When I was growing up in Iowa, my dad was really into gardening. We had a huge garden. Dad viewed gardening as a family adventure and expected everyone to help bring in the harvest. I had a pretty extreme phobia of bees. That is a subject for another blog, but needless to say, I spent those summer gardening sessions in a constant state of fear looking around for bees.

Dad was the boss of the gardening process, but mom was queen of the canning/preserving process. She seemed especially fond of canning pickles. Every summer we would end up with countless jars of pickles prepared in every shape and variety.

Of course, I thought this whole canning thing was torture. Every summer my sisters and I washed, trimmed, and chopped whatever we were canning that day. The acidic tomato juice ran down our arms, stinging when it ran into cuts. When we did beets we would look like we were wearing purple gloves for days. We would do multiple batches of whatever veggie or fruit for that day. The pressure cooker would be boiling on the stove, clacking away. With all of that intense cooking, it was a million degrees in the house with no air conditioning.

Ironically, I look back on those memories with fondness now. I can appreciate that canning/preserving food was actually a bonding experience and something special that we did together as a family. Growing and preserving food has given me a deeper appreciation of a process that has been with us throughout the history of mankind. These life sustaining techniques have allowed humanity to advance from preparing food on the frontier to finding ways to preserve food for space exploration. Call me a nerd, but I think that is rather cool.

With our troubled economy, there has been a renewed interest in gardening and preserving food to save money. For those of you interested in learning more about preserving your own food, here are some helpful links:

• USA.gov canning results page includes links on canning vegetables, canning safety, and even some recipes for salsa and pickles.
• Freezing and Food Safety
• The Do's and Don'ts of Freezing Food
• Cost of Preserving and Storing Food

My final word on all of this? Several years ago, my parents sold their house to my sister and her family. What do you think my sister found when she was cleaning out the basement? Behind a stack of board games she found jars and jars of pickles, 32 of them, all dated from the 1970s!

I can remember back in high school talking to one of my friends on the football team about who on the team he suspected was using steroids. He assured me he didn't, but he did say he took some kind of protein-powder, muscle-building supplement. At the time I figured it was a better option than doing the illegal steroids.

However, this week the FDA issued a public warning about products that claim to be  to be dietary supplements with steroids or steroid-like substances. Major health problems, such as serious liver damage, stroke, kidney failure and pulmonary embolism have been reported in men between the ages of 22 and 55. These products could also cause the masculinization of women, male infertility and stunted growth in children.

Really, a whole bunch of nasty side effects for something that supposedly makes your muscles bigger.

There's nothing wrong with wanting to get into better shape, but there's a healthier way to go about doing it.

If you're not sure where to start check out some of these resources:
Fitness.gov
Be Active Your Way
Exercise and Physical Fitness

My generation gets a bad rap. You know- us twenty-somethings: lazy, selfish, and never quite working up to our potential.

To some extent I have to agree at least a little bit. After all, I have witnesses day-long marathons of "Grand Theft Auto" and have friends who would rather drive around a parking lot for 20 minutes than have to walk from a space in the back.

However, I was thrilled to read that not only is volunteerism on the rise in this country, but the biggest increase was among young adults- those 16-24 years old. This group saw a 6% increase in the past year, from 7.8 to 8.2 million.

During an economic downturn it's rare to see a rise in volunteerism, and while charitable giving was down, 61.8 million people donated their time to charitable causes- a million more than last year.

Do you think this says something about the American people as a whole? I'm hoping this is a reflection of people caring for their neighbors and less fortunate during shaky economic times.

Do you want to get involved? There are plenty of websites to help you find a cause that interests you and fits your schedule.

• Serve.gov
• Volunteer.gov
• TakePride.gov

The kids are getting antsy. In a couple weeks we’ll be headed to the Jersey shore for our summer beach vacation. We’ve been doing the same thing for a few years now and we think a week at the beach is a wonderful family vacation. It’s nice to get away and spend a week biking, swimming, and golfing (mini golfing, that is) together.

Since we don’t live close to the coast, it’s a long, long ride to get to the beach. Any time you’re taking a long ride, it’s a good idea to check for road closures and construction. Anything that makes a long ride with little kids smoother is time well spent. We plan to map out a good route and then bring along plenty of snacks and dvd’s to keep the kids happy along the way.

There’s a lot to remember when heading to the beach – like water safety, and sunscreens, and hats, and towels. I start making a list weeks and weeks in advance. We also keep an eye on the beach temperatures just because we’re excited and we can’t wait to get there!

Our guest blogger today is Martha Nudel of the Department of Interior's National  Wildlife Refuge System.  

Want to try something wild this summer? You don’t have to go far or spend a bundle.  National wildlife refuges, managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, are teeming with out-of-the-ordinary seasonal events.   Here is a sampling: 

• As bird watching grows in popularity, new trails are popping up around the country, many on national wildlife refuges. The new Makoke Birding Trail in central Iowa is a collection of 22 separately mapped sites, none more than 40 minutes from downtown Des Moines. One of those 22 sites is Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge, where tallgrass prairie restoration is bringing back habitat for more than 200 species of birds. A guide to the trail can be loaded: http://www.iowabirds.org/places/documents/Makoke_Trail.pdf.

• The new Sun and Sage Loop of the Great Washington State Birding Trail features more than 200 of the state’s 346 annually recorded bird species.  Among the 52 stops in southcentral Washington is # 29, Toppenish National Wildlife Refuge, with its 1,700 acres of seasonal wetlands and shrub-steppe.  Each fall, 30,000 waterfowl arrive at the Toppenish Refuge and stay for winter.  You may spot Pied-billed grebes, northern pintails, northern shovelers and perhaps even short-eared owls.  For a downloadable trail guide: http://wa.audubon.org/BirdingTrailMaps/TM_index.html.

• All summer long, track wolves at Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge in Manteo, N.C., during the red wolf howling safari.   Cars caravan to the howling site on Wednesday nights, weather-permitting.  $5 to participate in the two-hour guided program.  Bring a flashlight and insect repellant.  For more information: www.redwolves.com or www.fws.gov/refuges/profiles/index.cfm?id=41630 or 252-473-1131

• Learn how Native Americans made hunting tools from stone and bone August 9 at Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge, WA.  Enjoy demonstrations of historic Chinookan tool making, plant harvesting and weaving from natural materials, noon to 3:30 p.m. at the Cathlapotle Plankhouse. The plankhouse is open regularly on weekends from noon to 4 p.m. through October. For more information: www.plankhouse.org or 360-887-4106.

• Take your camera when you visit national wildlife refuges so you can become part of an online wildlife  photo mosaic.  Go to http://yououtdoors.org/ to get started.

This summer, go wild!!  For more information about national wildlife refuges, go to: http://www.fws.gov/refuges/.