Columbia, MD (November 13, 2009) - A Howard County farm, Triadelphia Lake View Farm, recently added a barn quilt to its barn, making it the first in Howard County, Maryland.
Hoping to start a movement among other Howard County farms, Triadelphia Lake View Farm owners Linda, Jim, and Jamie Brown added this wonderful new addition to their farm, one of Howard County’s remaining historic and family-owned farms. The barn quilt can be viewed while driving along Triadelphia Mill Road.
A barn quilt is not an actual quilt that is hung on the side or front of a barn. It is painted directly onto the wood of the barn or painted on a wooden block and then hung on the barn. The idea for a barn quilt came from Donna Sue Groves of Adams County, Ohio. According to the Adams County Ohio Quilt Sampler Project website she created the project “in honor of her mother, Maxine, who is a master quilter.” From Ohio the idea spread to Tennessee, Iowa, and other states, which offer driving routes to see all the local designs. The project begun by Groves has also shown up in Garrett County, Maryland as a way for people to experience its agricultural and artistic heritage.
The barn quilt at Triadelphia Lake View farm emphasizes the Brown’s Christmas trees, which they began growing in 1988. Linda Brown got the idea for her quilt from pictures she had seen of other quilts in a farm magazine about a year ago.
“I just think they’re so pretty,” Linda Brown said. She noted that the design is from a quilt pattern and that the Brown women have a history of making quilts. Eventually she would like to create a smaller quilt to show off the other products her farm produces.
The quilt was created during the summer by Brown, her son Jamie Brown, Steve Boswell and Gayle Crouch. We would “work on it when we could,” said Brown. One of the most time consuming parts of creating the quilt was painting on the three coats of primer and waiting for them to dry. Originally, Linda and Jim Brown wanted to mount the quilt block on the roof of their barn. In preparation for the roof the quilt block was mounted on two pieces of wood and framed in metal. Worried about exposure to the weather and that it would not be easily viewed from the ground, the Browns decided to place the barn quilt on the front porch of their barn next to the farm’s store.
Expressing her feelings on her quilt and about Howard County’s enriched agricultural heritage, Linda Brown said “I think linking the farms in different ways is a win-win situation. People will go from farm-to-farm to see each farm's unique barn quilts.”
The Browns specialize in Christmas trees and pumpkins, and offer strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, and pork for sale at the Oakland Mills Farmers' Market. For more information on the various activities and availability of their products, visit www.tlvtreefarm.com.
About Howard County’s Agricultural Marketing Program: The Howard County Economic Development Authority’s Agricultural Marketing Program supports the development of a variety of agricultural businesses in the county. Working in partnership with state and local agencies, such as Farmland Preservation, the Authority provides assistance in promoting products, diversifying activities, and expanding markets for agri-business. Seminars in agricultural sales & marketing and farm financial management help producers enhance the economic viability of their farming operations.
The Howard County Economic Development Authority is a public-private partnership whose primary goal is to promote economic growth and stability by supporting existing businesses, targeting new businesses, and attracting corporate/regional headquarters. The Authority also maintains several programs aimed at the special needs of small, minority-owned, and agricultural business communities. Additionally, the Authority strives to preserve the distinctive quality of life in Howard County. The Authority can be reached on the Web at http://www.hceda.org.
