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 she started a 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 2025 will be her fifth 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 affinity for an old fashioned homestead lifestyle.

The farm

Old Time Flowers is a micro specialty cut flower farm just 5 minutes from downtown Montpelier, Vermont. Jenny farms intensively on just 1/6th acre following organic, no-till farming practices. Being certified organic doesn’t make financial sense on such a small scale, so Jenny prefers to build close relationships with her customers and have transparency about all her growing practices.

Here are some ways she’s working to keep her farming and business practices in line with her values:

•Sourcing supplies and materials from the local waste stream (cardboard, pallets, vases, plastic buckets…)

•Using cover crops, compost, autumn leaves and organic amendments in permanent raised beds to build soil fertility.

•Saving her own seed.

•Minimizing disposable waste. Hand watering instead of drip tape, using recyclable paper bouquet sleeves, recyclable packaging, and reusable wedding mechanics.

•Selling dried flowers during the autumn and winter months. A sustainable option for local flowers year-round in Vermont.