Things just keep getting weirder: catastrophic weather events, labor drama and customers that just don’t seem to buy like they used to. What’s a flower farmer to do?
Join Lennie Larkin and Ellen Polishuk at our Mastermind program, of course!
Access our decades of market farming expertise
Ellen started growing vegetables at age 17. She farmed for 30 years at Potomac Vegetable Farms in northern Virginia where she grew 10 acres of vegetables, herbs and cut flowers, along with 10 acres of soil building cover crops; managed hundreds of people over the years, while grossing $42,000 per cash crop acre (this is lot for an “extensive” style vegetable farm!)
Lennie caught the flower bug while teaching farming at UC Santa Cruz in 2012, and has since grown her own B-Side Farm into a small, simple, tidy, wholesale and retail-focused flower farm grossing $250,000 on less than an acre. As a flower farmer, she loves talking not just about scaling up, but about scaling down to find the most profitable version of each farm she works with.
We’ve been on Lots of Farms!
Over the last 10 years, we have both visited and consulted with growers around the country. We’ve got data, photos, and anecdotes to share about how they’ve surmounted obstacles, and cultivated opportunities.
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CALL ON THE wISDOM OF yOUR PEERS
You will spend 16 hours with a group of 20 peers – all flower farmers who have been at this for at least 5 years. Learn from each other about crops, growing practices, marketing, sales tips, labor management and more.
SIT DOWN AND THINK ABOUT YOUR BUSINESS Take some time away from the farm to work ON your business. This is your time.
Hear what Rebecca of Moonshot Farm has to say about working with Ellen and Lennie!
It’s time for you to get some new ideas, and who better
to ask than your successful farming peers!
changes on your farm.
You know it and we know it. Join me and Lennie and a group of farmers from around the country so you can outta your head and get into some new solutions to production, business management and labor efficiency problems on your farm.
December 9, 10, 11 2024 |
Early Bird Pricing is $1445 per person
(price goes up to $1600 after 10/9/2024)
Hosted by -
Ellen Polishuk
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
LENNIE LARKIN
Flower Farm Business Wizard & Speaker
Author of Flower Farming for Profit
and
Creator of Flower Farming Business Academy
My farm business made major changes as the result of the Experienced Organic Farmers network that I took part in way back in 2003. That significance of that event inspired me to create this Mastermind experience for other market farmers. The Market Farmer Mastermind is only for growers with 6+ seasons of commercial vegetable farming experience. This is a unique group experience. There are only 14 spaces total. Farmers will be chosen through an application process. This will be the fourth MM event, and I am excited to share this experience with you.
The single most influential learning event in my 30 years of
farming was participating in an immersive peer group experience.
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 Lennie and Ellen
“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
Farmer, One Acre Farm
Farmer at Small Ventures Flower Farm
Farmer at Flora Meadow Flower Farm
Farmer at Blair House Blooms
When & Where
Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday December 9-11 , 2024
At Claggett Center in Adamstown, Maryland (about an hour from BWI, Dulles, and National airports)
The event starts at 2pm on Monday and ends Wednesday at 4pm. We will share all our meals together and sleep there at the conference center. Lennie and Ellen will develop the mastermind agenda based on surveying the participants in advance of the event. To find out more, please send an email to ellen@planttoprofit.com. To apply, please click the button below.
Our ideal participants will be flower growers grossing a minimum of $100k in flower sales, and at least 5 years farm management under their belts. We welcome farmers with “split” operations (vegetables AND flowers) as long you realize we are hyper focusing on flowers.
Join Us at Flower Farmers Mastermind !
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 Lennie will facilitate the meetings. The group will greatly 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 participant will have their own hotel style room with a queen sized bed.
Schedule
Monday
- Check-in 2:00 PM
- Round One = Each farmer has 8 mins to introduce themselves 4:00PM
- Dinner 6:30 PM
- Round Two of Intros = finish the introductions 8-9 PM
Wednesday
- 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)
Thursday
- 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.
Covid Situation
Nobody wants to get covid at our meeting. Let’s all be a little careful the days before we meet, so that we keep each other safe. I request that all participants take a rapid test before hopping on a plane or starting to drive to the event. If the test is positive, please stay home! I will offer a partial refund at that point. On-site, masking will not be required. It is your choice.
ALCOHOL Policy: Only beer and wine are permitted, and only in our confined meeting spaces.