Homesteaders may disagree on the best make and model of tractor or which species of goat produces the best milk. But there is one thing on which nearly everyone agrees — the usefulness of a blue tarp.
When all else fails and things are looking their worst, it’s the trusty blue tarp that often comes to the rescue. The blue tarp is ubiquitous on the rural Maine landscape.
A blue tarp is a homesteader’s best friend, and coupled with duct tape and/or baling twine, it’s nearly invincible.
Officially, it’s a tarpaulin — “tarp” for short. It is typically made of UV-protected, waterproof, tear-resistant plastic material.
The blue tarp is by far the most common one, but the coverings come in other colors. In fact, tarps are color-coded according to best use.
Blue and brown tarps are for basic everyday use from covering up firewood to placing under a camping tent as a ground cloth.
Brighter yellow, orange or red tarps are used to add visibility to an area. So if you want to make sure no one runs over or hits something important, toss one of these tarps over it.
White or silver tarps reflect sunlight and heat so are great for offering shade and sun protection.
Finally, black or dark gray tarps absorb sunlight and can also keep things cool. The advantage here is they do it without blinding people with reflected light. These darker tarps also tend to be the heaviest duty of them all.
They even come in designer styles like desert camouflage or with fancy outdoor scenes on them.
I’ve long lost count of how many tarps — mostly blue — I’ve purchased over the years. Or in how many sizes. From the diminutive five-by-seven-footer that makes a great ground cloth for camping to the massive 50-by-50-foot one that served as a temporary roof one winter after a storm tore off the wood and shingles on an outbuilding.
I’ve wrapped straw bales in blue tarps to keep them dry and folded the coverings over firewood for the same reason. When it came time to process chickens, a large tarp under the butchering area made cleanup a breeze.
When frigid temperatures caused the diesel in my tractor to gel, I fired up a propane heater, set it near the tractor and encased the entire thing in blue tarps. A couple hours later, the diesel was thawed and the tractor was good to go.
There’s a woman in central Maine who used a white tarp to cover an old above-ground pool, turning it into a greenhouse.
Since you can never have too many storage buildings on a farm or homestead, fitting a tarp around some metal or PVC poles makes a nifty temporary shed.
If you doubt the popularity of blue tarps in Maine, simply walk down the hardware aisle of any Mardens store in the state. Shelves are dedicated to the tarps at costs so low, I am not sure I have ever walked out of Mardens without one tucked under my arm.
Sure, the new tarp may remain unopened for an indefinite period of time, but when it comes to these plastic sheets I’d rather have one and not need it than the other way around.
Of course, opening and using a new blue tarp the first time does mean that, at some point, you are likely going to have to fold it back up again for storage — perhaps under yet another blue tarp.
Those of you old enough to remember using foldable maps on road trips understand the futility of even attempting to refold a blue tarp back to its original state. I’m not sure it’s humanly possible.
What is possible is laying it completely flat, which is tricky on a windy day, and then folding it into thirds and then in half and, if it’s a really big tarp, into thirds again. It’s sort of blue tarp origami.
When it’s narrow enough, you then roll it up, tie several lengths of twine around it to keep it from unraveling and then call it good.
It’s entirely possible in the process you roll up whatever critters have made a home in the tarp and decided to remain. Slugs, snakes and beetles in particular find blue tarps prize real estate.
And if those critters manage to damage your tarp over time? Not to worry — there are plenty more on the shelves at Mardens. Probably on sale.
