Bartering

Since we have a couple of quite productive hens, we often give away boxes of eggs to friends and family. In the summer months the giving often extends to fruit and vegetables that we have grown ourselves.  However I have only once bartered, out of desperation one weekend when I had friends coming over for lunch and needed a leek for the recipe.  You may be wondering why I hadn't planned a lunch party more carefully and bought all of the necessary ingredients before the night before!  Well I had, I thought, until I realised that the last leek had already been used.  So quick thinking sent me rushing around to my neighbours who have an allotment.  They are lovely, and happily accepted my proposal of swapping a couple of leeks for a box of our eggs. Everyone a winner!  I was so excited!!  It was really satisfying obtaining goods in exchange for others that we had produced, and with no money changing hands!  I think I was probably born in the wrong century...

I was in my element this morning, out in the crisp autumn air; the blues skies and leaves on the ground enticed me to get out into the garden and deal with some of our summer pots that needed clearing out and preparing for spring bulbs.  The icing on the cake, for me, was having a cup of coffee and listening to the Food Programme on Radio 4.  It was a very appropriate listen, because today's episode was on "How to waste less food".  It was very inspiring, discussing innovative people all around Britain who are joining the food revolution in their own ways (including a co-operative in London who have asked a chef to create delicious dishes out of nearly-out-of-date food that will otherwise end up as waste).  One company that I liked the sound of, partly because of the name, is Rubies in the Rubble. They collect unwanted fruit and vegetables from Spitalfields Market and turn them into delicious chutneys and preserves.  Similarly, The Garden Cider Company in Surrey make use of their community's glut of apples, turning them into cider, giving their donors part of the produce and selling some as well.