What is old is made anew.

 

Bartering; a word that is almost never used anymore. Our forefathers used this system as a means to get the necessities they needed. Money wasn't needed until someone realized that they couldn't get taxes out of bartering so the bartering system started leaving our society a little at a time till now it's almost never used.

There is a group of people that want to bring back the barter system or as it's now called barter based.

Yummy baking that was up for trade.

I was perusing through Facebook a few months ago when someone was asking if there were any people interested in giving classes, whether it was knitting, soap making etc... through the barter based system. Several people, OK really, a lot of people were interested. I was still skeptical, but I kept following the group and seeing how things were going. Honestly, I didn't think it they were going to make a go at it. But I was still intrigued...so I signed up for Tri-County Folk School first Maker's Swap. I snagged tickets for my mom and I (they were of course free) and off we went. The maker's swap is a way of meeting other people and swapping goods that you make yourself. So you bring with you 1-3 items to put on the table. To make a long story short, you each pick a number out of a bowl and when your number is called you go and take something from the table. This goes on until everything is gone.

After the event I sat down with the brainchild that had been inquiring several months ago if anyone was interested in barter based learning, Dyrfinna Inn Irski.

Dyrfinna and her partner are not from the area, they are originally from Ontario and have been living in the area for the last 3 years. She was always interested in the barter system and there is a barter based learning group in Annapolis. Her and her partner traveled there many times to take the classes even though it was a long way, but that's how passionate she is about the system.

Then while she was recovering from Covid, that's when she decided to see how many people from this area would be interested in trying it. She was blown away by the response! That's when she started the Tri-County Folk School bartering for life skills group.

Some of the items up for grabs

There are 3 classes a month that are usually held at the Kaye Nickerson Adult Learning Centre in Yarmouth. So far there have been classes in processing chickens, making soap, meditation and the list goes on and on. The plan is simple, she announces the class, time and location. If you're interested, you go on Eventbright to reserve your ticket (this is done so she can keep track of the amount of people). There is a description of what you can expect and what the teacher would like to barter their knowledge for. Usually it's items like, homemade soaps, baked goods, eggs etc... and also to bring something for the food bank. It's that simple. No need to complicate things, no money is ever exchanged, it's simply just bartered.

I asked Dyrfinna if there were any issues in the system and the only one was trying to find a space to do the classes but other than that, everyone so far has loved the way it's done. You don't need to be an expert to teach a class, you just need to be willing to share your knowledge with others. She wants to make bartering normal again. I think she's going to succeed because I'm now a convert and I'm going to be teaching my first class in a few weeks! She's also trying to find a space in Clare to expand the group.

The goodies I came home with.

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