Part of the family husking Japanese White Popcorn in one of our hoop houses. (left to right) Alisandra, Peter, Ariel, Athea, Nathan, Ethan, Gretchen. December 2021.
In the Nathan Stelzer Family, here at Azure Farm, every single day is different from the last. Sure, we have things we do every day, like eat breakfast and dinner as a family around the table (and sometimes find time to sleep, ha!). But, as a farming family with a wide variety of jobs and interests, each day brings a new piece of our endless adventure in life. We’re always starting new projects (like the rebuilding of our Azure Headquarters), or working on on-going projects (like packaging seed for Azure Husbandry Seeds). Each family member holds immeasurable value and is always hard at work with whatever we have going on to not only serve you, our Azure Family, but ultimately, serve our Creator.
Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for Yahweh and not for men.
Nathan & Michelle Stelzer
Nathan and Michelle Stelzer at the top of Lookout Mountain just west of Dufur. October 2022.
Nathan (David Stelzer’s brother), met Michelle when she moved to Azure Farm in 1992 to work as Azure Standard’s very first secretary. Being from an organic farm in North Dakota, Michelle ended up having a lot of the same interests and values as Nathan. They both grew up gardening and saving seed, and they both have always had a love for the land that our Creator gave us. They ended up falling in love and the two got married in 1993. After they got married and started gardening and saving seed together, they noticed that their saved seed always grew much better than any seed they bought. They started saving so much seed each year, they didn’t know what to do with it… so… Azure Husbandry Seeds started! It has turned out to be a huge success!
Nathan, being from Dufur (Oregon), and Michelle, being from Cando, (North Dakota), came up with a saying when they first got married: “I can Dufur you what you Cando for me!” It’s how they’ve stayed together all these years! They’ve raised 8 exceptional children (I might be a bit biased, as I’m married to one of them), and some of those children are now having children! We’re all just one big family!
Nathan Stelzer
Nathan with Alisandra and Peter during a seed packaging party! February 2023.
Also known as “Granddaddy” to the little ones, Nathan has lived on Azure Farm his entire life (and he could tell you story after story about it -- all you have to do is ask!). He loves studying soil and plant health and experimenting with ways to build up the soil by different crop rotations. You can find him (along with the help of his 6 sons), spending a lot of time outside in the fields during springtime, figuring out which heirloom grain varieties to plant, getting the ground ready, then planting.
Nathan Stelzer with one of his many beehives. July 2022.
Nathan keeps bees and has over 20 different hives around the farm, which brought in over 105 gallons of honey in 2022! Who knows, you might end up seeing specialty Azure Farm honey in the future! He also helps with the seed saving and packaging for Azure Husbandry Seeds, as well as with the irrigating of our crops. Nathan is always there to help his sons on various projects and to give advice on a list of neverending topics -- anything from building to farming to life in general.
Michelle Stelzer
Michelle Stelzer with granddaughter Athea after harvesting a patch of squash. October 2021.
Michelle, also known as “Grandmommy”, has countless jobs around the farm. She heads up the Azure Husbandry Seed saving operation (which includes maintaining 4 large home gardens and multiple 100 foot hoop house gardens), during the growing season. It also includes keeping over 100 seed varieties and sizes in stock year-round! Seed packaging parties happen almost daily at the dining table. (We package all of our seeds by hand!) Michelle also spends time every day feeding 4 gallons of Bread for Life Starter for all of you who are interested in baking your own healthy, wild, delicious bread! Along with garden seeds and bread starter, you’ll also find Michelle keeping a variety of squash and rhubarb (freshly picked!) in stock during certain seasons that are grown here on Azure Farm in one of our many gardens.
Above all, Nathan and Michelle are loving and faithful parents and grandparents. That is their favorite job.
The Whole Family Gets Involved
Our family seems to always have a new project that we’re all working on together. One person’s project can easily become the whole family’s project! Everyone enjoys helping each other out. Doing numerous projects together every year has become a way for our family to bond and is just one of the reasons why we’re all so close-knit.
Nathanael Stelzer
Nathanael Stelzer with his wife, Sarah, and two children, Leanna and Aleah. September 2022.
Nathanael, the eldest, took over management of our Azure Farm Pour Room in 2020 when Azure Standard sales started skyrocketing. This is where we bottle up all the sweeteners, vinegars, oils, and other liquid products for our Azure Market and Azure Market Organics brands. He exceeded everyone’s expectations of improving the efficiency of the Pour Room by implementing new equipment systems. Nathanael then handed over management to other Azure team members.
As far as farming goes, Nathanael is a part of every aspect and loves to be out in the tractor farming our organic fields! He recently became a T-L Circle Pivot Dealer and he and his brothers have added two circle pivots to our farm and plan to add more in the future. As for the family tree, Nathanael is married to Sarah, and they are raising their own family together.
Daniel Stelzer
Daniel Stelzer with a handful of hulless spelt, an heirloom grain variety we grew for the first time last year. August 2022.
When Azure sales started skyrocketing in 2020, Daniel, the second-eldest son, started helping out at our Azure Farm Flour Mill by receiving and cleaning truckloads of grain that get delivered to us from all over the country. (This is where all of our Azure Market and Azure Market Organics flour, grains, beans, and other bulk dry goods get packaged.) Finding a place to store all the truckloads of grain became a huge task in itself, as the Flour Mill wasn’t ready for the influx of product we began packaging. Daniel decided our grain storage and cleaning system wasn’t efficient enough, so he researched and found a new system that will be implemented this year, 2023. Daniel also raises a herd of around 75 Piedmontese Beef Cattle along with multiple alfalfa hay fields, some of which are grown with our new circle pivots! The Piedmontese Beef is available in various cuts for purchase under the Azure Farm brand name.
Isaiah Stelzer
Isaiah Stelzer with his wife, Ariel, and two children, Athea and Heinrich. September 2022.
After the Azure Headquarters fire in April 2022, Nathan’s third-eldest son, Isaiah, became the Construction Foreman for the rebuild and erection of our new Azure HQ. He and his brothers have worked tirelessly together from sun-up to sun-down throughout the Fall of 2022 and Winter of 2023 to get our new building up. It’s become the latest family project!
Isaiah will also be the Construction Foreman for the new Moro Warehouse expansion of over 48,000 square feet! He thoroughly enjoys the building process of just about anything, whether it’s putting up an actual building or creating custom wood pieces for others. Isaiah is also the “go-to guy” for anything lumber and forestry related on the farm. He keeps a mental inventory of the trees on our farm, if they’re best for firewood, lumber, or just need to stay in the ground. I’m beyond blessed to say that I, Ariel (Azure’s first Greenhouse Apprentice), am married to Isaiah, and we are raising our own family together.
Gretchen Stelzer
Gretchen Stelzer out in one of our gardens on Azure Farm after weeding the whole garden! July 2022.
Nathan and Michelle’s eldest daughter, Gretchen, enjoys all the ups and downs of gardening for Azure Husbandry Seeds. She is involved in just about every aspect of seed saving, from helping decide which varieties to grow each year to packaging up seed to sell to you! Gretchen has become the best in the family at cleaning seed right out of the fruit. (All of our seeds are cleaned by hand!) She is meticulous and comes up with the most effective ways to clean seed for our small, home operation. Gretchen is Mommy Michelle’s main helper when it comes to anything garden related, and she is always willing to jump in and help her brothers with any projects going on, or even hop in the tractor and work the fields if needed!
Obed Stelzer
Obed Stelzer helping put a new engine into one of our combines. July 2022.
While all the brothers have grown up learning mechanics, Obed, (the fourth-eldest son and sometimes called “Obo” by the littles), is the one you’ll consistently find in the garage working on a new mechanic project. Obed loves taking on challenging mechanic projects, whether it has to do with one of our personal vehicles or helping his brother Nathanael do an engine swap on a farm tractor. Obed’s mechanic skills even extend out to making sure things are running smoothly when seed packets are being printed for Azure Husbandry Seeds (yup, we print all the seed packets ourselves, too!). He also 3D prints various parts that are used across the farm, like new gears for an automatic gate. During the farm planting and harvesting seasons, Obed can be found in the tractor out in the fields working the ground and combining our organic wheat fields.
Ethan Stelzer
Nathan Stelzer with 7 of his children on a wooden bed frame Ethan had just built for his parents. January 2023. (Ethan is in the yellow shirt.)
When winter starts coming to an end and spring is on the horizon, you’ll find Ethan (the fifth-eldest son, known as “Ethee” to the little ones), getting the ground ready in our 100-foot hoop houses (we have over 20!) with our trusty garden tractor. Though not all the hoop houses are used simultaneously, it is still a big project getting them ready for planting, whether they’ll be used to grow seed or will have a cover crop planted to build up the nutrients in the soil.
Ethan has recently taken a liking to building things (as his brother Isaiah does) and has been building custom home wood pieces for Mommy Michelle, such as a king-sized bed frame and a corner bookshelf. Ethan also helps bag up our Oyster Shells that can be used for chicken feed, as well as our Organic Unhulled Einkorn Seed that we raise here on Azure Farm.
Alisandra and Peter Stelzer
Alisandra and Peter with one of their litters of blue heeler puppies. February 2022.
The two youngest in the family, Alisandra and Peter, jump in wherever they’re needed. This includes packaging seeds with others at the dining room table, packaging oyster shells and einkorn, or pulling weeds out in the garden during the summer. The two also raise blue heeler puppies together and have found a lot of joy in doing so. When Mommy Michelle is extra busy during the summers with gardening, Alisandra loves to make breakfast for the family in the mornings, and Peter loves to eat it!
A Connected and Thankful Family
Part of the family, along with Nathan's parents, standing in front of a newly built T-L Circle Pivot on Azure Farm. (left to right) Gretchen, Obed, Daniel, Ariel, Isaiah, Athea, Nathan, Leanna, Sarah, Nathanael, Opa & Oma. September 2021.
As this glimpse into the Nathan Stelzer Family comes to an end, we want you to know that no amount of words could ever fully describe our family, or how we operate, or how connected we are to one another. No amount of words could ever fully describe how thankful we are to be a part of a family business that serves you, our Azure Family, and our Creator. But, it’s a start, and we are happy to share a piece of our life with you.