Is Your Neighbourhood a Medieval Village?

For amusement: when you look at the skill sets of the various people who live in your broad neighbourhood, do you find that you actually live in a stealth medieval village? One that is (or could be) somewhat self-contained within walking or donkey cart distance, at least in theory?

I've been casually mentioning (and amusing, or puzzling, or weirding out) my neighbours with this quirky notion. In my case (rural acreage subdivision), I find:

master tradesmen
welders
dog breeder
horse rescuer / trainer
millwright
pipefitter
car/equipment repairers
structural builders
firewood harvesters
gardeners / food preservers
firefighter
equipment operators
retired paramedic
E.R. nurse
musicians
food animal keepers (chickens, rabbits)
hunters / outdoorsmen
knife maker / blacksmith
engineer
teacher
writer
visual artist
"alternate religion" folks
natural plant knower / harvester
natural soil builder
natural pollinator whisperer
and of course the village idiot (based on his chosen behaviours).

Not bad. That doesn't include the neighbours I haven't met yet.

What's missing?

What about your neighbourhood?

Great topic.  If I were to draw a circle with a one mile Radius around my house, I would find, at a minimum:

2 Regristered nurses
1 electrician
1 mechanic
1 MD
3 grain farmers
1 cattle farmer
2 homesteaders
1 police officer

In ours, we have:
Mechanics (sm & lg engine, as well as body work)
Hunters
Fishermen
Beekeepers
Poultry (both meat & eggs) keepers
A hog keeper
A dairy/fiber goat keeper
Volunteer fireman
Med/Heavy equipment owner/operators (who also maintain our private road & each other's driveways)
Handy-people/repair-people (including appliance repairs)
Herbalist/medic (both human & animal)
Soap maker
Foragers
Gardeners
Learning blacksmith
Wood cutters/ splitters
Wool & other fiber producer
Cordage maker
Learning weaver
Sewists
Knitters & crocheters
Watch & jewelry repairs
Preservers
A personal trainer/pt


Not terrible, for 1 sparsely populated 2 mile, fairly hidden, gravel road, on which I don't know everyone.

I forgot - meat processors, a charcuterer, a chef, a baker, and a BUNCH of damn good cooks

Carla Burke wrote:I forgot - meat processors, a charcuterer, a chef, a baker, and a BUNCH of damn good cooks

*Your* neighborhood would be really bad for *my* diet!....

It's possibly dwindling a bit since we moved to our present location or just likely that the skill sets have changed a bit.

I don't know of any sheep shearers in the area now whereas we had a good one when we first arrived....a 70s + year old guy who would even (though not gladly) arrive for the morning's task only to find the owners absent.  He nonetheless would shear flocks of 20 - 30 by himself!  We never left him in that predicament and he always appreciated pie and coffee in addition to his pay at the end of the venture.

Otherwise, much the same as others have listed.

John Weiland wrote:

Carla Burke wrote:I forgot - meat processors, a charcuterer, a chef, a baker, and a BUNCH of damn good cooks

*Your* neighborhood would be really bad for *my* diet!....

Maybe - maybe not. The chef, charcuterer, and baker specialize in keto & gluten free.

LOL. I'm surrounded by people who do nails and work at beauty salons, a number of people who work sales counters, a retired truck driver, some uber drivers, and a security guard. If the zombie apocalypse comes, it's all on me and my spouse for food, farming, animals, mechanicking, welding, woodworking and general tinkering.

(we are working on getting out of here in the next couple of years and finding "our people")

You and me are in the same boat, Tereza. My neighbors are relatives or registered offenders. :/

Hey Douglas, this is a great idea. I tend to look at my neighbors and just see a bunch of retired people. But if I think in terms of the skills that they have the situation looks a lot different. Even if they can't use their skills anymore, they can teach.

Welder
Equipment Operator
Auto Technician/Teacher
Hay farmer
Hobby farmer with animals
Dog breeder
Baker
Blueberry farmers
Astronomer, with observatory!
Gardener
Canner
Teachers
Firewood gatherers
Apple pickers
Applesaucers
Machinist
Car Detailer
Retail clerk
Social worker
Airplane pilot
Painters
Artist
Electrician
Drafter
Building Designers
Plumber
Tree Surgeon/Sawmiller
Accountant

You know, there are a lot of skilled people around me.

^ Jeremy, that's an awesome list. Wow!

Hahaha this is an awesome thread.

For me:
Hard rock miner.
Timber faller / Tree climber
Rancher
Bird farmer(?)
IT tech
Welder/Fabricator
Wood worker
Tweaker!
Heavy Equipment Operator
Civil engineering tech
Retired road builder
Retired finish carpenter
Another equipment operator
Retired wierdo
Another retired wierdo
Dialysis tech
Board game designer(!)
Carpenter
Artist (painter)
Electrician
Another electrician
Millwright
Social worker


2 things:

I know everybody on my road! That makes me happy.

If it comes down to it. My village is going to be absolutely fine! Not only do we look to have a lot of diverse skills but we all get along amazingly well.

This post was an awesome idea DOuglas!!!

Douglas Alpenstock wrote:^ Jeremy, that's an awesome list. Wow!

Thanks, Douglas. And thanks for making the thread. It is already helping me create a new solution to a challenge that has been growing for awhile. You see, there is a corollary to the "Two-Income Trap" called the, "Dad's Gone at Work All Day Trap." I have a wife who is very skilled and very driven. She can do the childraising, housekeeping, cooking, gardening, preserving, laundering and socializing. But she can't do all of it at the same time. And of course the difficulty seems to arise whenever one of the children goes into "Agent of Chaos Mode" as they do. As I said, she does a really good job. But by Thursday she is often out of spoons. On weekends we can really kick butt.

So we talked about bringing in a mother's helper for a few hours once or twice a week to watch the boys and give my wife some time to cross things off the todo list. But then I would have to work longer hours at work. Which seems like going backwards.

Enter the list above. Huh, we don't have any mother's helper types in the neighborhood. But we do have teachers. What if we were to set up a one-room schoolhouse/preschool situation, for a couple of hours a week? If we shuffle some other resources around, we can make it worthwhile for everyone.

I came upon this old (2015) Mr. Money Mustache piece yesterday. I think it fits with the overall idea of this thread. It's a good read.
https://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2015/08/19/urban-tribe/

This is interesting.

One thing that makes these modern neighborhoods/villages different from their ancestral counterparts, is that back then, almost all people knew certain things.

(Tangent: I am using the word "ancestral" rather than "medieval" simply because "medieval" has such a strongly European connotation. Even though there was a medieval India, medieval Africa, medieval North America, East Asia and so on, I hope to broaden our understanding by switching the language a little bit--lots of cultures besides Western European had/have wonderful ways to look back on and remember!)

The tangent aside, in Europe, there would have been spinning of yarn in every house; likewise each would have vegetable gardens, and everyone would understand how to forage safely for wild vegetables, fruit, roots, seeds, etc. They would have understood how to make fire, too. Most people would have known some degree of woodworking, simple blacksmithing would have been common knowledge (I think?) etc. People would know how to ride horses, care for animals, grow, ferment vegetables, prune and graft trees, etc. This is because these skills were indispensable in that cultural and economic context.

Conversely, in modern times almost everyone knows how to make coffee, use a credit card, drive a car, use a smartphone, and so on, these skills replacing the older ones due to the changed cultural and economic context. I would love it if the former skills were more important to people than the latter, which would be more or less useless if not for the crazy context we find ourselves in.

Anybody else? What's out there within an easy stroll of an hour or so out your front door? Wheelbarrow distance?

I'm inclined to think you don't know your neighbours until you know what they can do. This is potentially a huge resource.

I’ve found that populated areas where people had to depend upon walking, settlements tended to be about 2-3 miles apart. From what I’ve learned about my own region of Ka’u Hawaii, that tends to be true, though individual houses were also scattered between "villages". So using 3 miles from my home as the basis for my observations, here’s the skills/trades I’ve find :

Herdsmen (sheep)
Rancher (cattle)
Orchard man (macadamia nuts)
Coffee farmer
Commercial electrician
Welder
Machinery operator (backhoe, excavator, tractor, etc)
Beekeeper
Baker
Aviator (helicopters)
National Park ranger
Poultryman
Artist
Quilter
Florist
Acupuncturist
Physical therapist
Farmer
Fisherman
Hunter
Guy who’s really good at figuring out what’s wrong with your cellphone or computer, and fix it if possible. And he helps us do things on the internet.
And me ,who is retired from veterinary medicine and now  into homesteading.

I know all almost all the neighbors within 1 mile, but after that, it’s hit n miss. So I’m missing a lot of skills that might be out there.

Being rural, my immediate area contains lots of folks who have what I’ll call "seat of the pants" skills’. Most of them have built at least part of their own houses, barns & shed, and furniture.  We put up our own fencing. Paint our own houses. Lay down tile floors. Put on a new roof. Do basic plumbing and electrical. Install a wood stove. Do minor car and appliance repairs. Chainsaw trees. Maintain the solar and water catchment systems. Butcher out an animal. Make a farm gate.  And the neighbors are very willing to help other neighbors with these tasks.

I live on the edge of a small historic village in the Cape Winelands of South Africa. Roughly 2-3km in diameter.

We have many retired folk, weirdos and not so weird and many alternative religious types too alongside many people who sit in front of their pcs all day and work remotely (my husband included)

However we do also have a ton of awesome skills
Sheep farmer (us and another guy)
I'm hoping to add spinning and fibre to what we offer in future, but I'm only just learning to spin.
Cattle farmer
Chicken (meat) farmer
We do egg farming
Horse livery and riding
Sheep shearer (leaves much to be desired, we get outside professionals in)
A traditional clay brick works
A number of builders
2 plumbers
2 electricians
A computer/network and tech guy who makes sure all the old retired folk can use their smartphones and computers (amongst other things)
An African traditional healer and herbalist
A number of tai chi, yoga, reiki and other teachers and practitioners
Many artists
2 potters
A natural pool and water system designer and builder (also a permie)
A permaculture designer & consultant
15 architects (!)
An Austrian baker
2 different caterers who make and deliver ready made home cooked meals day/weekly
A small scale market gardener
A beekeeper (also me)
A snake remover
A number of teachers (small waldorf school)
An elderly knife sharpener
An elderly welder who is somewhat unhinged but eventually gets the job done
A beeswax candle maker
A seamstress
An artistic shoemaker
A musician who runs a theatre venue bistro and is married to the most incredible chef
A few baristas who work at the coffee shop
Some very knowledgeable gardeners and tree pruners
A personal trainer
A fuel station owner who operates the 2 pump filling station)
A couple of millionaires who saunter in and out and a home or two elsewhere but like to support all the local charities working with the lower socio economic seasonal farm labourers
And we are surrounded by olive farmers, stone fruit farmers, wine grape farmers and tomato farmers and lots of guesthouses.

I do wish we had a blacksmith and a better welder...
The mechanic is on a farm 30 min drive away, but enjoys a good drive to work on site if needed.
The butcher immigrated and now lives in Canada, so we drive 20 min to the nearest one if needed.

The most  incredible carpenter lives about 45 mins away but spends a lot of time camping on our farm (she rents workshop space from us) when working on local projects, as she is well known and sought after in the village. Eventually we are hoping she can build herself a cabin on our farm.

Not too shabby I'd say... We've got ourselves a good little spot here.