Bartering

[Ron and Jean]

My friends mum makes the best lemon curd and is always looking for good eggs to use. I gave her a couple of our eggs and asked how many eggs = 1 jar of lemon curd......

I recently swapped herbal medicine for massage (which was great).

I was also very pleased when someone from freecycle took away our scraps of roofing felt and left a jar of plum jam in return

Bartering is great. I wish more people round here were open to it.

[Millymollymandy]

Oh you lucky, lucky cow! Trout's worth miles more than a bag of beans!

[SarahJane]

This bartering malarky is THE BEST!!!

I was considering starting up a chutney and pickle buisiness, but as I work full time and can only make so much stuff, I am at the moment using it to barter and it is working really well.

So far I "swap" my products for;

other veggies that people have a glut of
having my eyebrows tinted
alcohol (from time to time)
odd jobs around the house
books (I provide chutneys and get a work colleagues books once read)

I have also "thanked" people with my products for the following;

homemade soap (thanks Maggie)
a soapstone carved candle holder
a trip to pick up some furniture for me
candles
some electrical work
dvds and cds I cant afford to buy leant to me

I also take samples into work and leave a jar out for donations and people are very generous.....

It isnt what you know, its who you know!

[mrsflibble]

I love using bartering, but it's taken me a long time to lose my fear of just asking people.

I should have a box of wool blankets coming from somewhere soon in return for an aloe vera and a bottle of cherry flibblehooch.


the only problem i find is i do a lot of it online, and tend to forget who i am meant to send stuff to and in return for what hahaha!!!

[Millymollymandy]

I've just bartered! A neighbour phoned and asked if we'd like some plums, they are good purple eating ones and as our greengages were not at all sweet this year for some really sad bizarre reason I jumped at the chance. Swapped for a lettuce, 7 cucumbers (currently have about 30 in the fridge) and a jar of my strawberries in syrup.

Turned out to be not that many plums (about 20) and now I've got to translate the strawb recipe and cucumber relish recipe into French (a nightmare) and explain how to sterilise jars in the oven - she does them in her pressure cooker which she find a big pain. We found it hard enough trying to translate my cheesecake recipe into French but my neighbour and most of this hamlet adore my cheesecake!

Aaaarrrrgggh! Mind you one of these days I'll get them into chutney and then teach them about cheddar cheese and pickle sarnies.