Growing food: exercise in optimism

I have a relatively small garden for edibles, needing to fence it to keep out the trio of volunteer pruners that are daily visitors to my yard: deer, rabbits, and woodchucks.

These animals seem to love a challenge, and it's not uncommon for one or more of them to overcome my defenses and help themselves to our food -- I saw this earlier in the year when my lovely beets were devoured in one sitting by a less-lazy deer, or maybe it was a woodchuck.

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So I'm optimistic about growing food every year, but that optimism is tempered by realism and experience. There's a good chance that I may not get any food out of the veggie beds during the summer.

The early spring crops of overwintered kale and cilantro (coriander) were big successes, but the spring-planted kale I never get too excited about, for good reason...

...the Cabbage White butterfly (Pieris rapae). These things appear so early here, and stay around all summer long.

Brassicas (kale, cabbage, broccoli, etc.) don't stand a chance.

Since I didn't see more than a couple of very small worms, the birds must be doing their part...

...but that doesn't mean that I'm left with something that I can eat.

I don't know which is worse, having your food slowly eaten by many little mouths...

...or quickly eaten by one big one:

(Woodchucks eat a lot in one sitting. This one swallowed some caterpillars I think, which makes me smile.)

The only acceptable defense is row covers, and I suppose I'll have to plant with that in mind for the fall and next year.

Are cabbage white caterpillars a problem where you garden?

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