A conventional description of the Great Plains landscape of Kansas may include references to open skies, treeless flatlands, rolling hills of shortgrass and mixed-grass prairies, and colors tending toward tan and brown. However, when we look at areas in Southwest and South-Central Kansas, the former description may not always fit. Located mostly in Clark, Comanche and Barber counties along the southern border of Kansas, there exists a physiographic province known as the Red Hills. This undulating terrain of red-tinted sediments comes from an underlying geological structure that developed when the Great Plains spanned an ancient ocean.

This is Tracy Million Simmons, owner of Meadowlark Press in Emporia, Kansas, for High Plains Public Radio Reader’s Summer Reading List. As a regional press specializing in stories from the Midwest, I’d like to take this moment to introduce you to our newest memoir, Reptile Romance, by Harley Elliott.

Tune in this week to hear the Amarillo Symphony perform music by Rachmaninoff, Shostakovich, and Prokofiev!

Composting is a great way to get nutrients into your garden, especially during the summer. This week, we’ll review the process of composting during the summertime, and how to let the heat help in the process!