Why insects do not (and cannot) attack healthy plants | Dr. Thomas Dykst...

Making Your Yard Into An Ark

I've been transforming my urban yard into part food forest for me and part native plant sanctuary for birds, butterflies, bees, and other wildlife. This is an ongoing project that began about 9 years ago.

The beds in the front yard are to make the neighbors feel more comfortable with seeing plants other than short lawn grasses growing. I made cages for the ones that have food for me. The rabbits and birds and other wildlife eat out of the others.

Fescue, rye, and blue grasses that we plant incessantly are not native grasses. Native grasses of the prairie grow 2, 3, 5, 7, even 12-15 feet tall. Their roots extend down deep into the soil so they draw water and nutrients up from deep in the ground. The stuff people have been growing for their lawns since WWII takes tremendous amounts of water and time to maintain. Cut it once or twice a week. Water it. Saturate it with chemicals that kill everything else that grows naturally in that space. Then fertilize it. Apply pesticides. It's really bad for the soil, the animals, the pollinators, the humans, dogs, cats, birds, and our water since all the chemicals run off into our rivers, streams, and aquifers. These chemicals have been shown to cause cancers in humans and animals as well as killing the bees. Getting rid of the monoculture lawn and growing native plants helps rejuvenate the soil which will nourish the plants without adding harmful chemicals.

This is Penstemon cobaea var. purpureus, a native that many butterflies, moths, nectar insects, and hummingbirds love. We haven't had many hummingbirds this year. The number of bees, birds, and even ants has been noticeably less than in previous years. People who notice very little of the world around them have begun to notice. They are now talking about it on social media sites. People who know what's happening are coming forward and educating the ones who don't know. It's a start. If you are one of the ones who do not know about the number of species going extinct, this may be for you.

I'd like to direct you to WeAreTheArk.org where Mary Reynolds has compiled pages of information free for the public to use. There, you can learn why we are losing biodiversity and what you can do about it. If everyone does a little, it will mean a lot. If we each turn 50% of our lawn space back into natural habitats that can be used by the other species we share this Earth with, we can maybe save ourselves. Repairing the ecosystems we've broken will take all of us working together. It's a fun thing to do though and, once you get started, you will notice that you feel better in your wilder space than you ever felt in your monoculture lawn.

Smart house technology blends with classic style in Kansas City's Brookside area

Gorgeous remodel on 58th Street in Brookside neighborhood, just south of Loose Park, offers a Control 4 smart house system. A touchscreen tablet controls lighting throughout the home. Sound system, security, surveillance cameras, and smoke detectors are all hardwired. An electric car charging station in the brand new, oversized, 2 car garage complete this 21st century home.

The owners converted the old attached garage to a 2 bedroom mother-in-law suite complete with its own luxurious bathroom. It's located behind the kitchen and off of the new laundry room and back door entry. The back entry has convenient coat cubbies, storage, and seating to change into and out of your muddy boots.

Upstairs, you have 2 large bedrooms, each running the width of the house. Each bedroom holds a full size bed for 2 and a single bed with a sofa area between. There is a second living room and beautiful bathroom between the two bedrooms. Brazilian Cherry hardwood floors cover the entire upstairs except for the bathroom which is heated tile floor. In fact, all of the bathrooms have heated tile floors.

Downstairs, the fantastic kitchen is open to the living area. Think of all the pies you could roll out on that beautiful granite island counter! And you could be visiting friends and family watching the game while you cook!

The dining room is on your right as you come in the front door; the master suite is to your left, on the other side of the Brazillian Cherry stairs. The master suite consists of a sumptuous bathroom, ample walk-in closet, and a spacious bedroom with an office tucked in to the recess in the far corner.


Listing provided by Carol Elsberry of Chartwell KC Realty MLS#2077230
All photos taken by Maria Morton, Realtor©

Man invents machine to convert plastic into oil

The Story of Solutions

Great Deal on a Bungalow Home in KCK!

2024 Chapter 1

Remember the George Orwell book 1984? Well this is a prediction of where I see Real Estate going in the next decade or so.

Chapter 1 of 2024 by Maria Morton


Imagine a buyer is jetting by a house that grabs his attention. Buyer emails/texts a request in to the Centralized Clearing House and pulls his vehicle alongside the curb in front of the home. R2-D2's cousin, R3-D3, is dispatched by the comptroller at CCH. While he's waiting, Buyer strolls around on the sidewalk in front of the 3 story Craftsman style home noticing the swing on the front porch; imagining himself sitting in that swing with Delilah. 'Ah yes' Buyer thinks dreamily, 'wouldn't that be grand?'

In the midst of Buyer's daydream, an R3-D3 whirs up, makes a 360 degree spin, plants himself on the sidewalk, releases the telltale cloud of chem trail, and extends his state of the art F2UR Iris Reader. 'I hate how they do that', Buyer thinks to himself while opening his right eye wide and leaning toward the device. They say the F2UR model corrected the problems with previous Iris Readers but Buyer is not convinced Big Corpo tells the public the truth. He really likes that house though, so submits to the impersonal intrusion and brushes thoughts of blindness and brain cancer from his mind.

The R3-D3 screen registers his information. Age, height, weight, DOB, mother's maiden name, SSN, home address, employer info, blood type, current medications, allergies, and financial information. Buyer checks to see that all the information is correct, including the God-awful photo taken by the DMV, and presses the 'NEXT' button on R3-D3's touchscreen. A new screen pops up and R3-D3 asks, in that Headroom Max voice, 'Is this the correct property?' Buyer presses the 'YES' button and the next screen appears. He selects a 30 minute Showing and holds up his mobile phone to receive the Pass. The phone beeps acceptance and Buyer walks up to the front door, holds his mobile up to the IR on the door, waits for the latch to click and enters.

'Wow, the house is better inside than out.' Buyer says out loud to himself, 'Delilah will love it! I wonder how big the kitchen is?' As Buyer makes his way from room to room, picturing himself and Delilah living in the house, he hears a noise upstairs. Instantly alert, Buyer crouches into the ready stance he learned so many years ago in Basic Training. He glances through the front window, sees the R3-D3 at his post in front of the house, flexes his sinewy leg muscles and slowly edges up the staircase.


Bedtime! Stay tuned for the next installment. ^_^