The story of The Hare
Meet the Farmer
Olivia and her husband left the city in 2020 and moved to Lakeville seeking simplicity and a reconnection to nature. Fueled by dreams of a sustainable, honest, and humble life they broke ground on their new plot of land. Using recycled materials, old world farm innovation and hard work, they laid the foundation for Hare's Paw Farm.
The Hare Symbolizes new beginnings, abundance, and strength.
Olivia Thomes has over 10 years of animal welfare experience in addition to leading teams and teaching in fields ranging from academia, entrepreneurship, system administration, general healthcare, and outdoor, farm, and digital learning.
As a little girl she foraged for hours and made mud pies and potions, offering them as suitable dinner appetizers and healing remedies, rambling off how each ingredient was fresh from the land. She’d rescue baby bunnies and turtles from the road, providing them sanctuary in her room until they were well enough to return to their true home.
In her early years she watched her mother in the kitchen hang homemade tzatziki from the cabinets overnight. Olivia would curiously join her in pulling weeds from the Hollyhocks garden in their front yard. They built and posted a wooden birdfeeder, painted with fine detail, to encourage the blue jays and red cardinals to visit their home. Nature was her playground and classroom.
At the age of eight her mother passed away. Olivia made the move to the city to live with family, but her roots stayed true as she grew. She assisted her aunt in a new garden, proudly posting the birdfeeder she had made with her mother as a place of remembrance and to welcome new life each season. She continued to learn how to cook and bake by assisting her family in their kitchens, collected and read books on herbalism, and found that she still had the urge to fill her room with animals no matter how old or how far up in the cooperate ladder she got.
Fortunately, she learned how to care for animals and the importance of hard work by positioning herself on farms throughout the years. It was because of these core passions that Olivia always knew she wanted a farm of her own - that little girl had a vision. The idea of simple, healthy, and true living filled her like nothing else could. These were the stepping blocks to finalizing her decision to create Hare's Paw Farm.
Olivia is also a published poet and writing instructor with degrees in Literature & Creative Writing. She has founded her own literary journal where she publishes creative writing and music: