The Kansas State University Weather Data Library offers a wealth of information we can use, whether we are raising plants and animals, in the backyard or on a large scale.
Author Archives: hsotr
Four-time author Michelle Lindsey owns and operates Homestead on the Range, an independent publisher dedicated to helping Kansans and others around flyover country achieve an abundant country lifestyle. She is a serious history enthusiast, specializing in Kansas, agriculture, and the American West. When not pursuing hobbies ranging from music to gardening to birdwatching, she can usually be found researching or writing about her many interests.
Smoky Hills
The Smoky Hills region, occupying the north-central part of Kansas, consists of three separate bands of hills running from southwest to northeast.
How To Build a Two-Bin Composter
Composting is probably one of the most familiar techniques of organic gardening. No wonder—it’s a great way to enrich the soil and make use of some of that garden debris that always collects as the season progresses. Composting just makes sense. However, deciding to make compost is one thing, and coming up with a compostContinue reading “How To Build a Two-Bin Composter”
What is pH?
We’ve all heard of pH, whether we garden, raise crops, or manage pastures. We know that some plants like a more acidic soil, while some prefer a more alkali soil. But what exactly do acid and alkali mean? The pH scale measures the concentration of hydrogen ions in a dissolved substance. Pure water can beContinue reading “What is pH?”
Red Hills
There’s nothing quite like this region of rust-colored buttes, mesas, sinkholes, and caves to give a person a strange feeling that “we’re not in Kansas anymore.”
Don’t Throw It Out!
This is not a post about recycling—at least not the type that involves saving plastic bottles. This type of recycling is more interesting because it challenges your creativity.
Extending the Growing Season
It’s not too late to start planning for a winter crop. Nor is it too difficult. All you need to think about is what to plant, how to protect it, and when to plant it.
Links: Zone and Frost Maps
Three resources with zone and frost information to help you decide what to plant when in the field or garden.
Ozark Plateau
Occupying only 55 square miles in Cherokee County, the Ozark Plateau is the smallest physiographic region in Kansas.
Planting Vegetables the Easy Way
This gardening trick will save you countless back-breaking hours of toil on your hands and knees, poking one tiny seed after another into the dirt.
Homestead on the Range 