impressed

I am impressed; impressed with the level of community at the farm. Neighbors help each other here. They share tools, run errands for one another, and lend a hand with personal projects. I can’t say I have ever experienced the level of neighborly care that I have witnessed here. In Amsterdam we lived in extremely close proximity to our neighbors and yet people stayed to themselves. Neighbors did not talk to each other much or even acknowledge one another. Here, neighbors live quite a bit apart from one another, yet they stop by for a chat, offer help with a task, or stop to see how things are going. It's a beautiful thing. It’s a real community.

I am also impressed with the bartering. The people in the area barter for all kinds of stuff. They barter for their marketing, farm work, mechanical work, pickled products, and baby sitting. And I am sure there is more. The community trades their services for other services and it works. It’s an alternate economy. I am impressed.