Check out my farm animals:

Not much is happening in my container garden; the temperature has been too cold and windy for me to enjoy gardening.  Time to clean up the garden!

Ingredients

• Earthbox Garden Kit (includes one EarthBox, one aeration screen, one water fill tube, two fitted covers, four casters, 16 oz 7-7-7 plant food, and 16 oz dolomite)
• 2 cu.ft Organic potting mix (you can use any potting mix but I used Miracle Grow Organic Choice)

Steps

1. The Earthbox Garden Kit includes one EarthBox, one aeration screen, one water fill tube, two fitted covers, four casters, 16 oz 7-7-7 plant food, and 16 oz dolomite.

2. Install the four casters to the bottom of the EarthBox.  This is optional but it gives you the ability to move the Earthbox around, it gets really heavy when you fill it with almost 2 cu.ft of potting mix!

3. Set the plastic aeration screen firmly to the bottom.  Attach the fill tube and press it firmly to the round cutout in the corner of the screen.

4. Pack the two corner cutouts in the screen with moist potting mix.  It's important to pack it firmly because this is how the plants get water.  It's okay if you let some of the potting mix fall through the screen.

5. Continue adding potting mix until it reaches the top 2-3 inches of the pot.

6. Sprinkle the dolomite on top of the potting mix.

7. Mix the dolomite with the top 3 inches of the potting mix.

8. Add some more potting mix to cover the dolomite.

9. Create a small trough and then pour the dry fertilizer in a strip.  The location of the fertilizer varies, refer to the placements guide.  Cover the trough with moist potting mix and pat down.  Do not mix the fertilizer.

10 & 11.  Add some more potting mix until it is about 2 inches above the rim of the box. Align one of the round cutout holes over the fill tube and carefully stretch the cover over the top of the EarthBox.

12. Plan where you want to place the seedlings (refer to the placements guide).  In this case, I'm planting two japanese eggplants.

13. Cut and "X" in the cover for each plant.  The "X" should be the size of the rootball.

14. The eggplant in its place.  Water through the tube until water comes out of the overflow spout.  

15. This is the other Earthbox I planted with Sprite tomotoes on the left, and Siberian tomatoes on the right.

That's it! Just make sure it gets 6-8 hours of full sun.  If everything goes well, all it needs is water for the whole season!

Don't miss this year's NYC Grows Garden Festival. It will take place this Sunday, April 26, 11AM - 3PM @ Union Square Park (map) Manhattan.

The weather is going to be wonderful this weekend and the temperature is going up to 85 degrees and sunny! I went there last year and got a bunch of free stuff like plants, a bird house, gardening tools, etc. They also had container gardening demonstrations like planting trees in containers. You can sample food and beverages, talk to other gardeners.

UPDATE:

I was a little disappointed because this year's festival wasn't as good as last year's.  I guess they didn't get as much sponsors this year.  Last year they gave out goodies and I really enjoyed the gardening demonstrations.  Although the event was a little disappointing but I met up with some friends and spent a nice day in Manhattan.

While walking through Union Square Park I saw this gardening area and noticed the NYC Wildflower Week is coming up! On their website you can find lots of interesting events like Botanical Walks, Children Events, Garden Tours, and lectures.

Setting up the native plant display garden:

Take a look at some fantastic NYC native plants photos.

Here's an interesting event for all you city dwellers:

Container Gardening with Native Plants
Time: Sunday, May 3, 12-2pm
Guide: Marni Horwitz, Alive Structures
Location: Green Depot Bowery, 222 Bowery (btw Prince & Spring)

Demonstration Description: Join Green Depot as we celebrate the urban garden! Alive Structures founder and Green Roof Specialist Marni Horwitz will demonstrate how city dwellers can easily incorporate native plants into their homes and other spaces. There is also a wildflower seed give away. This hands-on program will offer participants the opportunity to dig in themselves!

"I’ve got one! When you buy plants from the nursery, instead of throwing out the plastic containers that came with the plant, recycle them and use them as drainage materials at the bottom of a big container. This way the container is less heavy and you don’t need to use as much dirt to fill up the container"

Look what I got in the mail! The seeds have arrived! I'm really excited because I didn't buy any seeds this year and from all the good things I've read about Botanical Interests, I'm sure I'll have lots of success with these.  The problem now is trying to find space to plant them!

I don't know if it's a mistake or what but I found an extra seed packet in the box! So I got a total of seven!

A very nice pamphlet in the box that tells you everything about seed starting.

Hopefully the weather cooperates in the next couple of weeks so I can plant them outside.  In the meantime, please check out Life on the Balcony, you'll find lots of excellent container gardening tips and inspiration, and also fun contests like this one. 

I was excited to learn that we would be making a pumpkin-shaped cake.  Sounds easy, right? I love to eat and cook, so how hard can a pumpkin cake be? The instructor demonstrated each step and we all followed.  I had no idea this was so tough! I was constantly trying to fix the cake and I just made it worst! But it was a really fun experience.  I think I'lljust stick with baking... cake decorating is just too hard!

Ingredients:
12 eggs
1/2 cup light mayo
4 slices bacon
2 tablespoons finely shredded Cheddar cheese
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

Directions:
1. If you have time, turn the eggs lengthwise the night before so when you boil them, the yolk is perfectly centered.

2. Put eggs in a pot with cold water.  Bring water to a boil and immediately turn off the heat and let the eggs sit in the hot water for about 15 minutes.   Remove from hot water and place them in a pot of cold water, I put ice in the water to make it cool faster.  Ice also makes peeling the egg shells faster and easier.

3.  You can brown bacon on a skillet but I put them in a paper towel and cook in the microwave.  One minute per slice.  I used a food chopper to make bacon bits.

4.  Peel the egg shells and cut in half lengthwise.  Remove yolks in a bowl.  Use a fork to mash egg yolks, add mayo, Dijon mustard, chopped bacon and cheese.  

5. To fill the egg whites, you can use the cark decorating utensils to make it fancy.  Sprinkle some paparika and you're done! Refrigerate it until the next day.  

We had our first frost warning two days ago.  My green pepper and chilli peppers are still outside.  The leaves have started turning yellow.  It's been so busy this past week that I didn't have time to do any gardening work.  I will have to set aside some time this weekend to fix up my garden. 

One of my favorite blogger, Fern from Life on the Balcony have started an interesting contest.  You need to guess how many cilantro seeds is in her photo.  If you guess it right, you will get a prize! The deadline is Oct 13th, so hurry and put your entry in now. 

Fern-my guess is 82. 

They are coming out with Gardening Mama at the end of the year! I can even water my virtual plants, pick the bulbs and determine what's the right amount of fertilizer to use! Can't wait to see what they're going to do with the stylus and touchscreen this time.  Winter time is the perfect time for this game!