Barter system

[huntersforge]

The barter system is alive and well.
Personally I’m finding more than ever folks willing and able to trade goods.
So far this week I’ve traded a haunch of venison for a kilo of cheese, a net bag of oak firewood for 2 jars of chutney and put a new pull cord on my mates chainsaw in exchange a bottle of vodka .( To be fair I’d have fixed it for free but he’s too generous for his own good )
Long may it continue

 

[William_Montgomery]

Glad to hear that. With the current direction society is heading in, a community willing to barter goods could be invaluable.

 

[Woody girl]

I like the barter system. It's not a big thing where I live now, but when I lived in Devon, I had a good system with several people I knew, which meant I got eggs, bread, milk, and fruit which I bartered for mushrooms that were prevalent in my landlords fields, and herbs that I grew, among other things. I'd often get a dozen eggs, and barter half of them for something else.
Skills are a great thing to barter with.
I did manage to barter a knitted jumper for an almost new pair of garden shears, and two woolly hats for a garden sieve this year, and I often swop excess courgettes for apples with another friend, but that's about it. Sadly, here, it's about money in exchange for whatever you want or need. I'm hoping things will change.

 

[slowworm]

I'm not sure what I do is bartering, I tend to give stuff away and at some random point in future get given stuff back - not always from the same person.

 

[Toddy]

I'm not sure what I do is bartering, I tend to give stuff away and at some random point in future get given stuff back - not always from the same person.

Me too and then you find yourself with a knock at the door, and Himself goes off to answer it, and wanders back with two brace of pheasants....and an enormous leek because the friend who passed along a glut knows I'm vegetarian so he provided something

It comes round and it goes around. The phrase, "It's no loss what a friend gets" (that's the English translation from Scots) comes to mind.

The pheasant tail feathers are away to a friend who makes Christmas ornaments from them for her online craft shop.....she sent me a box load of fleece offcuts that are now three pairs of slipper boots, and I have sent her a copy of the pattern I made, in multiple sizes.

The friend who shares his aged Mum's damson crop got jars of the jam (aged Mum is much chuffed, she can't stand long enough to make the jam anymore) and somewhere in the round of the damsons from the tree another friend ended up with a bagload and I now have a New Year gift (a Hansel gift) of a bottle of Damson gin
Himself made a tray of tablet, so everyone got a bag of that.

It's not just food stuffs though, skills and help and repairs, and finding a 'good thing' and passing it along or the source of it, that works too.

Long may it continue

 

[Woody girl]

Me too and then you find yourself with a knock at the door, and Himself goes off to answer it, and wanders back with two brace of pheasants....and an enormous leek because the friend who passed along a glut knows I'm vegetarian so he provided something

It comes round and it goes around. The phrase, "It's no loss what a friend gets" (that's the English translation from Scots) comes to mind.

The pheasant tail feathers are away to a friend who makes Christmas ornaments from them for her online craft shop.....she sent me a box load of fleece offcuts that are now three pairs of slipper boots, and I have sent her a copy of the pattern I made, in multiple sizes.

The friend who shares his aged Mum's damson crop got jars of the jam (aged Mum is much chuffed, she can't stand long enough to make the jam anymore) and somewhere in the round of the damsons from the tree another friend ended up with a bagload and I now have a New Year gift (a Hansel gift) of a bottle of Damson gin
Himself made a tray of tablet, so everyone got a bag of that.

It's not just food stuffs though, skills and help and repairs, and finding a 'good thing' and passing it along or the source of it, that works too.

Long may it continue

I need to move near to you!
Once tried to set up a skill share here, it lasted 3 months and had 6 people join. Not one transaction took place. Sad

 

[British Red]

I'm not sure what I do is bartering, I tend to give stuff away and at some random point in future get given stuff back - not always from the same person.

That's how it works here too

 

[mwoolfare]

I've done two barter deals in the last week. People have wanted a wool shirt that I make and Ive gained two brand new Lavvu's one already modified by Northern Outdoors and another I brought myself and is being modified by Northern Outdoors in return for a shirt for him. I think its fair exchange of goods and skills, and Im very keen on that principle. I often swap my photography and videography skills with a local beekeeper and foraged goods with my parents in return for homemade jams, chutneys, fruit and homemade cake. I think its well worth starting amongst 1 or 2 friends and going from there. It doesn't need to be massive, maybe a few hours tidying a garden and payment in wood or whatever you may need that they may have. Cash isn't always available nor does it need to change hands

 

[Robson Valley]

I sold several hundred started grape vine cuttings over several years. Don't hear much about them, I still have the original big and vigorous vines.

Since grapes are such an unusual crop here at 53N in the mountains, I have no difficulty finding pickers/users willing to barter for all sorts of common garden veg like carrots, potatoes, onions and so on. I don't want to eat or juice or jelly hundreds of pounds of grapes for the winter. Plus, I've lost my taste for red wines of all things. But, those common veg will keep and they do get eaten.

Grow something uncommon that your neighbors put value on (potted ginger?).

 

[British Red]

Grow something uncommon that your neighbors put value on (potted ginger?).

You can also turn the ginger into wine!

 

[Disabled Preppers]

Ok i am finding so much on here i want to chat about and this being one BARTER , my wife and i are like tom and barbara good "the goodlife" we do pay out as well but if i can i love a swap or a share even , i always grow far to much for us to use and store so it gets given away free but i would love to find a site where i could swap or offer to others and then say hey you got xyz i am after , with out health issues my days as a chippy are sort of over i can still do it and work out how to build and do stuff but health holds me back, but would love to help people with any knowledge i have and or plan drawings and so on and working outs lol, yup i got to keep the grey matter busy , we also love to cook and take food and PUDDINGS round to neighbours who love them lol yup but being able to swap or offer to people from a group sounds like a great idea , like seeds swaps as well , plus i have a huge amount of garden tools and carpentry tools that if people treat them with care i would leaned out , i saw about a wood chipper we have a huge beasty in the garage that got used a huge amount when we moved here but now sits in the garage under a cover that i would love to let others use just bring it back clean , also a mantis tiller again would have ot be locals but we love a share of ideas or fruti and veggies .

 

[Toddy]

Do you have a village hall or library nearby ?
I ask because both of the two villages I live at the edge of (the burn that runs alongside my garden is the parish divide) have both, and both have noticeboards where folks can put up offers such as yours. Both have groups that use their space to meet up. Everything from painting and craft classes to flower arranging and model making. No reason you couldn't ask about a monthly swap meet kind of thing.....start the ball rolling

The other place that has a notice board is one of the supermarkets. Again, it's of interest for many folks, and pretty much everybody uses a supermarket.

 

[Disabled Preppers]

@Toddy nothing like that local to me , i know there is a library but as i can not have the jab and have major health issues i try to steer clear of to many meeting places , i have to be double careful health wise my wife had all the jabs but my first caused clotting and as i have major issues they said no more lol so i just keep clear of to many indoor meetings and wear a mask .
I am going to try and find like minded people in the area that can help each other in this day and age we should all be doing all we can for each other

 

[huntersforge]

Today’s trade was 3 surplus tomato plants, 2 cucumber plants and 2 chilli plants for couple of jars this coming seasons blackberry jam.
As I grow my plants from seed it’s always handy to grow extra.
Also filled my logs store again for the coming winter and it’s as always strangely satisfying.

HF

 

[Disabled Preppers]

Today’s trade was 3 surplus tomato plants, 2 cucumber plants and 2 chilli plants for couple of jars this coming seasons blackberry jam.
As I grow my plants from seed it’s always handy to grow extra.
Also filled my logs store again for the coming winter and it’s as always strangely satisfying.

HF

Nice job , we have a huge amount of sweet pepper plants and tom plants to share but the gardener will take a fair few , got so much do do but gardener went down with covid so much of the bigger jobs on hold as i need the help these days .
Blackberry jam you can not beat that on fresh homemade bread

 

[oldtimer]

When I was head of a small village school, our school secretary also worked for a farming couple doing their accounts and was happy to be paid in joints of meat and other farm produce. Unfortunately they, and she, fell foul of the tax inspector and she had extra work to do in putting a monetary value on her "wages" to declare on her income and the farmers' expenditure. They were forced to revert to the conventional monetary system and both parties felt worse off.