Growing up on a farm in the mountains of Virginia was certainly an experience I’ll always cherish. The farm provided us with plenty of vegetables for canning that lasted us until the next years growing season. Root crops such as potatoes, parsnips and sweet potatoes were stored in the root cellar along with apples and pears. Blackberries, Raspberries, cherries, apples and peaches were either canned to make pies and cobblers or were made into jams, jellies and preserves. It wasn’t until later years that freezers came into being, giving us another option for "storing" our bounty.

Getting ready for Christmas was so special as most everything prepared was either raised or grown on the farm. It was such a good feeling to be able to prepare that special Christmas dinner from the "fruits of our labor". The Christmas Turkey was always fresh, we bartered with a neighbor raising them or we raised them ourselves. Since we raised our own pork and beef, the second choice for the dinner table was usually ham. We generally slaughtered our meat sometime before Thanksgiving and up until Christmas, depending on the weather being cold enough since the cutting and processing was all done by hand.

Beginning Christmas Eve, everything to be served for Christmas Dinner was brought to the kitchen, the canned goods, potatoes, sweet potatoes, apples, and pumpkin. The production of creating that special dinner began. Having our own dairy cows, we had plenty of fresh milk. Part of enhancing the holiday deserts the rich whipped cream that was made by pouring off the yellowed cream that had topped off the milk container. Favorite deserts were Apple Pie, Pumpkin Pie, Sweet Potato Pie, along with fruit cobblers, Fresh Apple Cake and Fruit Cakes. The nuts used in the wonderful creations came from the farm as well. There were always Hickory Nuts and Black Walnuts. Homemade Egg Nog was a real special treat for this occasion as well. We had flour made from wheat we grew on the farm for the dinner rolls and the other baked goods. These were the days where we lived off the land. We could prepare a Special Christmas dinner as well as our regular dinners and meals without setting foot in a grocery store.

Christmas morning we awoke to a sense of awe and wonderment even though we almost always knew what was under the tree for us. We may have a toy each or something to wear, but we always had that special brown paper sack that held oranges, tangerines and the hard candy known as "Christmas candy". Life was so simple but so meaningful. We always had our needs and very few of our wants but somehow the experience every year brought us a deep sense of appreciation that seems to have gotten lost through the years.

Perhaps we need to go back to our roots, live off the land, and learn to appreciate once again.

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and a wish for all to have a Prosperous New Year!