About

Welcome to the Homestead

Who is Floyd Family Homestead

Floyd Family Homestead was established in Central Oklahoma in March of 2013 with a dream to leave the hustle and bustle of busy life behind in search of a simpler more sustainable way of life that is more in tune with nature.

One of the main questions we are always asked is what is a modern homesteader? well I saw this picture the other day on Facebook and I really wish I knew who the creator was to give credit too but this is perfect description of a Modern Day Homesteader:

I wish I knew who created this as I would shake their hand as this is perfect.

So yes we are Modern Day Homesteaders and we come from a very long line of homesteaders dating back to the 1600’s in Stonington Connecticut. The Floyd Family lineage also includes historical figures traced back to William Floyd (CT) and William Williams (NY) who signed the Declaration of Independence in 1776. However In 2013 the descendants of this historical family set their sights on 7 acres of land in Oklahoma to begin their journey.

Clearing Trees for the Garden.

There was a lot of work to be done: brush to be cleared, fences to go up, beds to be dug and animals to raise… but we were up for the challenge.

We knew what we wanted and like any homesteader just starting off, we took it one day at a time, but still keeping the vision in our heads. Already we have had our setbacks, our hard lessons and our victories but we never forget to be thankful each and every day for what we have.

As our homestead began to grow we added more and more and still adding more and more today, it is a never ending cycle but it is a cycle that is in harmony with nature. We utilize what nature is providing along with some creativity, ingenuity and old fashioned elbow grease to carve out our Heaven on Earth.

Our Garden:

Our garden is one of our focal points and is slowly but surely getting set up. We began the major over haul this year. Since Covid has kept everyone home it has been the perfect time to do so.

The fenced area for the garden is just under a 1/4 of an acre. So we decided to split the area in half with a hedgerow. On the southern side is the actual garden you see here. and the other side (through the hoop trellis) will be the area for our mini vineyard.

We are utilizing regenerative agriculture techniques for our garden, which in the simplest of terms is a no-till, organic system that builds the microbial life in the soil so that they grow the plants stronger, healthier and more nutritious than store bought alternatives.

We are attempting this upcoming year (2021) to be able to split our produce 3 ways: 1 – For our own consumption & canning; 2 – To utilize to barter for Fresh Fish and Grassfed Beef; 3 – To donate to our local food pantry to help feed the food insecure in our area.

Here is the video of our last garden update: Garden Update 5-21-2020

Our Chickens:

Initially we had 24 heritage breed chickens (Here is a post about heritage breeds) that we let run free in an 2 acre plot we had fenced off. However slowly but surely foxes, owls and hawks picked them all off, one at a time. So last year (2019) my father came out to visit and we built a chicken run. Here is the video on the chickens moving in day: Moving Day

So our girls now are Barred Rocks and the main reason I went with them is they are very consistent brown egg layers and do get up to a decent meat size for when they stop producing eggs.

This winter I will be building a small chicken tractor that I can pull around the inside of the garden fence line for the Cornish Cross meat birds.

We do not know what the future will hold for us here on the Homestead, as we all know that life in itself is very unpredictable but what we do know that for now we continue to strive for a more sustainable life, a more self sufficient life all the while remembering to stop once and a while and just enjoy the view…

So if you are ever in our neck of the woods, we are always around, always enjoy good company and we will make sure that the sweet tea is perfect for ya… just look for our sign…