Creating a Community

Adding other homesteaders to your community increases your skill set and bartering capabilities.  While I am very cautious about who I add to my community, I am all for increasing strength in numbers.  We recently added a couple who have chickens to barter for eggs.  We have a few skills they need in exchange for fresh grass fed eggs.  It's great to add people who have a skill set you don't have to either learn it from them or to barter for their use.  I know nothing about hunting or animal husbandry.  I have friends who do.  Therefore, I pick their brain and share with them some of the skills I have.

Be careful of who you add.  For me, there are two different types of homesteaders.  The ones who want to live a sustainable life style who are prepared for emergencies and the tin-foil hat wearing crazies who use homesteading as an excuse to stock pile an arsenal to wait out the end of the world.  Don't get me wrong.  I am ALL about the 2nd Amendment.  Protection of your life and property is every citizen's right and responsibility.  Just be careful.  There are a lot of nuts out there, and I am not a squirrel.