It's so sad when I look down at my garden right now;  I'm sure that in a day or two I will see this time as the end of one crop season and the beginning of another, but right now, my once lush and bountiful garden looks like a dusty, dry area with a couple of bell peppers holding on in the middle.  My trials and tribulations with the gopher situation has come to a head with an early harvest of little pumpkins and only a couple of cucumbers that grew to size.  The gopher(s) have also eaten their way through the roots of a rose bush Taylor gave me for my birthday this last March/  We planted it in the corner of the garden and watched it grow up the fence and trellis in such a way that it was going to provide a little privacy from neighbors.  Now the green leaves are slowly turning yellow and every day there are more and more yellow leaves.  We have set out a couple of gopher traps and plan on putting more out, but for right now, I am saddened by the early demise of my crops.  Here's to the next planting, may it be fruitful, may it be healthy, and most of all, may the gopher(s) choke on their root system if they continue to be the bane of my gardening existence.

Happy Full Moon!