Good Morning Friends –
Just woke up, late, really late for me at 6:45am but it is too darn cold out there. Makes you want to curl up and hide under the covers until Spring. 😀
Guess what?? Just got the email saying I was one of the 3 Winners for the People’s Choice Award. They picked the top three out of 10 contenders with the most votes. Oh my goodness, I am on cloud 9! My family still thinks I am weird because I get excited over this kind of stuff but again, oh my goodness to be a winner among some of the top bloggers, a few of MY favorite bloggers that inspire me. Just…WOW!
What an honor and a blessing to know so many people like what you write about especially when it is an Herbal Medicine post. Now while I curl up with some coffee, look at seed catalogs and order more seed catalogs go visit Wildcrafting Wednesday and check out some of the new posts for this week. Please make sure to comment and congratulate the other two winners. 🙂
If you are a blogger visit early to get your post linked up. If you are just a browser wait until tonight or tomorrow because there will be more posts added from bloggers over the next 24 hours.
Day 14 of our Frugal Living Challenge is all about Learning To Share And Barter.
Bartering is one of my most favorite ways to save money and since I work the Farmer’s Market, I have the BEST opportunity to do it!
I was just thinking of how many things I have bartered for this year instead of paying cash. In the old, old days people bartered for EVERYTHING. When you have extra of anything barter it with a friend or for someone in need or just to be plain nice – give it away. 🙂
The following is from a post I did at the end of 2013 –
A barter system is an old method of exchange. This system has been used for centuries and long before money was invented. People exchanged services and goods for other services and goods in return. Today, bartering has made a comeback using techniques that are more sophisticated to aid in trading; for instance, the Internet. In ancient times, this system involved people in the same area, however today bartering is global. The value of bartering items can be negotiated with the other party. Bartering doesn’t involve money which is one of the advantages. You can buy items by exchanging an item you have but no longer want or need. Generally, trading in this manner is done through Online auctions and swap markets.
Do you know where the term “buck” for a dollar came from? During the 17th and 18th century, colonists traded beaver pelts and deer skins for tobacco, corn, nails, etc…
Bartering clubs started up in the US during the Great Depression when money was scare and then a resurgance of clubs in the 1980’s where 100’s of clubs started up while we were all in that almost never ending recession. Over the past few years bartering again picked up and spread like hot cakes but there are STILL people that would not even think for a minute about trading something for something. “Oh goodness, the horror…uugghhh why would anyone want to do barter. I’ll just go BUY it!!!” Well I say “go right ahead, buy it!” and snicker that I was able to score a couple steaks for baking up some fresh bread.
Do you have a talent or service to offer? Or do you bake, cook, garden, make crafty stuff, can homemade produce? Are you good at cutting lawns, chopping trees, cleaning houses, cut hair? If you answered YES to any of these, then you can barter too! If you don’t do any of the above, maybe you have a bunch of kitchen pots, pans, electronics, etc..that you no longer use but are in really good condition? Well trade those! I belong to a couple of groups locally that barter but you could also find some online groups with Craigs list or Ebay. For now, I will still with people I know but maybe in the future I will venture out. 🙂
Thinking back throughout the year, with money being tighter than ever, I feel very blessed for what I got through my bartering efforts and couponing. Here’s a list of goodies from 2013!
Mostly traded for homemade bread that I baked or herbal remedies:
5-6lbs pork chops
4 lbs water buffalo
Whole chicken
cube steaks, ground beef
lots of mushrooms!
many lotions and soaps
hand knitted socks
lots and lots of kale and other greens
apples
pizelle cookies
liver jerky for dogs
chestnuts
coconut oil
pounds and pounds of sweet potatoes and regular potatoes
pumpkins, squash – all kinds
fresh herbs – bunches and bunches
radishes, peas, eggplants, green beans, onions
muscadines, berries – quarts
a glass pendant
tomatoes galore(since mine did not do well this year)
seeds, okra
plastic bottles for lip balms, salves, lotions
books
canned items
knitted purse
36 ears of corn
glass bread pans, cooling racks
pampered chef clips, pictures
plants
bouquets and bouquets of fresh flowers
dog treats
money off a conferences traded for volunteer hours
medicinal herbs
syrups, jellies,
drink mixes, fresh ground coffee.
Apples & Pears free from picking at friends farm.
So where do you start? Here are some helpful hints besides mine above, from Andrea at FG:
Where do I start?
Begin today, sharing with your friends and neighbors, by discovering ways to combine resources in order to save money and reduce wastefulness. For starters…we can stop holding on to our possessions with a clinched fist. Instead of thinking about ways in which to build fences, we should be working together to tear them down.
Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it!
Host a swap party — get your friends and neighbors together one evening, tell everyone to bring things they’d like to swap, and walk away with something new!
When someone wants to repay you for something, ask them to pay it forward instead.
Look into borrowing and lending things through Share Some Sugar.***Update – don’t think they are in biz anymore***
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Ok so we have enough definitions and examples, don’t ya think? Community to me is my family,
My cute family!Doggie communityChicken community – sharing the bounty!
my friends, my coworkers at the Farmer’s Market and of course, my Ladies Homestead gals.
Friends at Foxfire for the retreat
LHG at its finest. 🙂
Dinner with the ladies.
Megan teaching us about shiitakes
Everyone must get along on our farm.
No matter what you call your group, your peeps, you do things with and for each other and share or contribute to build relationships.
Without community, we are just one lonely soul thinking we can do it all by our self with no help from others. Sad but true for some. Community makes us stronger!
You frequently hear me talk about bartering at the market and with friends and know that I LOVE this. I would be so on board with a no money barter only society but I don’t think that is going to happen anytime soon, if so I am ready. 🙂
My market community – I had one loaf of bread left at the market this week and Hal from Foster-Brady Farm next door to me had some veggies left. I gave him the loaf and he shared with me a bunch of stuff!!! So sweet! He did not want to go home with it so I happily obliged. I got a bag – big bag of broccoli, three 8-ball squash and some kale and lettuce. Sharing equals happiness!!
I purchased the cabbage , beets and dog treats
While packing up, Gail had some flowers left so she gave me some lilies and echinacea.
So what did I do with all that broccoli?
We ate some that night then today I cut it all up and put the florets in ziplocs and now what to do with all those stems???? I just can’t see throwing them out, maybe soup.
PS The color came out weird in the stalks pic, they are all green!!! Hahaha…
Have a beautiful day!
Bella Vista Farm 