Today we’d like to introduce you to Bambi Liss.
Bambi, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
It all really started 11 years ago when I took a position with ECQC working with children under the age of nine in North Miami and Hialeah, teaching nutritional cooking classes. We started a garden and I realized that even though most of the children did not speak English, food, and cooking was an International language we shared. The fact that you can plant a seed in dirt and it will turn in to food amazed them and watching them I felt like a kid too.
In 2010 I became a Farmer Apprentice with Earth Learning in Miami, studying Permaculture. After the apprenticeship, I was ready to start my own farm and found a piece of heaven on 3 acres in North Florida in the town of Fort White, just above Gainesville Since 2012 I have created a fruit orchard and intensive small crops including a variety of lettuces, tomatoes, cucumbers, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Cabbages, Turnips, Daikon Radishes, Rapini, Asian Greens and more. Each one is planted in such a way as to give something to its neighbor be it shade or a nutrient another plant needs, thus making good use of the soil and creating a healthy prolific growing space.
The natural outgrowth of the abundance of the gardens provided was to open a small market/cafe where people could have immediate access to food that was picked that morning.
The beauty of being from south Florida is I still have the relationships and contacts I had from living there. Just yesterday the phone rang and it was a farmer from Homestead with a truck of avocados, just passing through, I literally ran out of the door of the cafe and walked back in lugging a huge bushel of fresh green avocados to the delight of customers sitting and watching as the truck pulled back in to traffic and carried on its way north.
Every day is like this when you are dealing with fresh local food coming straight from the people who produce it. It may be sourcing jars of honey both locally and from the center of the state, or eggs from a local organic farmer, and then there is the fresh ground heirloom corn we get for bread and our Polenta Pizzas, and the local pecan trees providing an abundant crop of this season’s pecans.
I really had a concern with genetically modified produce becoming more prevalent and felt a responsibility to learn how to grow food myself and lessen dependence on supermarkets to get healthy food. I needed to know how to grow it. An extension of that being that I can grow and produce my own organic heirloom seeds so they won’t be lost or forgotten.
Many years ago, I said “Honey (my husband) I think I know what I want to be if I ever grow up. I want to be a farmer. I don’t want to live my life wondering what would it have been like.” It was a burning desire and I had to follow it. I had to experience life as a farmer. I was 50 when I made this proclamation and I can say it is not been an easy life, however it is an inspirational life.
At the end of the day, I have worked hard physically and mentally and there is nothing as exciting as getting up each morning, getting my hands in the dirt and creating food. Later in the day when I am in my little cafe and it is full of people eating delicious, fresh made soups and salads that have flavor, texture, and color and they are excited about their experience with the food, I feel so enthusiastic and grateful that I have made that available for them.
From the person who wants a homemade Cuban sandwich made from scratch including fresh baked Cuban bread and 12 hours slow roasted pork to the person who wants a macrobiotic Miso soup or vegan sushi, we have it all. The point is to eat fresh, to eat local and to really enjoy your food while it nourishes both your body and your soul.
I am seeing more and more people who are uneasy about the food supply. They want to eat healthy but do not have the time to cook it themselves or the resources to find it. That has become my niche. When people walk into our little cafe with its bright yellow walls and baskets of fruit and smell the wonderful smells of fresh baked bread and cookies and scones wafting out from the kitchen, they begin to ask questions.
A little education about where food comes from or what is in the season is very exciting to people and it empowers them to make better food choices on their own. Many people come here due to health concerns, they have to eat very pure and natural foods. Our cafe gives them a chance to go out to dinner with friends and enjoy a meal without having to special order their food as is so often the case at many restaurants. Nothing here is ever going to be over salted or have msg or GMOs or anything else that has to be specifically excluded.
Over the next few years, I see we are going to need a larger facility, as the popularity for fresh wholesome food is a growing niche.
You are invited to experience a taste of local Florida in our small town of High Springs. Come sit with us, and let us custom tailor a lunch for you that dances across your taste buds, and makes a great memory. Bring your friends and share the seasonal flavors of North, Central and South Florida. Book a room at one of our quaint bed and Breakfasts, then explore the artisan shops of our small town, take a canoe trip and visit the turtles sunning on the rocks or take in a few of our abundance of state parks and crystal clear springs. Whatever you like, we are here and can’t wait to meet you.
Has it been a smooth road?
Challenges include weather, serving real food in a competitive market and getting our name and face out there, so folks can come experience our unique products.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Bambi’s Country Farm Market & Cafe story. Tell us more about the business.
We are in the Fresh Farm to Table, running a Fruit Orchard, Vegetable Garden, and Cafe.
Contact Info:
- Address: 18592 High Springs Main Street, High Springs, FL 32643
- Website: Bambisfarm.com
- Phone: 386-454-1600
- Email: info@bambisfarm.com
- Instagram: Bambis Country Farm Market
- Facebook: Bambis Country Farm Market
- Other: Trip Advisor
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