Wanna spend 2 1/2 days with some of the best Market Farmers in the US?
Yeah, me too!
Ever-wilder weather, higher costs of inputs and labor, and shifting consumer tastes are making farming even harder than it already was.
More Instagram scrolling is NOT gonna help.
It’s Time for you to try a Mastermind!
You need some new ideas,
(and frankly some old fashioned ones like crop rotation)
who better to ask than your successful farming peers?
Yes, You have to apply to the Mastermind. We will curate this event to ensure that we have a good mix of geographies, and demographics represented. Anyone grossing more than $1million will probably not be a great fit for the program. Similarly someone with no staff and doing everything by hand will also not be a great fit. You will be notified of your acceptance, and once we have reached a quorum, you will be invoiced for the event.
changes on your farm.
You know it and we know it.
Join me and Robyn and a group of farmers from around the country so you can get outta your head and get into some new solutions to production, business management and labor efficiency problems on your farm.
The single most influential learning event in my 30 years of
farming was participating in an immersive peer group experience = a Mastermind
This is your chance to get that same game changing event for yourself and your farm.
Hear What A Few Farmers Have To Say About Previous events and your Mastermind Hosts Ellen and Robyn
“Working with Ellen Polishuk over the last few years through a farmers study circle and 1:1 consulting has been a huge boost for my business and for me as a flower farmer now in my 12th season. I have learned SO MUCH. Ellen really shines when facilitating a group conversation troubleshooting tangible, specific issues that one of us growers is having – she elicits thoughtful input from everyone in the group and sprinkles in her own key expertise not only as an experienced farmer but also as a farm coach who has seen behind-the-scenes of so many operations and can offer customized insights.”
Farmer at Hillen Homestead
Market Growers
Mastermind!
December 10, 11, 12 2025
$1350 all in
near Frederick, MD
Hosted by -
Ellen Polishuk and Robyn Calvey
Ellen is a Nationally known Consultant and speaker
Author of Start Your Farm
Farmer to Farmer Profile Columnist in “Growing for Market”
and
Chief Wrangler of 4 Market Farmer Masterminds!
and 1 Flower Farmer Mastermind!
Robyn Calvey
Now in her 22nd season, Robyn runs Park Ridge Organics, a certified organic vegetable farm with a customizable CSA program, an on-farm retail store, and a growing wholesale operation in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. She serves on the Board of Directors for the FairShare CSA Coalition and is a former educator in the BTEC “Becoming an Employer of Choice” program for farm owners. Robyn has presented at numerous conferences throughout the Midwest, sharing her knowledge on production systems, labor management, and sustainable farm business operations. A Mastermind 3.0 alum, she brings practical experience and a passion for building resilient, farmer-focused systems.
3 Ways we will work together
- Facilitated Conversation: the group will discuss topics chosen and voted on in advance for allotted amounts of time.
- Lightening Round: these are quick and dirty sharing times. For example: “What’s Your Favorite Office Hack?” and anyone with a suggestion will speak out!
- Hot Seat: this is when each participant has a set number of minutes (around 10-15) to become the sole focus of the group. You will share a problem/situation that you want input on, and then folks will weigh in. This will be our last activity together, and it is often the MOST impactful.
Farmer, One Acre Farm
“It was great to meet a diverse group of growers and have detailed and appropriate conversations. It’s really hard to connect with other farmers especially during the busy season. It was great to brainstorm together during the pause between this season and next. I feel like the connections we made were genuine and I will be able to reach out to this team for future ideas as well.”
Mastermind Farmers 1.0
“The wealth of practical tips and wisdom I gathered will take months to implement, but the potential impact on my farm is immense.”
Elisa Lane
Two Boots Farm, MD
“Gathering with peers at a similar place in our businesses was invaluable, but having Ellen there to guide, dig in and steer us through the most pressing topics got us to all those useful juicy bits! “
Deena Miller
Sweet Roots Farm, CA
“It’s hard to describe how impactful it is to be in the same room with other farming professionals with diverse experiences and skill sets who are all invested in helping each other, sharing lessons learned, and lifting each other up. Ellen did a wonderful job crafting an environment in which something so special can happen.”
- Ellen Kerchner
Ellen’s Flowers, CO
It’s a group of peers, usually entrepreneurs in the same industry, that gather to help each other solve problems, share successes and generally push all further towards their goals. Here are the event details:
When & Where
Wednesday – Friday December 10-12 , 2025
At Claggett Center in Adamstown, Maryland
(about an hour from BWI, Dulles, and National airports)
The event starts at 2pm on Wednesday and ends Friday at at 4pm. We will share all our meals together and sleep there at the conference center.
We will develop the mastermind agenda based on surveying the YOU, the participants in advance of the event. We guarantee that we will spend time on labor issues (hiring, retention, training etc), and whether to grow or shrink the business. We’ll dive into some production “hot spots” (as determined by YOU), as well as marketing/selling/sales channel decisions you are facing now. And underneath all of those topics runs the thread of Quality of Life: the constant effort to balance work and “life”.
To find out more, please send an email to ellen@planttoprofit.com. To apply, please click the button below.
Our ideal participants will be market farmers grossing a minimum of $150k in sales, and at least 5 years farm ownership under their belts. We welcome farmers with “split” operations (vegetables AND flowers) as long you realize we are hyper focusing on vegetables.
Join Us at the Market Farmers Mastermind 5.0 !
What to expect:
- A two day retreat at a modern and cozy conference center on a 280 acre property.
- Relaxing in the evenings in a gorgeous cozy setting.
- Gathering for 16 hours of group work spread out over the two days. Ellen and Robyn will facilitate the meetings. The group will influence the topics discussed via a pre-Mastermind survey.
- All meals are provided. We will walk from our meeting rooms to the buffet, and sit in our own area in the dining room.
- Each participants will have their own hotel style room with a queen sized bed.
Schedule
Wednesday
- Check-in 2:00 PM
- Round One = Each farmer has 8 mins to introduce themselves at 4PM
- Dinner 6:30 PM
- Round Two of Intros = finish the introductions 9 PM
Thursday
- Breakfast 7:00 AM
- Morning Session with breaks 8:30 – Noon
- Lunch at Noon
- Afternoon Session with breaks 1:30-5:30
- Dinner at 6:30
- Mix and mingle with drinks before and after dinner (we may have a fire pit if the weather is helpful)
Friday
- Breakfast 7:00
- Morning Session with breaks 8:30 – Noon (we much leave our bedrooms by 10AM)
- Lunch at Noon
- Afternoon session with breaks 1:30 – 4:00 PM
- Mastermind Concludes at 4 PM
Pricing and Accommodations
Early Bird Cost is $1449, which covers the event, facilitation, accommodation and all meals.
We will all be staying in the Christiane Inn. Each room has a queen size bed and a bathroom.
ALCOHOL Policy: Only beer and wine are permitted, and only in our confined meeting spaces.
The site can accommodate most dietary restrictions.
Yes, You have to apply to the Mastermind. We will curate this event to ensure that we have a good mix of geographies, and demographics represented. Anyone grossing more than $1million will probably not be a great fit for the program. Similarly someone with no staff and doing everything by hand will also not be a great fit. You will be notified of your acceptance, and once we have reached a quorum, you will be invoiced for the event.