Let me start off by saying I really like this book. Although the info sheet that accompanies The Vegetable Garden Pest Book by Susan Mulvihill talks about climate change and its effect on newly invasive pests that attack edibles, most of what’s inside are the same pests and the same problems I’ve been dealing with in my Mid-Atlantic vegetable garden for decades. But that’s a quibble with the info sheet rather than the book itself, which is a terrific tool for almost anyone who works to produce food from their little bit of earth.
Master Gardener and author of the blog, Susan’s in The Garden, Mulvihill has been educating gardeners for years about what’s eating their plants and what to do about it without harming either the ecology or yourself. There are large, detailed and very useful photos of the pests she covers. You could take out to the garden to doubt-check a critter you think might be a problem before you squash it, or to identify something you’ve just encountered eating your squash and find out the best way to deal with it.
In addition there are DIY projects that virtually anyone with a few basic tools could tackle, along with – again – great photos of the work in progress. This book is the next best thing to having Mulvihill living next door and coming out with you – plus she has a lively sense of the challenges and pitfalls faced by virtually any gardener, regardless of experience. In other words, she’s like having a friend who is knowledgeable and able to impart that knowledge without making you feel stupid. It’s a gift.
The Vegetable Garden and Pest Book would make a particularly good gift for some of the newly-minted pandemic gardeners, who may be on the fence about continuing when the world opens up again. It will offer a clear path to success – an encouragement that every gardener, regardless of experience, will appreciate.
I grew up sailing and building boats with my dad, married a tugboat captain, (who I'm still happily married to) and embarked on a life of adventure, challenge and fun. My first book, Woman in the Wheelhouse, told the sometimes harrowing story of working on an old coastal tugboat as cook/deckhand then worked in Mexico in the Campeche oil fields on a supply boat. I was one of the first women in the country to earn a tug operator's license. I'm the author of three other books, Course of the Waterman, which won the Fred Bonnie Prize for the novel, the historical novel, A Love Like No Other: Abigail and John Adams, A Modern Love Story, and OK Now What? A Caregiver's Guide to What Matters, which I wrote with longtime RN and hospice nurse, Sue Collins during the time my mother-in-law was moving to the end of her life.
My second, Course of the Waterman, the coming of age novel of a young Eastern Shore waterman, won the Fred Bonnie award in 2004. My third book, second novel, A Love Like No Other: Abigail and John Adams, A Modern Love Story, takes readers into the lives of the new nation's strong-willed second First Lady and her stubborn, often-absent and adored husband, John, our second US President. I wrote the book because I'd spent big chunks of time raising children alone while my husband was at sea and felt an affinity for Abigail, but also looked to her life as a MUCH bigger challenge that informed and encouraged my own. My fourth book, OK Now What? A Caregiver's Guide to What Matters (Head to Wind Publishing, 2014) was written in collaboration with Sue Collins, RN and longtime hospice nurse and has received heartwarming feedback on how helpful it's been to many caregivers.
A freelance writer for many years, I've published personal essays, features, maritime reporting and analysis, travel, garden and more for such places as The Washington Post, Yachting, House Beautiful, The Baltimore Sun, the Christian Science Monitor, Southern Living, Sailing, and more. I'm also a University of Maryland Master Gardener who grows and cans the family's fruits and vegetables, and a Bay-Wise program certifier. I write, sail, race sailboats (occasionally), walk the German Shepherd dogs, and cook for friends and family.
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Nancy Taylor Robson 