SPREADING SOME JOY

For years Michelle Krell has displayed her creative side through educating youth as one of Minnesota’s top educators. Now she’s finding a different way to express herself outside of the classroom.

Krell has taken her creativity outdoors by developing a flower farm on her family’s century farm in Blooming Prairie Township. It’s called Prairie View Flower Farm and offers the area’s newest flower business. In addition to the flowers, Prairie View continues to be a fourth-generation livestock and crop farm that began 116 years ago by John B. Krell, her husband’s great-grandfather.

“This is a different creative,” said Michelle Krell, who continues in her role as executive director of the Minnesota Elementary School Principals’ Association while operating the flower farm. Holding a fresh bouquet of flowers, Krell said: “Look at that, it’s so pretty.”

But aside from the beauty of the flowers, Krell has a confession: “I don’t know how to make a bouquet. Just about anything put together looks nice. I’m not skilled at it at all. I just do it.”

She has a wide variety of flowers to lean on for arranging bouquets. Among the many flowers she has planted over the past year are 700 snap dragons of four different types, 400 Dahlias, sunflowers and Zinnias.

After doing some initial research, Krell began her flower farm two years ago. “I decided I wanted to grow flowers to give to friends, family and church,” she said. “I wanted to spread some joy.”

She initially started by bringing bouquets to St. Columbanus Church in Blooming Prairie where her family attends. Besides glorifying church with flowers, she estimates she gave away around 300 bouquets in the first year. She shared her flowers on Facebook, and someone soon reached out wondering if she would consider selling her flowers. “I never thought of selling them,” she said.

That nudge became the catalyst for Krell to do even more research and consequently launching her flower farm with thousands of flowers. She received a flower bed layer featuring plastic and biodegradable as a Christmas gift. She also installed a drip line in the flower beds. “That saves us tons of time,” she says.

Currently, the farm offers 25 different types of flowers. Krell hand-planted 4,000 plants this year. There are “lots of different varieties” within the various flower types, she said, noting they are all annuals. “I think annuals are the prettiest,” she added.

“I was planning this out all winter and mapping it out,” said Krell. She began planting in mid-April and finished most of it around Mother’s Day in May.

Asked how she juggles a flower farm with her demanding job of leading Minnesota’s school principals, Krell said: “Lots of nights, early mornings and all weekend long.” She also hired Natalie Schumacher, a Blooming Prairie area teenager, as her garden helper with fertilizing, weeding and cutting.

Earlier this spring, Krell sold flower subscriptions where people would receive four bouquets throughout the summer for $100 (classic) or $140 (premier). She has sold 38 subscriptions this year.

Krell has found her happy place.

“Flowers are joyful,” she says. “My whole goal is to spread joy. It brightens everyone’s day to get fresh handpicked flowers. Two weeks of beauty is awesome.”

Krell said she has no desire to watch TV and would rather be outdoors with her head buried in the garden. “It feels good to have purpose and you are hopefully making somebody’s day brighter when they receive flowers,” she said.

She attributes her latest venture to her deep farm roots.

“I’m a farm girl at heart,” said Krell, who grew up on a livestock farm south of Blooming Prairie. She was involved in 4-H and FFA with hogs, dairy and sheep. “Farming has grounded me in hard work, gratitude and family. It feels good to be productive and work hard. My engine is always running. I wish I could be more relaxed.”

For Krell, gardening provides a reprieve from her regular job which finds her traveling around the state supporting about 1,100 principals for grades K-8. She has been in her current role for the past three years after serving as a principal at area schools and assistant superintendent in Owatonna for many years. In 2014, she was named one of the nation’s best elementary school principals.

“Impact is important to me. My mission in life is to support people to ensure they can be successful,” Krell said, noting stronger principals make the entire education system better. “Principals are the number one indicator of a school’s success.”

Whether it’s education or flowers, Krell said her mind never shuts off. “I’m not a good sleeper,” she admitted. “It comes down to purpose and impact. I’m all in. I give 100% in everything I do. I don’t cut corners.”

Krell said she’s able to detach from work while in the garden, but quickly added, “I always have my phone with me. I’m on call 24/7 and focused on helping people.”

When it comes to the flowers, Krell sighs and makes yet another confession. “I really don’t know what I’m doing,” she said. “It’s a lot of trial and error. Everything is a learning process,” she added.

She credits her husband, Rodney Krell, and friends for helping with this latest endeavor. Their six young grandchildren also love to come out and pick flowers. “Grandma is known for the flowers,” she said. “It’s fun to see happiness in people.”

On a recent morning in the garden, Krell said: “It’s delightful out here. I don’t want it to become unmanageable and take the joy out of it.”

Flower lovers can learn more about Prairie View Flower on Facebook or at www.prairieviewflowers.com.