Do you have trouble finding local friends who share the same interests as you? I've been struggling to meet homesteading types for a while.
I sat in on an hour of the small animal auction last night even after I discovered there were no guinea eggs or keets up for sale. Yes, it's late in the year for them but I was hoping to get lucky. It was nice to rub elbows with people who dress like me and talk like me. Unfortunately, for me, it's hard to make any kind of lasting friendships at a place like that. Most of the folks had traveled over an hour to get there from every which direction.
Social media has been great for online chatting and sharing ideas and encouragement. I think I belong to about 8 homesteading groups on Facebook. And I really appreciate all the friends I've gotten by blogging. Just by commenting on a blog I was able to meet a local-ish lady who is teaching me how to spin. I was thrilled! Her homestead is beautiful and I got awestruck both times I visited. But she's also a 45 minute drive away, not someone I can have an afternoon cup of tea with.
I'm not the kind of person who hides how I live or what we do, but I usually get odd looks when I talk about it. Trying to barter for anything is like speaking a foreign language. I'm smack dab in the middle of farm country but the owners of the soybean and corn fields surrounding me all live miles away. The occupants of the few farm houses I can see plant their crops and then return to their other jobs until harvest time. They're not homesteaders, though.
I know there must be others out there- I'm not the only one buying chicken feed and bee equipment at the farm store. So where is everyone? If you're networking with like-minded locals, how did you find them?
