Yesterday I was invited to a neighbor ’s farm to see his sugarcane planting . As I ’m always game for a farm tour , I spent a couple of hour visiting and talking with him .
As we walked down the chief way together he aver “ David – how do you like my house ? ”
And there , surrounded by palms and hobo camp , I saw the strangest mansion I have ever seen in individual .
The entire structure , with the exception of the roof , was build from discarded Coca - Cola crate .
“ I live humble , ” the James Leonard Farmer told me .
I was impressed by his cleverness . The indented portion to the left is his kitchen , the rest of it is his bedroom / living expanse . The door is just a stack of crates which he pull in or out .
The kitchen has just enough space to take the air into , with crates up to just over waist summit as counters . To the back of the room is a flatulence double burner where he cooks .
Normally I would n’t put people ’s house on the net , but he said “ David , take a photo ! Put it on Facebook if you like ! ”
I laughed . The world is lofty of his work , as he should be .
Here ’s another horizon :
I asked where in the world he sire the crate . He told me that a local bottling flora drop off their contract bridge with Coca - Cola and were discarding piles of them , so he was able-bodied to aid himself .
The base is also made of crates – the short , tray - like type that you may see nominate up the porch portion of the image above .
So far as I can tell there is no electric or water flow to this property , though a river runs beneath it .
“ Do you wassail the piddle from the river , David ? ” he asked me , with a pitcher of water in his hand .
“ No , ” I replied . “ I have heard it will make you sick sometimes . ”
His brother who was sit next to me chimed in , “ Yes , it will sometimes . ”
The farmer shake his head and laughed . “ No – it ’s good for you ! You got ta drink it every dawn ! It ’s better than the water you bribe . ”
He may have a point , as the city water is chlorinated – though I would definitely moil that river water system before consuming it .
I asked if mosquitoes were a job in his home and he recount me they were n’t at all . My guesswork is they do n’t like the bright red colouring , though I ’m not sure .
“ The theatre is always cool indoors , ” he continued .
I ’m sure it is – the jungle is cool and the teemingness of air flow through the crates sure helps .
“ How did you attach these crates together ? ” I asked . “ Are they just stack ? ”
“ No – I used wire , ” he said , gesticulate at the bulwark .
The crates are indeed all wired together . I endeavor to shake one wall and it was quite stable .
The farmer look at me .
“ Do you have poor hoi polloi in the United States ? ”
“ Sort of , ” I replied . “ People who do n’t have that much money end up on governance programs for food for thought and housing and all that . They end up in areas with offense , standing in note for handouts . You ca n’t really get a composition of land and build your own house like this – you ’d get in trouble . They ’d say you were a terrible person and seek to get you to ante up for a septic tank and airwave conditioning and foregather a bunch of regulations … and then probably take your children aside if you had them . ”
He just grin .
“ When I was a kid I was misfortunate . We used sugarcane to scavenge our tooth – I did n’t get my first soup-strainer until I was 12 . ”
He effortlessly peeled a piece of sugarcane with a razor - edged machete and reach some to me . The juice was sweet and rich , full of life .
We walked down a way of life and he begin dig out a yam a fiddling ways up from the riverside , carefully breaking off the clay with his matchet to free the root .
“ One day I ’ll build another house down by the river . We ’re clear and implant now . It ’s beautiful here . The river is my jacuzzi , you see ! And there ’s food everywhere . ”
“ I have it away , ” I said . “ I ’ve also been digging yams and eating waste yield . ”
“ I care masses ate that way more , ” he said . “ Everyone is wipe out fried Solanum tuberosum and fried chicken now , instead of the good nutrient all around . That ’s why we ’re getting sicker and sicker . ”
I nod and replied , “ The soil here is excellent – anything fruit you consume is like a vitamin . ”
“ Yes ! ” he said .
“ You could build a planetary house like mine , ” he continued , carefully swipe a complete yam from the grease . “ Or David – build a tree house ! That would be even better for the kids . You or I – we could live in the trees and be felicitous . This is all you postulate . Even if a man lives in a castling it does n’t make him glad . ”
He ’s proper . A slice of land , some run water supply , a roof over your nous … and you are in somewhat in force shape .
Coca Cola crate wall are optional , of course of instruction .
