in our feature segment today we have a
farm week flashback from three years ago
if you had some spare time what would
you do with it one Mississippi Delta
Farm manager uses his to give expression
to his creative side Dudley Pleasants of
Greenwood is known locally as the Bottle
Tree man he's found out there's interest
Nationwide in this Southern tradition
which came originally from Africa Farm
week's artist Ford
reports
[Music]
Dudley Pleasants of Greenwood
Mississippi is not a one-dimensional
person he's a musician an artist and his
day job is agriculture Pleasants has
managed a farm for Billy Whittington
since the mid 1980s I came to work for
Mr Whittington about 23 years ago and
and I'm the farm manager here was
roughly about 3,800 Acres we grow co uh
cotton soy beans and corn Pleasants
however is known increasingly by his
moniker the Bottle Tree man he's making
and selling the yard art Nationwide via
a website it's a success story 10 years
in the making I mean the bottle trees
have been around forever okay I did not
invent the bottle trees uh but uh
since I've started the Bottle Tree
Business you're starting to see them
spring up everywhere and it's a kind of
a fad that's going on into to think that
I started that fad you know or bottle
trees are familiar to Mississippi Delta
residents it's an African Congo
tradition documented as early as the 9th
century when African slaves were brought
to the United States the tradition came
with them and it's found from Texas to
South Carolina they would Place colored
objects around their relatives grave
sites in order to ward off the evil
spirits and then during the slave trade
that tradition migrated to the Southern
United States and the slaves would Place
uh colored bottles in
trees upside down and in hopes that the
evil spirit would go up inside the
bottle and be trapped Pleasants got the
idea to make a metal Bottle Tree when he
saw a milk churn filled with steel rod
topped by bottles he made one for his
wife friends asked for their own and the
Bottle Tree man was born around 1997
Pleasants and another Farm manager
friend John Sabin began building the
trees as a wintertime Enterprise Sabin
gave up farming recently to become a
missionary so Pleasant's father Hal is
helping him when John Sav
left and I volunteered but I I can't run
a steady bead anymore like I used to uh
this new welder that we've got this new
wire welder and the new helmets it makes
it pretty easy though Pleasants offers
three sizes a large 5ft tall bottle tree
a small bottle bush about half the size
of the tree and a new one a foot tall
called a baby Bush suitable for indoor
use the tree is 125 the bush is
75 and the baby is 40 and then you've
add Bott
whatnot Greenwood resident Susan tingle
is a fan of Pleasants bottle trees she
has three in her yard what do you like
about the bottle trees you have three of
them because they're pretty they're
unusual they're uh part of the history
of the Delta I just enjoy looking at
them new stories on Pleasants have been
circulated Nationwide in recent years as
a result Pleasants has found bottle
trees appeal to people from California
to New
[Music]
York Pleasants playing the Mississippi
delta blues harmonica is another
southern tradition available on the
Bottle Tree website Pleasants will bless
your tree with a recording of Amazing
Grace I got involved in playing the
harmonica and uh at the age of 18
and uh have traveled all around the
United States doing it uh that's another
thing that's amazing to me what a little
Harmon Monica uh will do if not a lot of
people that play the
harmonica Pleasants is also trying his
hand at graphic art design turnrow
bookstore of Greenwood has a custom sign
Pleasants made by cutting the store's
name into a truck hood tahachi Flats
just outside Greenwood commissioned a
sign from Pleasants the roofing ton sign
fits the style of the renovated tenant
houses which were available for
short-term Hotel style
rentals the only way I can explain it is
Jesus has got a plan for me and he's
really taken care of me uh it's no other
way to explain it Pleasants credits any
of his success to God some say the fact
he's even alive is a miracle at the age
of 16 Pleasants was burned severely when
a pickup truck caught fire while he was
fueling it pickup truck was on I had was
on butane on and uh of course uh I was
filling the truck up one day and the
truck caught on fire and and I was
burned uh on 100% of my body uh I think
75 to 80% of it was third degree and I
spent five months in the Greenville Burn
Unit and had skin graft and physical
therapy in the whole nine
yards Pleasant says the growing
popularity of his bottle trees is a
two-edged sword it's good to see but
he's busy between the farm and the
bottle trees it's just uh pushed me to
the limit so to say as you well know I'm
a musician and so I'm used to running
late hours and instead of running uh the
highway at late hours now I'm just
spending most of my time in the shop and
uh of course I'm lucky to have a boss
man who is involved in the Arts and uh
works with me I ask God to help me be a
success in this business and he's just
he's leading he's got the ball he's
running with it and so I'm just
uh following along behind I can't
explain
it you can watch this story again on our
farmweek website at
farmweek.msucares.c we'll have a link to
Dudley Pleasant's web the Bottle Tree
man.com
and Leon U artist got in touch with
Dudley last week and he says he's still
farming and his bottle tree business has
not uh Stood Still and he's also
developed some new vers including a
chandelier Bottle Tree and there's also
a small bottle tree called the
hummingbird and naturally it does feed
hummingbirds sounds interesting thanks
Amy