Hi Travis,
Bartering is very strong in our little valley and it seems to be the oil that makes our community run smoothly. lt's not even like: I have this, can I exchange it for that, but more like: here, have this (with no expectations) and sooner or later something that you need comes your way.
For instance, I have far more eggs than I need, so every now and then, as we pass our neighbour's barn we drop a few boxes on his doorstep, so when the time comes, he happily does the horses and donkeys' hooves for us and saves us a few hundred euros. He is refurbishing his barn and one morning when we saw him alone on his roof, we stopped and helped him, 2 weeks later, out of the blue, he gave us a large, very much needed, beautiful handmade laundry basket (he is a basket maker). When my
local farmer/friend needed to get 2 feisty horses an hour's drive away, she asked us to drive a horse van (borrowed) to go and get them, which we happily did. The next time we went to her farm to buy some meat and cheese, she refused any payment and added a couple of home brewed beers as a freebie. We have the free use of 10 hectares (24 acres) of pasture for the animals with the unspoken understanding that we maintain the land, fences and gates. We are only a phone call away from any help either for
chopping wood, storing hay before a storm, dispatching a couple of pigs or 3 dozen
chickens, always done with good will and a good excuse to have a meal together (a big thing in France - the meal that is!). The exchange might surprise you: some honey when your hives perished over the winter, caring for your animals for a few days when you need to go away or you are not well, a couple of fruit trees going spare or any number of things. I could go on and on really.
I guess, here, it started out of frugality many generations ago because our valley is very poor. In fact, people are so poor that no one noticed the 2008 financial crash, it didn't make that much difference. For me though, bartering is more than frugality but a very practical acknowledgement of the last 2 principles of
Permaculture: People care and Sharing the surplus, be it produce, skills or time. At least, that's the way I feel. I am so glad that it is working for you and your community, I, for one, hope that it grows and spreads.