• Don’t let yourself become overwhelmed by all there is that you COULD be learning. Nobody learned everything at once. Just do your best, and as one pest or another destroys some plants, try to think of it as an opportunity to learn and wonder at how we manage to cultivate any plants to eat at all, because those fu—— … Sorry. Got a bit sidetracked there…

    Anyway, caterpillars and aphids and slugs WILL eat your food for you. So don’t get too discouraged if it happens. You can try to spray, you can go out every night or so and pick them off if your garden is small (worked really well for our little patch), and you can try planting sacrificial flowers and herbs.

    But just try to enjoy the process of learning, and know that you’ll get better as you continue.