Friends of Jackson Farm
24572 102 Ave Maple Ridge, BC, Canada

A few Labour day moments at the farm... An early morning sunbath ,and chewing away on Mrs Jackson's rose bush to being un bear able as another plum tree bites the dust. . Just a reminder to not pick the fruit trees clean , as the bears are still fattening up for their winter siesta.... Take care J. Farm

Blackberry season is upon us, and there is lots of picking going on at the farm. We thought it would be a good time to share a seasonal favorite recipe... Mrs. Fitzs' Blackberry Foo... Many have tried to replicate it, few, have mastered it. Bon Appétit (The recipe can be found in the notes on the left-hand side of the page.)

Plums seem to be all the rage these days. Ear buds are not recommended while walking around the farm. Keep a safe distance ,

If you are heading up to the farm this morning....please be aware...Mom and her three cubs are chowing down

Say hello to the Sorex cinereus, more commonly known at the masked shrew, one of the smallest mammals in the world, weighing in at about 3.5 to 5.5 grams. This little creature is not to be confused with the mice you might see running around Jackson farm, as mice are rodents that mainly eat seeds, grain, and fruits. Our friendly little shrew mainly eats insects such as ants, crickets, spiders, slugs and snails, and yes other animal matter including mice. Farmers like shews as ...they help control the pest population on farms While shrews are preyed upon by different predators, the fact is, few will eat them because they taste terrible due to foul-tasting scent glands; That being said owls and hawks have a poor or no sense of taste and have no problems going after these morsels of food. A few interesting facts about our masked shrew: Though they look like long-nosed mice, shrews are not actually rodents, they are more closely related to moles. The heartbeat of the masked shrew beats 1,200 times per minute, comparable to a hummingbird. Shrews have been recorded making 12 body movements per second. Shrews, in general, must eat 80-90% of their own body weight in food every day. If they are deprived of food, most will starve to death within half a day. Some species of shrews have toxic saliva used for hunting, the venom gets into wounds as the animals' bite thereby paralyzing the prey.

A friend of Jacksons Farm shared with us this great bird watching app Its called, the Merlin bird app and it's a free download https://merlin.allaboutbirds.org/... ( By the way when pronouncing the word "Gokotta", remember its pronounced like 'ghia', as in Karmann "Ghia" and ' Kotta', as in Mr. Kotta...ghiakotta .) enjoy

An oldie but goody (2017)

The Parable of the Hummingbird One day a terrible fire broke out in a forest - a huge woodlands was suddenly engulfed by a raging wildfire. Frightened, all the animals fled their homes and ran out of the forest. As they came to the edge of a stream they stopped to watch the fire and they were feeling very discouraged and... powerless. They were all bemoaning the destruction of their homes. Every one of them thought there was nothing they could do about the fire, except for one little hummingbird. This particular hummingbird decided it would do something. It swooped into the stream and picked up a few drops of water and went into the forest and put them on the fire. Then it went back to the stream and did it again, and it kept going back, again and again, and again. All the other animals watched in disbelief; some tried to discourage the hummingbird with comments like, "Don't bother, it is too much, you are too little, your wings will burn, your beak is too tiny, it’s only a drop, you can't put out this fire." And as the animals stood around disparaging the little bird’s efforts, the bird noticed how hopeless and forlorn they looked. Then one of the animals shouted out and challenged the hummingbird in a mocking voice, "What do you think you are doing?" And the hummingbird, without wasting time or losing a beat, looked back and said, "I am doing what I can." ~Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas~ See more

A while back a message was sent to FOJF Admin., offering to donate a bench of the variety in place at the farm now . The bench had missing boards. For some reason this message was accidentally deleted by one of our dweeb admin. We would love to hear from that person again ! Thank you very much.

Be aware of de bears They are out and about enjoying the farm

Can't take my Kodachrome away P.Simon

Dear Friends of Jackson Farm and Albion Neighbors: We are having a few issues at the farm that need to be brought to light. First off, we have had a number of plants Donated, and planted in and around the plum trees that were cleared over the last two years.... Yeahhhhhh!!! This work is carried out by volunteers! Yeahhhhh! Over the course of the last week or so .... for whatever reason some as~~~~~ has dug up all, and I mean all of them, and removed them. Boooooo to the flower Nazi! So by all means ...rat out your neighbor...Hostas ...Lilies....(should be blooming soon ) and our Rudbeckia, also flowering soon .....maybe a dozen or more plants in all. Not appreciated. We thought Albion had some class? Also, we seem to be getting a number of nods that there are a handful of people who ride their quads and motorcycles on the farm. It is really making a mess out of the south pasture. There is also a large increase in pedestrian traffic, BECAUSE ITS A PARK!! ... For pedestrians! Not motor vehicles. It is posted... Bylaw #3136 1982 Please show some Albion Pride and Class Thank you, J . Farm P.S., if you were unaware, the work done at the farm is carried out by volunteers.