Now that my husband is working at his "home repair" business, he is learning to do some of the things I've been trying to do for years! At a remodeling job, he was given two older wooden doors that were kind of flemsy. He used them to make the dogs a shelter from the sun in their fenced area! Then he came in today and told me he had told another guy he would install a door closer for him in exchange for a 10 feet long light fixture that he plans to install in the rabbit house we are building adjacent to the barn! (I had already bartered for a screen door for the rabbit house by phoning in to a guy who had one like new just lying around in his garage and advertised it on the local radio station's free swap shop!!!)

Through the years I think he thought I was pretty weird when I traded some PR work for a motorcycle group for a hair cut; and then later got another hair trim by trading six big red tomatoes! I think he's really beginning to "get into" this now!!!

What are some of the trades or barters you have done????

-- Suzy in 'Bama (slgt@yahoo.com), June 20, 2000

Answers

How interesting! We've never bartered in such unique ways, but we have traded eggs for fiddle lessons. We've also bartered our homeschooling services and books for electrical work. We've traded dead meat chickens for live laying hens. Again we traded homeschooling services and books for animal feed and moose meat. Once we even cut some logs into lumber in exchange for their son to help us process chickens for a day! Happy bartering!!

-- Abigail F. (treeoflife@sws.nb.ca), June 21, 2000.

Making curtains for a neighbor got me a gravity wagon of oats and loaning out my brush hog got me mechanical work on my Oliver mower. Moved my oldest sister this weekend and boy does she owe me, haven't decided what yet but it better be good. What a lot of work!!! I've been really lucky bartering, sometimes you can get someone who never does their share and it's really hard to determine the value (in work or product) of some things sometimes. Wish I could find a trustworthy person to live in the trailer on the farm and help with chores but I think that's going to be difficult, nobody wants to do physical work anymore.

-- Betsy (betsyk@pathwaynet.com), June 21, 2000.

I won't make this a long post, but it could be! My friend owns a tool rental place, I barter bookeeping hours, for (major tool)rental hours, also I sell stuff for him on ebay. Honey is a roofer. We have traded anything you can possibly imagine, for a new roof! Vehicles, painting, tiling-the list is endless. I have a knack for organizing/cleaning, we have bartered vacation time in cabins and condos, for cleaning the place up-spring open and fall close are usually the ticket, my favorite times of year! I'm a 'junker', high end, of course-so if you tell me you need/want this or that, I'll find it for you. The cost? hmmm. "You own a what? A Deli? I think that amounts to $50 in 'merch', thanks!" The barter system is older than any of us ever want to be! It's not Taxed! and it works great!

-- Kathy (catfish@bestweb.net), June 21, 2000.

Betsy--where do you live? How big is your farm?

-- Kathleen (KathleenRoberts@webtv.net), June 24, 2000.