Reward
The Sefer Chassidim (1775) writes of the reward promised to one who is careful to pick fruit and vegetables only when ripe. The author quotes a story of a person who was careful to prevent people from entering his orchards to pick the fruit before they were ripe, and was careful himself to cut his fruit only when it was ready. This person said that he had a tradition that doing so would ensure his longevity, prosperity and prominence, with enough to leave over for his descendants. This tradition was based on the pasukim in Iyov (5:26): "You shall come to the grave at a ripe old age, as the grain stack is taken away in its time", and Tehilim (1:3): “He shall be as a tree planted beside rivulets of water, which brings forth its fruit in its season, and its leaves do not wilt; and whatever he does prospers" – only if one picks his fruit at the right time and not earlier will everything he does be successful.
