5% exotic crypto plant

That’s your plan.

Your blueprint.

Your garden map.

The Spring When Bitcoin Became a Giant Mutant Vine

Back when Bitcoin was $9,000–$10,000, it was supposed to be a tiny corner of my garden. Just a little decorative plant. A splash of color. Then 2021 happened. Bitcoin didn’t grow — it exploded. It shot past $60,000 and suddenly that tiny 5% plant was taking up 20% of the entire garden bed. It was like waking up

to find the exotic plant climbing the fence, swallowing the tomatoes, and whispering:

“I am the garden now.”

So what did we do?

We didn’t trim it because we knew the top.

We didn’t trim it because we’re master gardeners.

We trimmed it because the garden was out of balance.

We pruned Bitcoin back to its original size and used the extra “growth” to nourish the tomatoes, potatoes, and oak tree. (Stocks, Bonds, and Real Estate)

Then summer came. Bitcoin wilted. And we replanted — not because we’re psychic, but because the plant had shrunk below its intended size. We weren’t reacting to the market. We were reacting to our garden plan. We don't play the market guessing when a stock or asset is high or low for its (perceived) value we watch it according to our designated size in our portfolio.

Why the Garden Method Works Even If You Don’t Know Anything About Plants. Most new investors ask: “Should I sell Tesla?” “Is Microsoft too high right now?” “Is Bitcoin going to crash?” These questions assume you’re supposed to predict the weather. You’re not.

You’re supposed to tend your garden. If one plant grows too big too fast, you prune it.

If another plant shrinks, you water it. That’s rebalancing.

It’s not emotional.

It’s not dramatic.

It’s not guesswork.

It’s gardening.

M1 Finance: My Old Automatic Sprinkler System, Before my wife’s job required us to move accounts, I used M1 Finance — the app that basically acted like a tiny gardener living in my phone. Every time I added money, it automatically watered the plants that needed it most.

Tomatoes low? Water.

Potatoes low? Water.

Bitcoin low? Water.

It was like having a garden assistant whispering: “Sir, your tomatoes are thirsty. I’ve handled it.” When you’re in the accumulation phase, this is all you need.

Your new contributions do the pruning and watering for you. But once your garden gets big enough that your contributions are basically a teaspoon of water on a redwood tree? That’s when you prune once or twice a year — or when something grows out of control again. Why This Method Saves You from Emotional Investing Rebalancing forces you to: Sell high (prune the overgrown plant) Buy low (water the struggling plant) You don’t need to be a botanist (I for one am not).

You just need to follow the plan. It’s the simplest way to avoid: Panic selling, FOMO, buying Market hysteria, and Crypto vines taking over your garden. Your garden tells

you what to do.