The farmer

Old Time Flowers is a one-woman show run by Jenny Monfore. Originally from Montana and raised in Alaska, her nomadic spirit has led her to many different parts of the country in pursuit of unique opportunities. In 2019 Jenny started her own market garden in western North Carolina with a veggie CSA and sold cut flowers at a tiny farmer’s market. In 2020 she worked at the Johnny’s Selected Seeds research farm in Maine as a gleaning coordinator and fell hard core in love with flowers. She migrated back to Vermont and 2024 will be her fourth season farming in the Green Mountain state. The name ‘Old Time Flowers’ is a nod to her passion for playing old time southern Appalachian fiddle music and her affinity for an old fashioned homestead lifestyle.

The farm

Old Time Flowers is a small, no-till specialty cut flower farm. We grow intensively on 1/6th of an acre (~7,500 sq ft) just five minutes from downtown Montpelier, Vermont. We strive to be conscientious farmers and humans on all levels, decreasing our impact on the environment and keeping our systems as simple as possible. All flowers and foliage are grown following organic practices. Being certified organic doesn’t make financial sense on our small scale, so we prefer to build close relationships with our customers and have transparency about our growing practices. You can ask us anything, Jenny loves to chat about farming!

Here are some ways we’re working to keep our farming and business practices in line with our values:

•We source supplies and materials from the local waste stream and put them to good use (cardboard, pallets, vases and plastic buckets…)

•We use cover cropping, compost, autumn leaves and organic amendments in permanent raised beds to build soil fertility.

•We save seeds from single flower varieties and believe it’s important to grow hardy, regionally-adapted seeds in our changing climate. We are excited to do a lot more seed saving in the future and love trading seeds with other flower growers!

•We minimize disposable waste. We don’t use drip tape—too much plastic that will end up in the landfill—and opt for hand watering or sprinklers instead. We use recyclable paper bouquet sleeves, recyclable packaging to ship dried flowers, and reusable wedding mechanics.

•Whenever possible, we deliver flowers on foot in town to decrease our reliance on fossil fuel.

•We partner with local businesses to sell dried flowers during the autumn and winter months, providing customers with a sustainable option for local flowers year-round.

~Flowers you can get behind!~