Photos by L.G. Patterson
For Christy Bondurant, owner of Wildflower Bread, sourdough isn’t just bread. It started with a desire to feed her family good food.“I’m really passionate about ingredients,” she says. “I know exactly where my sourdough started — in my own kitchen. It’s only ever been fed organic flour, so everything has originated with me. I think that’s what makes my bakes stand out from others.
A Journey Rooted in Family
But sourdough wasn’t initially the plan for her life. When Bondurant met her now-husband, she had just accepted a job to work in Atlanta for Chick-fil-A corporate. “We had a whirlwind romance and got married quickly,” she says. “I did move to Atlanta for a short stint, but I moved back because we both love living here.” Bondurant says she and her husband have always been passionate about good, quality food ingredients. “We care about what we put in our bodies and taking care of the life that the Lord has given us and just being really good stewards of that,” she says.
From Hobby to Business
Making bread, specifically sourdough bread, became a popular hobby during the COVID-19 pandemic, but it has been a way of life for thousands of years. For Bondurant, it all started with a book. “For Christmas one year, my husband had gotten me a book (“Bread of Life” by Abigail Dodds) that had a handful of different bread recipes tied into just how bread has a correlation to scripture,” she says.
The book teaches how to create your own sourdough starter, then how to make sourdough bread after the starter has been established.“
I just decided, ‘Okay, I’m going to do it,’ and so I created my own starter at the end of 2023,” she says. “My intention with doing that was because I care about ingredients and the food I made. At that point, we were pregnant with our second daughter, and our first daughter was a little over a year old. She was eating solid foods, so I wanted to make sure I gave her food that would nourish her body and that I knew exactly where it came from. So that was really the beginning of sourdough for me.”
At the time, Bondurant didn’t expect her sourdough hobby to be more than just that: a hobby. When a friend moved to Columbia with her family, she made them a loaf of fresh sourdough bread as a housewarming gift. “I had given bread to people before, that wasn’t anything new, but she was like, ‘Hey, if you ever start selling, we would totally buy from you,’” Bondurant says.
From there, she posted on Instagram, asking people to reach out if they wanted a loaf.“ It’s just taken off from there,” Bondurant says. “I figured I would just sell to my friends on Instagram, but people started telling other people, and I had people texting me or messaging me on my personal Instagram.
A Name with Meaning
The next step for Bondurant was coming up with a name for her bread business. After several months of toying with different options and asking for suggestions, the name came to her at the dinner table. “My youngest daughter was wearing an outfit with little wild flowers on it, and it just clicked,” she says. “It’s something that we’ve called both our daughters since they were little … they’re our little wildflowers.”
That’s how Wildflower Bread came to be. “I think it’s perfect because this business was created for them and because of them,” she says. “It just felt like the Lord said, ‘This is what I have for you, and this is your inspiration.’ It just tied everything together perfectly.”
More Than Just Bread
From fresh, quality ingredients to the personal touch of human connection, buying local adds a story to every loaf — something a big-name brand simply can’t replicate.
“I’m a mom with two little girls who I love dearly, who are the most important thing to me, and that’s my first job,” Bondurant says. “Sourdough is something I do on the side. If I was thinking about my situation from an outsider’s perspective, knowing I’m supporting a family, there’s that emotional connection that you’re able to create in supporting somebody’s dream and vision.
Columbia’s Love for Small Business
The city of Columbia is no stranger to small businesses, which Bondurant credits as part of her success. “I think that the people of Columbia are itching for small businesses and this is where I’ve seen a lot of small businesses thrive,” she says, “So I’m happy to be one of them and also one of the few sourdough bakers that are here in town.”
Bondurant says she plans to continue with Wildflower Bread as long as she can, but she also acknowledges her limits. “I see a lot of people talking about baking 100-150 loaves a week, and I don’t know if that will ever be me,” she says. “I want to stay true to who I am and what this was supposed to be, which is just a little side hustle for me …something that is mine and that I can also share with my kids.”
With that, she says she sees this becoming a family business, rather than a full storefront. “I want to be steady and I want to be faithful with what I have,” she says. “I want to continue to serve customers well and gain new friends and customers along the way.
In addition to sourdough bread, Wildflower Bread offers sourdough starter, bagels, cinnamon rolls, brownies, cakes, cookies and tortillas. Bondurant aims to serve the community by being a good person, offering good food, made with good ingredients.“
It’s the personal connection that drives this whole thing,” she says. “I mean, how nice is it for somebody to come and pick up a warm loaf of bread to take home to feed their family that night and be able to provide alittle extra cash for the family that they’re purchasing from?”
The best way to stay up-to-date on Wildflower Bread is by following the Instagram page @wildflowerbreadcomo.There, Bondurant posts photos of products and has the menu linked in the bio. The best way to make a request is through direct message, where she will then bake your order on-demand
