A first attempt at growing anything is mostly about finding out what happens, and that discovery is fragile under the weight of expected results. If the measure becomes how much came up, a slug or a dry week turns into failure, and the interest that might have carried a child through several seasons ends in one. Curiosity survives poor harvests. It does not survive being graded.

Give a beginner something forgiving and let them tend it badly. Ask what they noticed rather than what it produced. If nothing edible arrives, treat the season as information about weather and soil, which is what experienced growers do.