A Quest for Cucumbers

Our garden plot at the community gardens is thriving and happy.  I was especially pleased yesterday when I noticed our cucumber bush is finally starting to perk up, green up and bud up.  We are hoping for a lot of cucumbers for pickling.  

When I arrived this morning to water the garden, I was excited to see a lovely doe prancing across the dewy field behind the gardens.  I managed to get a photo before she disappeared into a tall patch of weeds.

Before I started watering, I inspected plants as I normally do.  The tomatoes . . . lush and busting with baby tomatoes.  The peppers . . . popping.  The beans . . . hanging in there.  The zucchinis . . . HUGE. 

The cucumber plant, however, was in sorry shape . . . straddling the plant in four corners was some very distinctive hoof prints. Gone were all of the buds and some of the leaves.  

The cucumbers. . . not happy.  Me . . . less happy.