In touch with the world ... at home on the High Plains

Donate

Play Live Radio

Next Up:

0:00

0:00 0:00

Available On Air Stations

KJJP 105.7 FM in Amarillo will be off air on Dec. 3 from 12:30pm to 4pm for maintenance. You can stream live in the player above or on the HPPR APP.

Planting the Plains

Planting the Plains: Compost in the Summer

By Anthony Reardon

Published July 25, 2025 at 5:00 AM CDT

We've all heard of composting, and many of us have bins or pits near our gardens to help build a little microbe factory for our soil. But HOW you make your compost pile, how often you churn it, and other factors can affect the quality of your composted material. We'll talk this week about some ways to keep your rotting organic pile cranking out nutrients for your garden!

Tags

Planting the Plains Planting the Plains

Anthony Reardon

Anthony Reardon is the Horticulture – Small Farms Extension Agent for Johnson County, Kansas.

See stories by Anthony Reardon

HPPR Features

Planting the Plains: Gifts for Gardeners

Anthony Reardon

Just because it's cold out doesn't mean you can't be thinking about your garden...or someone else's garden. Help the gardeners in your life with thoughtful gardening gift ideas!
HPPR Features

Planting the Plains: More Benefits in Dormancy

Anthony Reardon

At the end of the season, it can be tempting to clean up your entire garden of all detritus from old plants, but leaving the seed pods, plant stems and other materials can have some benefits, and this week, we'll talk about how to make dormancy work for you!
HPPR Features

Planting the Plains: Cleaning Your Lawn Tools for Winter

Anthony Reardon

You use them all year long to help tend your garden, so why wouldn't you take care of them, and make sure that they can take care of you? I'm talking about your lawn tools, of course, and this week, we'll talk about how you can clean and store yours for the winter!
HPPR Features

Planting the Plains: Acclimating Houseplants

Anthony Reardon

Most of us like to give our plants a treat during the warmer weather, and so we'll bring them outside to soak up some extra sun. But of course, the weather will cool again at some point, and the process of moving a plant indoors and outdoors should be done with some consideration of how the conditions will be changing. We'll talk about a few things to think about in this week's episode!
HPPR Features

Planting the Plains: Noting the Learning Moments

Anthony Reardon

At the end of the season, it's never a bad idea to spend some time reviewing what worked for you and what didn't, and actually making some notes on which varieties overproduced or disappointed you. You won't necessarily remember in future years, and over time, this practice will give you a fair bit of data points on which to help base your future research. We'll talk more about how to keep track of this information in this week's episode!