Bartering on the Urban Homestead

Bartering is a good thing. Actually, it's a great thing—especially in today's economy when so many of us are trying to cut costs and pinch pennies.

This past week, my friend, Sydney, and I made another successful barter. She gets a weekly CSA share from Bee Heaven Farm, a local organic farm in the Redlands, and knew she and her family were going out of town for a week. That meant she was going to miss her weekly CSA share pickup and she didn't want it to go to waste. She's been short on eggs of late because her backyard chickens are molting, and she knew from my Facebook posts that I've got a surplus. So she contacted me to see if I was willing to make a swap and, boy, am I glad I was.

Look at what was in the share:

Bee Heaven Farm CSA Share

I have never tried callaloo or roselle before, but I can't wait. By the way, roselle is another name for sorrel, and is usually made into a beverage of some sort like tea. In Jamaica, it's used to make a special Christmas drink, and my friend, Dorothy Kew, kindly sent me what look to be 2 delicious recipes for it. I'll let you know how it turns out.

This swap really worked out wonderfully for me. My urban homestead garden isn't yet producing enough to start feeding us this year, so instead of having to make my weekly trip to Whole Foods, I got enough fresh produce to last us at least a week and didn't have to pay a thing. The Asian eggplant were delicious in a Moroccan chicken dish I made 2 nights ago.

So remember to consider the time-honored tradition of bartering if you have a product or service to offer. It keeps things local and saves money.

Does anyone have a good recipe for callaloo?