Planting the Plains: Early Pest Awareness

By Anthony Reardon

Published April 10, 2026 at 6:00 AM CDT

There are few things as disappointing as finding your garden overrun with bugs, feasting on your plants before you’ve even had the chance. You can help to prevent this by keeping an eye on things early in the growing season, and this week, we’ll talk about how to recognize the signs and how to effectively treat these annoying pests!

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Planting the Plains Planting the Plains

Anthony Reardon

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

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Planting the Plains: Making Your Own Compost Tea

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Compost tea isn’t a beverage, but it’s a great way to use the nutrients from your composting to make an easily spreadable liquid you can apply almost anywhere. This week, we’ll talk about how and why you may want to consider making a batch, and seeing what it can do for your garden!
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Planting the Plains: Properly Organic

Anthony Reardon

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Planting the Plains: Growing Green

Anthony Reardon

Providing basics like soil, sun and water to your plants is something pretty much everyone understands, but did you know that there’s a greener way to approach your growing? Careful attention to a few key details can help prevent these from actually becoming detrimental to your growing conditions. This week, we’ll talk about how to ensure you’re keeping your growing space in top-notch shape!
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Planting the Plains: A Beginning-Season Checklist

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It's exciting when it warms up enough that you can get started in your garden. But sometimes it can be tough to know where to start, or what to plant first. This week, we'll go over how to make a checklist of things to do, and how to chart which plants need to go in sooner, and which later, to ensure an optimum crop.+