Our Homestead Story
Growing and Building our little Village
This homestead didn’t appear overnight. It’s been built one fence post, garden bed, and chicken coop at a time (97% of by yours truly). What started as a shift toward living closer to the land has turned into a patchwork of animals, food, and projects that never really seem to stop.
From Farm Plans to Crazy Chicken Lady Reality
In 2022, this started as Westholme Farmstead. The plan looked a lot more structured on paper than it ever did in practice – vegetables in rows, dairy goats for milk and soap, chickens for eggs, maybe pigs eventually.
As it turns out, my heart wasn’t built for the traditional farming model. I couldn’t bring myself to cull unproductive hens or send extra roosters away to be butchered. I wanted to keep them. All of them! So the hens stay even after they quit laying, the roosters all stay even though it’d be far easier with just one of them, and the “farm plan” shifted into something else entirely.
Over time I’ve learned that, even if the place does look like a farm with all of the coops out there, I’m less “farmer” and more “crazy chicken lady with a serious coop addiction, too many roosters, and a somewhat respectable garden”.
You know what, though? That’s totally ok too.
What grew here instead of the farm I dreamed of was something even more meaningful.
Why Roots, Roost & Rafter?
The name change came from needing something that actually describes what’s here now. Our new name, Roots, Roost & Rafter, removes the “farm” implications of our former name and it fits like a well-worn glove:
🥕 “Roots” for the gardens and for grounding ourselves in the homesteading life.
🐓 “Roost” for our spoiled flocks and all things chicken or goose.
🔨 “Rafter” for the never-ending projects and builds – both online at Rafter Forge and in real life.
It keeps the focus on what’s actually happening here instead of what was originally planned.
Meet the “Chicken Lady”
I’m Krystal – builder, gardener, designer, and chief chicken/goose wrangler around here.
My husband, Gary, and our son, Zack, jump in when I need an extra set of hands, but most days you’ll find me tending the garden, chatting with the birds, or sketching out something I want to build. I wear a lot of hats around here and, yes, most of them have pine shavings stuck to them.
When I’m not checking on the chickens or working on (yet another) coop build, you can find me working on some sort of graphic or web design project, reading a good book, homeschooling the kiddo, or just relaxing outdoors with a cup of coffee while the geese chew on me like I’m a snack.
I’m almost always somewhere on the homestead – this is my happy place and I rarely ever leave.
Growing with Care
I’m passionate about growing produce organically and rely on natural methods of pest control. Every fruit and vegetable I grow is nurtured without the use of chemical fertilizers or pesticides – just good soil, sunshine, LOTS of chicken and goose compost, and patience.
From spring planting to fall harvest to preserving the bounty, the garden keeps us full of fresh veggies year-round.
** Please note that I have scaled back the gardens for the 2026 growing season and do not expect to have extra produce available this year.
Wattlesford: The Chicken Village
Wattlesford is what the chicken setup has turned into over time – multiple coops spread across the property, each with its own small flock.
The birds spend their days scratching for bugs, pecking at greens, and soaking up the sunshine, rewarding us with the healthiest eggs possible.
Our little chicken village is made up of eleven coops that are filled with five roosters, a mated pair of geese, and more hens than than I’ll publicly admit to!