perchance it ’s the urban center girl in me , but I ’ve always had a affair for classic red barn .
I find them so romantic . I love my barns old , creaky , and weather condition - worn . Every clock time we pass them out in the countryside , I always imagine myself as a muck boot - wear out farm gal … pitching hay , tail shote , grooming llama , milk goats . I opine the only thing that keeps me from sic up shop is the fact that I ’m not an other riser at all . I ’d end up milk my goats at noon and midnight !
While barn can be painted any semblance at the notion of the owner , we most often link red with traditional wooden barn . The image of rural Americana is found all over the land , most especially in the Northeast and Midwest . But how did the red barn come to be , and why do so many farmer still choose the colour red ?
lease ’s go back — right smart back — to the first American settlements in the 17th century . In the early days , barns were n’t paint at all , and they were n’t nearly as expectant as they are today . The innovator barn were meticulously map and built from well - seasoned hand - hewn woodland meant to withstand the test of time . Since commercial-grade resource were non - existing , Fannie Merritt Farmer were careful to place their b with regard to the direction of the sun , wind , and water drainage — consideration that assist in naturally shielding their barns from the chemical element .
As land practices and attitudes evolved , so did these age - quondam grammatical construction method acting . b switch from traditional timber frames to more efficient ( and scotch ) truss - compose and board - framed buildings , requiring granger to attempt newfangled substance to protect the wood from inclement conditions .
They feel that flaxseed oil , a yellowish - dark-brown oil extracted from flaxseed , worked well as a preservative since it was body of water repellent . ( The natural finish is still used today in a variety of applications . ) By the eighteenth century , barns took on a burnt orange tree hue as farmer coated them with a mixture of linseed oil colour , skimmed milk , and linden , a compounding that hardened quickly and result in a long-wearing plastic - like photographic film . Though the homemade wood sealant held up to rain and sun , it unfortunately did n’t protect against decay due to fungus kingdom .
After realise that rust fungus was an good agent against clay sculpture , farmers bug out tot ferrous oxide ( otherwise known as eat Fe ) to the sealer . Ferric oxide was abundant and inexpensive , as it could be sourced from the ground . It also call on the sealant red , pave the way to the “ barn violent ” we get laid today .
The nineteenth century project the introduction of mass - produced paints with pigments , which rise to be more convenient and just as functional . “ Barn crimson ” remain democratic as farmers began coating their barns in red paint — firstly as a throwback to tradition , and secondly , red paint was cheaper , plain and simple . ( Why was it cheaper ? If you ’re the type that loves to decipher the mystery of the universe , Yonatan Zunger at Googlehas an answer for you . And it ’s a material brain curve ball ! ) scarlet paint was also discover to warm the b better in winter , as the dark color imbibe more of the sun ’s rays .
These days , b amount in a full range of color ( admit my next favorite look , the whitewashed barn ) and even stuff , with most forward-looking barns made of blade . But the traditional red barn is — and always will be — firmly frozen in Americana .
All images learn onThe CSA Cookbook Road Trip . particular thanks toIdaho Department of Commerce , Wisconsin Department of Tourism , Vermont Department of Tourism and Marketing , andBerkshire Visitors Bureaufor their traveling assistance .
