We barter here, too. A farmer comes and hays our field. In return he gives us 8 rounds of hay which we use to feed our horse. Unfortunately, he was pressed for time last fall, trying to get it done between rains, and much of the hay has mildewed, which is terrible for horses.
We really need to build a structure to protect the hay. We want to get a cow and so we will need to make sure that the hay doesn't go bad so we can use it all.
We've been wanting a cow so badly, but can't quite afford it, even though we're feeling nearly desperate for one. Last week I noticed a cow on my friend's place with the hugest udder! I inquired about it, and she said that another of our friends who lives in town, had purchased the cow and that they were keeping her on their property and would do the milking. This way they were bartering.
Another friend announced to me that she and a friend went in on a cow together and would split the milk.
I am hopeful that maybe we'll find someone to have such an arrangement with also.
It's been almost two months I think since I've bought a loaf of store bought bread or tortillas. This has really given us a sense of self-reliance. Wouldn't it be wonderful to grow our own wheat! Seeing how we are going through 50 lbs every 10 days we'd sure need to grow a lot! I wonder how many pounds of wheat an acre would yield?
Funny how things work. All of a sudden this week, without expecting it, I have started a bakery from home! When some friends found out that I am making my own tortillas they wanted to buy some. Some other friends requested sourdough bread. This week I sold 3 dozen tortillas, 2 loaves sourdough bread and 1 loaf pumpkin chocolate chip!
I also put up a website and have kicked off a business that the children can help me with, as they are very creative: http://amazingphototransformations.webs.com
If we can get some work from home it would sure help when my husband's business slows in the winter and maybe he wouldn't be soo pressed to drive 2 hours to the city for work.
We have this land and I sure hope we can figure out how to utilize it to the maximum.
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Growing my own grains is something I aspire to myself, if I ever have the property to do it. I periodically dig around on the net, hoping to find people who are doing it...no luck yet. :-/
If you've the space, you can grow your own grain! I'm sorry I haven't been able to find a link, but there was a how-to article in Organic Gardening magazine back in the late seventies that told how; they said that you could raise all the wheat needed for a family of four for a year in a 10x16 bed!
There was also an article in the Portland Oregonian a few years back about a fellow in Portland Oregon who is growing wheat on his large houselot inside the city limits. Every year he has friends over and they have biscuits made from the wheat, with strawberry jam that they grew the berries for and put up themselves. I believe the title of the article was "Flour Power!" in case you want to try to track it down.
Find a copy of One Straw Revolution, by Masanobu Fukuoka; he writes quite a bit about raising grain...and other important things! This one I do have a link for; you can request a free download of it from here:
http://www.soilandhealth.org/copyform.aspx?bookcode=010140.fukuoka
There's a fantastic wealth of information on that site, by the way; I personally support them in any way I can.
Also see if you can find a book called Small-Scale Grain Raising by Gene Logsdon. It might be difficult to find, but anything written by Logsdon is worth tracking down.
Thanks for this post! Maybe if enough people are exposed to the concept, they'll start growing small plots of grain...hey, I can hope!
it's so cool that bartering is making a comeback, whether if it is through rural or urban America. there is this cool site called www.favorpals.com where you can trade your services for other services/items. check it out.
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