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Aloha! E como mai! This is Hillside Farm Hawaii, a very small backyard 'micro-farm' on the Island of Hawaii. When we started 'Hillside Farm Hawaii' we were a real farm on a real hillside. It was some lovely leased farmland on, well, you guessed it - a hillside here in Hawaii.
We weren't very good farmers, though. We grew sweet potatoes and the night before we went to harvest them, the feral pigs came in and roto-tilled the whole field and ate all the sweet potatoes. Too bad they couldn't have done all that rototilling before we'd planted the sweet potatoes. We grew corn and pretty much the same thing happened. I did have loads of fun playing with the backhoe, but as far as profitable farming went, the only thing actually making any money was Hula Bunny yarn from the angora bunnies. They weren't even on the actual leased farmland but in our backyard at home which was also on a hillside. Since we'd already started using the name 'Hillside Farm Hawaii', we kept the 'farm' name, gave up the leased farmland and concentrated on backyard 'micro-farming' with the fuzzy English angora bunnies.
The bunnies here are technically 'livestock', just like tiny little sheep. So, I guess they're 'micro-sheep'. Woot! I wonder if the bunnies would be offended if they ever found out they were livestock? They're exceptionally cute and cuddly livestock. Maybe shepherds hug their sheep all the time, I dunno, but there's lots of bunny hugs around here.
Since we're not very good sweet potato farmers we've become yarn farmers instead. Hmm, bunnies are livestock, so are we yarn ranchers instead of yarn farmers? In any case, we're now focusing on yarn production instead of being worried about feral pigs eating everything.
The prime reason we have these terribly cute and fabulously fuzzy bunnies is to provide exquisite fiber for our Hula Bunny yarn. We are hoping to make the softest, fuzziest, absolutely insanely most luscusious yarn on the planet. Maybe even the universe! However, we're just a few bunnies in the backyard on a hillside in Hawaii so those may be some grandiose plans. The bunnies don't mind, though, as long as they get loads of ti leaves and other tasty things, they're happy enough to change leaves into fiber for any sort of grandiose plans we come up with. Bunnies are really mellow as long as there's tasty things around. Actually, they're pretty mellow most of the time and even when they're grumpy a ti leaf will usually cheer them up. Originally, the really soft 100% English angora "Hillside Farm Yarn" was spun by hand using an Ashford Traditional spinning wheel. However, the demand for fuzzy bunny yarn was far greater than my ability to make it fast enough, so now we have some lovely folks with a small commercial "mini-mill" spin the fluff into yarn for us. They live on the mainland, but since there's no fiber mills here in Hawaii, we don't have any options other than to have it done on the mainland. The yarn is named "Hula Bunny Yarn" for the fuzzy bunnies here since during their haircut, there's a period of time when they look like they're wearing a hula skirt and are then 'hula bunnies'. Having the mini-mill folks helping us with the yarn production, that means when you buy a skein of Hula Bunny Yarn, you are not only getting some insanely soft yarn to make into wonderful things, but you're also supporting the fuzzy bunnies here as well as the folks who help us make the bunny fluff into yarn. That's a lot of multi-tasking for one skein of yarn!
Currently, as of June 2023, there's rumors of a possible fiber mill here on this island. The rumor is that it won't be set up for a few years, yet, but at some point relatively soon we may have a local fiber mill! Woot! Then, I suppose, the next question will be if they can spin bunny fluff? So far I've not actually met them, but it's a recent rumor. The bunnies here love to get haircuts and will sit patiently while they get plucked or sheared. They molt their coats three times a year and we take up to six ounces of lovely bunny fluff off of them during the process. Since they only weigh about five to six pounds to being with, that's a pretty significant amount of weight to carry around. They get all happy after a haircut and bounce around although they settle down and grow more fluff quick enough.
Since the fiber is harvested during the time they're molting their coat - just like your pet dog may do in the springtime - they're quite happy to have someone take the loose fiber off of them. Sometimes it's combed or plucked off, other times it's sheared off using either barber's scissors, embroidery snips or on occasion, the electric clippers. It all depends on the condition of the coat. If it's too dense, then the electric clippers can't be used. Not that the bunnies care which method we use, in the bunny world, who grooms who is a mark of status. Since these silly humans seem to be doing all the grooming, that puts the bunny status pretty high so they like that. Not to mention the treats during the grooming and the body rub afterwards. Bunnies are very susceptible to bribery, especially if it's something really tasty like a ti leaf.
The bunnies here at Hillside Farm Hawaii think everyone should know their fiber providers - you wouldn't want to knit or crochet with fiber from just anybunny, now would you? I asked them and they wiggled their nose at me, so I figured that's a bunny's 'yes'? Anyway, I'll see about listing the bunnies here according to which color of Hula Bunny yarn their fiber is used to create. Until I get that done, you can click on the picture of Sunny eating a citrus leaf below and go to the 'Meet the Bunnies' page that has pictures of some of them. Eventually, there will be a tiny picture of each bunny here sorted by which color of yarn they help us with and eventually, the "Meet Your Fiber Provider" page will have a link to each individual bunny as well so you'll be able to meet your specific fiber provider from several different links.
Get to know your Fiber Providers! Bunny approved yarn is always best. If you like, you can send us an email and ask about bunnies, yarn, Hawaii things, what we should have on our webpage or just about anything else.
.............Hula Bunny Yarn Logo
Hula Bunny Yarn
Made with fiber from Hillside Farm Hawaii's English angora bunnies.
Eventually, we hope to have a picture of each bunny along with a separate page for each one so you can meet your fiber providers.
Knitting, crocheting and weaving with somebunny you know is much better than just knitting, crocheting and weaving with just anybunny. Mail to: Hillside Farm Hawaii
If the "Mail to:" link doesn't work,
the email address ishillsidefarmhawaii@yahoo.com