Tobacco Barn

"Step 6. Air cure the tobacco in the barn for about 8 weeks. This allows all the moisture to be released from the tobacco leaf. It will change color during this period." How to Harvest Tobacco

After looking at the pictures from this day, it occured to me that I'd never before seen a pale blue tobacco barn. Apparently, a painted barn was something more common among the Pennsylvania farmers, as opposed to the Southern Maryland farmers who didn't have the extra money to spend on the aesthetics of an out building.

Red - a color complimentary to the fall landscapes that are the backdrop to post-harvest drying period for the crop - is the most common color for painted barns. Blue, on the other hand, is a color more rare in nature. There is the blue sky, but that is the result of light that is absorbed by gas molecules and radiated in different directions. Blueberries are actually more purple than blue. And even the bluebird is rare and fleeting. So why is this barn blue? A statement? A lone hold out in a county that overwhelmingly turned away from its identifying crop in the 2000 Tobacco Buyout ("Eighty six percent of the 1998 eligible tobacco has been taken out of production forever for human consumption as 877 growers have taken Maryland's Tobacco Buyout by January 2005. This represents 7.80 million pounds of tobacco and 94% of the producers," So. Maryland So Good)?

What ever the reason for the blue barn, it is one of the prettiest among the many that dot agricultural landscapes waiting for a new life.