We've been buying our groceries from Azure Standard for over a year now. I had to break my social conditioning to get over the thought of it feeling "weird" to collect my groceries in a parking lot from a semi-truck. It's the best thing we've ever done. The quality of the food is out of this world and the Azure community is fantastic. We've made so many friends at our drop location.
I’m looking forward to using Azure - no drop near me in NV but will do ID. We did have a community drop for produce call Bountiful Baskets here at one time & I Loved it!! I’d go help unload a d sort was such a great group community time!!🤗
@D Christina I had the same thought when I first saw their prices. The food is out of this world delicious. We've made major cuts to other parts of our budget to make room for high quality food. Try their butter sometime!
Back then the pandemic started, a local gal heard that the farmers in Eastern WA were having a hard time getting produce out from the warehouses and volunteered to go and buy in bulk. It was a huge success and they ended up renting a uhaul truck along with a pickup truck and trailer to keep up with the orders. And we are outside of Tacoma. Even adding a few dollars for gas and rental, the price on 50lbs of onions was still less than $10. Two years on she is still making the runs, and gives me the chance to buy Washington produce in bulk.
@@MelissaKNorris I am a cheap person usually but with this, we get that harvest so fast and it’s so fresh that I have no problem buying. Shoot we will be getting asparagus this time and it will be around $1 per pound cause the community buys enough that we get huge discounts. On the plus side, even my kids like fresh asparagus. And we make a lot of pickled asparagus which makes a great addition to any family event.
@PNW Farm dog Fellow PNW-er here, about an hour south of you.... I can't find a way to private message you, but would you be willing to share the name of that co-op or a way to find it? If you prefer, I can share my FB msgr name here, or email, and we could continue there. I would understand if you don't want to put the co-op on blast.
@Blue Moon yes it’s local to the state but it’s still a drive. But in the fall when we do cider or apple sauce my wife and kids will go and pick apples from trees within a few miles of home. Amazing how many people have fruit trees and don’t pick or take care of them.
I am in my 70, and grew up on a ranch in southern New Mexico. My father was a truck driver and would come home with large quantities of produce and grans from all over the country. Our problem was how to store it, but our hogs were fed well. Then in the 70’s when I moved to Arkansas and got married, I bought a home with a full basement that was good for dry dark storage and tornado safety. At my employment I met a older gentleman that was LDS and he introduced me to homeschooling and better food storage. At that time we joined a support group of Christian for homeschooling, but we’re exposed to cooking from scratch with our bulk food. I am Baptist, but in out group we had mennonite, Seventh Day Adventist, catholic, and mormon. Most of us had large families and modest incomes. We did not try to proselyte each other but capitalized on teaching our children and feeding them well.
I lived in Arkansas for over 13 years. Never heard from anyone that there were homes that had basements. Our children want us to move back to Arkansas. They live in Russellville. That is where we lived. The area your living in are there many homes with basements? That is what we are looking for. Would love to hear back from you. Thank you. Bette Rose
@@betterose9167 Russellville is a a great town, but me being a prepper I would be afraid to live that close to the only nuclear plant in Arkansas. The only reason I lived in North Little Rock was I work for Union Pacific Railroad and my wife’s family lived there. basements are not common in Arkansas, but they are out there. You want find them much in the southern low lands because of the water table is too high. Where I lived was in North Little Rock, this home had been build by a builder for his own family. It is not common in track houses.
Love hearing about brotherly and sisterly love. It's nice to know that people can get together and work as one. No matter what religion or politics they believe in. Especially these days. Hope ya'll try to spread the message.
Wow, just saw this video and had never heard of Azure Standard but I see that their HQ was completely destroyed in a fire (CEO says its a "total loss") a couple days ago ... thats on top if the other 14 or 15 other food/meat processors who have dealt with significant fire damage to their facilities in the last few weeks .... not suspicious at all though.
Off topic but…PRAYERS FOR AZURE STANDARD! 🙏🏼 The headquarters of Azure Standard, the nation's premier independent distributor of organic and healthy food, was destroyed by fire overnight. There were no injuries. The cause of the fire is unknown and under investigation. The loss of the facility and the impact on company-wide operations is being assessed and expected to be limited and temporary. No other Azure Standard facilities were affected.
Hopefully it's just the headquarters that does the burning and nothing else! There's been A LOT of large distributing companies (everything from meat to grains) that have been ablaze this year for no "apparent reason".
I’ve been looking to bulk up our food supply as an “insurance policy” with so much turmoil going on and having two young daughters. I have refused to order from Amazon. Prior to this video I had never heard of Azure and I am happy to be their newest customer.
Melissa here in Canada we cannot order from Azure but I do grow my own. We grow our own Einkorn. Probably a years supply plus enough for 1 drum (55USG). The same thing with hard red and soft white wheat's. Corn (regular and popcorn), barley, oats, amaranth, and most other minor grains. You must be very carful when buying wheat and regular corn because a lot of these are GMO. We have 5 x 40 foot sea cans buried half way in the earth and covered to 5 feet on the sides and top. It keeps quite cool. However in the drums and 5 gallon pails we never use oxygen absorbers they are far too expensive. Instead we will buy about 10 pounds of dry ice (very cold solid carbon dioxide). Inside of a drum we will put about 1 pound of dry ice under a plate on the bottom of the drum. Similar to the plate under your jars in the pressure canner. When you do this don't seal the drum or pail for a week. As the dry ice turns from a solid to a gas (CO2) is heavier than air and will push all of the air out of the drum leaving only CO2. After a week you may seal the drum or pail. As long as you do not unseal the drum or pail and it does not get punctured the grains are good forever. We then store the drum in one of the sea cans. Another sea can we have all of our canned fruits and veg plus store bought items. Things that we cannot grow here because of climate we take orders for and they are shipped to a central point in coastal Oregon placed in one of our own sea cans and when we go for fuel we may pick up 3 or 4 sea cans to bring back. Perishable things like organic citrus are trucked immediately. Love your channel along with Homesteading Family. Keep up the great work. Anyone needing good beef and pork can order from Our Wyoming Life. Watch their channel and they will tell you how. God Bless Joe Scott Muddy Dog Ranch
I'm sorry a sea can is an ocean going shipping container. They come in 20 foot and 40 foot lengths. These are made from thin steel except the floor is wooden so you must make a plan that will wick water away from where you are storing these containers. I use a series of drain tiles in a one foot bed of sand and gravel. You can buy these used containers in a lot of places and a good used container will cost anywhere from $2000 to 3000. A lot cheaper than making something of wood and will last 20 or more years. God Bless Joe Scott Muddy Dog Ranch
I like the fact that I can use my grains in multiple ways. The fact I can cook it, grind it, and even plant some of these grains. Thank you Melissa for fantastic information. Happy cooking and baking, Debbie
All ready on it, planted my winter wheat in the fall, ordered more grain to plant from Migardener , hoping to grow enough grain this year to make my own flower 🤗
@@spoolsandbobbins just small raised and in ground beds , my garden is only 350 square feet, got winter wheat I planted in the fall taking off and I’ll be planting Triticale, similar to wheat and Amaranth, I just have to figure out how I’m going to grind it down into flower in the fall
@@jasonbruno1779 - high speed blender with a "dry blade", or a Grain Mill, Electric or Manual.. I ordered a G.Mill from Breadbeckers and is arriving today... =^..^=
Just picked up our first Azure Standard order yesterday! I was pretty excited when I found out there was a drop spot here in Interior Alaska! Of course we have to pay shipping for it to come up on a ship then onto a truck to us. Even with the 105$ for my order I saved a lot of money compared to Amazon which is our other choice.
Im relatively new to Azure and love that my pick up location is right around the corner from my house. Makes it very convenient but their drop off times change constantly and regarding my orders, I get several "sold out" items not shipped to me. Other than that, I'm grateful for what I get.
For Ohio, Shagbark Mill in Athens is a great resource for organic. They don't advertise bulk sales but, I called and was able to purchase in bulk. For non organic options many Amish bulk food stores will sell to you in bulk, again if you want 25pounds plus at a time they just ask that you make those arrangements ahead of time. Azure Standard also has a few stops here in Ohio.
We have local farmers in Georgia that does the same also. You can also visit the farms and pickup 🛻👍🏽😊 grass feed meats, milk, cheese, eggs & wild caught fish 🎣 , honey, vegetables 🥕 & many other items too 😊🛻
Last time I spoke to Azure they were out of hard white winter Wheat and had been for some time. Palouse Grains,a Very local source for me , is also short on some grains so best bet is to call about availability.
How cool? I love your TH-cam channel. I've seen a post of yours on vertical gardening that was super cool. I'm trying hydro-towers this year pretty cool so far.
I totally love Azure Standard! Great, family-owned company, and they have excellent deals on organic grains (I bought a lot for my chickens). They are not always the absolute cheapest, but usually very reasonably priced, and more importantly, unlike whoever on Amazon, I trust their values and I feel like I know what I am getting (no hype, lots of clear details). I am interested to try Einkorn wheat berries, haven't done it yet.
Hello .. I too am in the middle of making my pantry area and have stuff in the kitchen, laundry, bedroom and living room.. well pretty much wherever I can put it for right now lol
You are great, you're the first person that mention the different kinds of wheat and grains to buy for cooking. So, if I go to a farm and ask them for a bag of wheat should I ask then what kind it is.
I just listened to the podcast with the fellow who did the 3 day challenge. You said you were too far north to grow lemons. I'm in the gulf islands and have a lemon tree outside in the ground. We put it in las summer and 3 of the lemons are almost ripe! Check out Fruit Trees and More to learn how you can keep them alive in colder weather. This guy is amazing. He has oranges too.
Haven't popped in on you in awhile, just recommended your channel to two others. They were new to self sufficiency so I thought of you immediately as a storehouse of info on gardening. Canning, !multiple subjects and probably sounded like a suck up but I wish the massive info in your brain was common knowledge in everyone, thanks so !much for sharing your knowledge.
Hey Melissa 😊 First time I have ever ordered wheat berries Never use them before or bake with them . All this is new for myself with buying wheat berries grinding and baking.. Question do you clean your wheat berries before using in bread Or just grind and use for bread. How many oxygen absorbers do you use in a 5 gallon bucket .. i’m a beginner and trying to learned where to buy and use the best wheat berries.. thank you Melissa for your great videos and help Blessing 👩🌾
I'm not a fan of plastic bags or jars for long-term storage. The reason is moisture manages to evaporate from them, and the food goes bad. Maybe they've made improvements in the bags, but I'll go with cans or glass jars just to avoid the risk of spoilage.
Greetings from East Texas! I just started purchasing Wheatberries. Ordered via Azure Standard. Next plan is to get a grinder. Great explanations on the types of grains. Your videos are much appreciated
@@c.gaisser7506 - thank you so much for the recommendation! A good manual mill is where I wanted to start - for long term planning. Doing my part to help Grandson build his muscles 🥰. Blessings to you this week
@@rebeccasanford8607 blessings to you as well. We tried it with with whole corn an got very pleasing results. It took about a month to receive the mill, due to high demand. They don't take your payment till is ready to be shipped.
Well my first batch of sour dough didn't turn out the way it should because, thinking of Biscotti, I didn't knead it a second time and put it rite in the pan. Tastes great though, havin fun with the starter for sure, found some old bread books in my library, to boot. My house and yours probably look the same and I also am a bit confused at times. My stove top went on high just as I was finishing the stew, after taking the garbage out, I came back in and it was boiling over, now I'm getting stove top oven with a air fryer inside. I also found some 2 gallon Mason jars that are working great for oatmeal, beans and such. OK I'm going to try to give you a complement, here goes. Me thinks, you are up there with Paula Dean, Martha Stewert and Wolfgang Puc. From your presentation to depth of content, your all over it girlfriend, you look healthy, vibrant and alive, you come from hardy stock and it shows, your husband is a lucky man.
Canning jars. Look for used but clean, non cracked jars. If that is too much you can vacuum seal in bags and stack them flat in a box under a bed if necessary. We are in an RV and know storage space is precious.
Azure has not filled my wheat for last 2 months. If you pay shipping direct this is the only way you guarantee your items. Order direct from Palouse. More money but at least you have it plus free shipping.
Thank you 👍 greatly appreciate your advice. Would like to know more about storing and shelf life of canned food that you've already have done. I've seen some videos on people storing beans and I'm not quite sure of why they put them in the freezer first or they can them. Like pressure can them.
They will put them in the freezer first to kill off any bugs/eggs that may be in the bag. Canning them will create a ready made meal in case of power outage or water shortage
We only freeze things that can end up with weevils /larvae in it like flour & wheat berries. Some go as far as freezing rice and beans but we don't. Our freezer is very tiny so if you have the freezer space and want to do it for any dried food you are putting up, go for it, but be sure to bring items to room temperature, freeze a 2nd cycle to kill any eggs that make it through the first freeze cycle and then be sure items are at room temperature and free from any moisture or ice crystals before putting away into long term storage. I've never had an issue with beans but I don't know that it will hurt to freeze them. It is extra work though. To freeze wheat we leave our wheat berries in Its original packaging, then put in mylar or a vacuum bag with moisture absorber & o2 absorber and then vacuum seal the outer bag. We then freeze a few days, thaw, freeze a few more days and thaw and then store in 5 gallon buckets. We figure if we miss any eggs and some hatch, they only infest that 5 lb or 2 lb package, not the entire bucket. The moisture absorber should deal with condensation that arises. Then again we take these extra steps and don't store just directly in a 5 gallon bucket because we have no climate control. Our food is either in bins in our RV compartments or in an outdoor shed. There is risk of temperature fluctuations and pests so we make sure there are many layers and compartmentalization as possible to mitigate the risk. For some items we vacuum seal in glass jars or store in a bail top glass storage canister (Walmart usually has a few) with a rubber or silicone gasket. These are the shorter term - easy access needed things. For the remainder of our beans and rice & oats we leave in original packaging and store several in 5 gallon buckets with gamma seal or other gasketed lid. For a few items we get in and out of often we use a quick snap on lid. Typically this is one bucket of each variety like a dehydrated potato bucket and a pasta bucket. We plan on doing a salt bucket and will probably do a gamma seal lid due to the ambient humidity in the shed. Only store what you will actually eat and can manage to prepare. If water is hard to come by dry I'd store more canned beans than dry. We used to store dried peppers and other veg similarly but some items have too much moisture or won't hold up to temperature fluctuations well so we use small glass containers for them almost exclusively so we don't lose our entire supply if a few go bad. For example, we stored dried green peppers in food saver type vac seal bags. With the heat, humidity and time - 1 bag was moldy, another was obviously leaking since the peppers were rehydrating and the bag was taking on air. It would likely mold if we didn't use them soon. Mylar alone for dried peppers worked better in that there was some moisture returning after a year but nothing like the plastic food saver type bags. After we got a batch of used jars and stocked up on lids we switched to storing iffy items like peppers & other home dehydrated food in them exclusively. We have a manual brake bleeder in the shed for vacuum sealing jars with the food saver jar attachment. Our food saver in the RV still works, sort of, but is on its last legs. For doing large mylar bags we have a bag sealer with adjustable temperature dial. There are handheld versions that are less expensive. I hope some of these rambling notes are helpful.
@@alyssaheide7979 some are doing what they call "dry canning" or "oven canning" but this seems like extra work only to risk killing off nutrients and trapping moisture. Basically they put beans in a jar, pop it in an oven and heat for a period of time and then remove from oven and add a lid. I've never found this necessary even without climate control storage. Basically they are getting the jar & lid hot so a vacuum is formed as the jar cools. You can simply vacuum out the air in the jar cold.
You might try calling them and placing a large order. Minimum must be 140 pounds of product. Then they will calculate a custom shipping cost for you. I just ordered 150 pounds of stuff and it cost me 73.00 for shipping, which is a lot but with gas so high here (CA) it offsets some of my shipping cost.
Perfect timing! I'm familiar with grinding wheat berries in the past but have never stored them long term. Azure hasn't had it lately so I bought a 25 bag of Palouse hard white berries from Amazon....I was surprised that there is no inner sealed bag....do I need to freeze the berries first? Should I pour them into quart Mason jars and remove the oxygen with my food saver? Thanks in advance!
We do freeze our bulk grains or flours for several days before storing them long-term. It's inevitable that whole grains/flours often have some little critters and/or critter eggs, and freezing does them in. We just lay the whole bag in the freezer - if you don't have room for everything immediately, do it in stages. Hope this helps.
Melissa, do you ever sprout your grains before milling them into flour? Ever since I saw your How to mill flour at home video (when it originally posted), I have had an interest in doing this but this year I am finally getting my mill.
There's something to be said on saving money if bulk is an option for you (ofc it's a case of needing money to save money) and building a pantry for when life hits you, but that is done properly over time and not by joining in panic buying and creating artificial shortages like people are doing rn (and other stuff before -like toilet paper-). I feel we should also look at the wisdom of our elders, some of which actually have dealt with or learned the tips of their parents or grandparents from when they dealt with full on shortages. I know here they baked a sort of bread for example by putting potatoes in it and used alternative sources, that way our communities at large can get around, rather than the select few.
Azure has always been great prices for great quality food. They are suffering from “the new normal” with shortages, deliveries, etc like most companies. But nonetheless I’d rather take my chances and spend our money on them before Amazon and Walmart. They have been out of hard red wheat lately.. I was in East Tennessee recently and there was an incredible store maybe in Chuckey? Called Mountain View country store or something..Where I found wheat berries, spices, canning lids, it was incredible! So if anyone lives around there, heck if I lived closer than New Hampshire I’d be there once a month!
I sure wish azure could figure out their stock issues. I’m a new customer and the last three months all the items in the cart are in stock the day before my cutoff date just to log in right before cut off and everything is out of stock. I was furious my first month to find out out of a $200 order that I placed and expected to pick up only $6.00 of it was delivered. I didn’t get an email or anything notifying me that my items were out of stock and not shipping. I had to take off work early that day to get to the drop point. And my missed time from work most definitely exceeded the delivered amount.
That is frustrating but I've always gotten an email when the order is shipped and says order shipped incomplete if an item isn't coming and lists what wasn't sent.
yup more then half my order didnt ship and it says in stock., some were never out of stock - multicolored popcorn is 1 of them. they give the run around when you call. so many issues the last few months it is not good business
I'm curious of what you ordered. Was it bulk items or regular grocery or both? I'm trying to figure out if Azure is for me and I'm like you -in that my time is valuable.
@@aaronandelise I ordered some gamma lids, glass jars, a bread pan, honey, tried to order some flower. Really I feel like my order was a little all over the place but only the one item came in
Great video! I do have a question about storing organic grains, though. I try to eat mostly organic, but I heard that they don’t store as well for long term use. I’d love to hear opinions about this. I’m mainly thinking about rice. Thank you
I really wish Azure Standard could ship to Canada :-( So many of the homesteaders I follow use them. Have you also analyzed how cost effective it is compared to buying the already ground flours in bulk?
Good morning! Just wondering- if I wanted to test grow a small plot of my own wheat where would I get the seed? Can you plant the wheat berries? Thanks.
Check with the supplier to be sure they are sproutable. If sproutable they should grow. How well depends on your region, climate and soil. We were going to plant wheat but decided on Sorghum and quinoa since they have uses other than the grain. Look onto the drying & threshing process for the wheat you are interested in growing.
Great video, never heard of Azure, great website. Most people don’t know that Ukraine and Russia supply a massive percentage of the world’s grain; get some now before prices really heat up.
Been kind of disappointed my rice hasn’t shipped the last couple times I’ve ordered from azure. It was in stock so not sure what exactly happened. But definitely trying to order from them vs the grocery store/Amazon!
Half of the items in my Azure orders don’t ever ship and are out of stock and removed from my order - even though there were hundreds when I -laced it in the cart ... frustrating.
more then half of my order didnt ship yet again this month and shows in stock.when you call you get the run around of "stories" they have not put the customer first the last few months and it is definately bad business. somany of us are not happy with azure .
Really enjoyed the info you put out in this video. Is the red wheat slightly more astringent due to the tannins? What is the red wheat typically used for?
The hard red wheat typically has more protein in it, so better for baking bread. The soft white wheat has less protein, so it’s better for cakes and other similar types of soft baked goods.
yes this has been happening more and more.l and when you call they give you stories - false advertising when it shows items in stock you order and pay yet they say it is out. has gotten worse the last few months
This was very interesting. I just started looking into grinding my own grains. Do you have a link to the electric mill you used that you like? Thank you.
Regarding storing grain for long term, I've heard some say that you should keep it in the freezer for several days, first, to kill any weevils? Is this correct? We only have a small freezer so I guess I'd have to break it down into smaller quantities (maybe gallon size?) And freeze them one at a time. What about just putting the grain in a mylar bag with O2 absorbers? Would this be sufficient?
Hi, hoping you might could help me out. Just now i got my first order of Azure dark wheat bran. My idea was to stop eating so much processed bran flakes - i thought to mix some of this bran in with the flakes. Any suggestions on ratio? For 2 cups of flakes I should maybe add in....how much of this bran? Hoping you may have a solution for me. Thanks!
What would you do with 40 yr old stored wheat berries? Air tight in 5 gal buckets. Have you heard of a way to test them? I was thinking if seeing if they sprout. Berries are clean, they do not have off smell or signs of mold etc. Any suggestions?
lmao yep food for storage all over my house also as I am rebuilding my pantry and doing in wall shelves also to give me more room as we gonna need it if this continues.
We've been buying our groceries from Azure Standard for over a year now. I had to break my social conditioning to get over the thought of it feeling "weird" to collect my groceries in a parking lot from a semi-truck. It's the best thing we've ever done. The quality of the food is out of this world and the Azure community is fantastic. We've made so many friends at our drop location.
I’m looking forward to using Azure - no drop near me in NV but will do ID. We did have a community drop for produce call Bountiful Baskets here at one time & I Loved it!! I’d go help unload a d sort was such a great group community time!!🤗
Where can I learn more??
Great company. Wish I could afford them.
@@jordanphillips8007 -She said she put their info in the links
@D Christina I had the same thought when I first saw their prices. The food is out of this world delicious. We've made major cuts to other parts of our budget to make room for high quality food. Try their butter sometime!
Back then the pandemic started, a local gal heard that the farmers in Eastern WA were having a hard time getting produce out from the warehouses and volunteered to go and buy in bulk. It was a huge success and they ended up renting a uhaul truck along with a pickup truck and trailer to keep up with the orders. And we are outside of Tacoma. Even adding a few dollars for gas and rental, the price on 50lbs of onions was still less than $10. Two years on she is still making the runs, and gives me the chance to buy Washington produce in bulk.
Love stories like this 🙌
@@MelissaKNorris I am a cheap person usually but with this, we get that harvest so fast and it’s so fresh that I have no problem buying. Shoot we will be getting asparagus this time and it will be around $1 per pound cause the community buys enough that we get huge discounts. On the plus side, even my kids like fresh asparagus. And we make a lot of pickled asparagus which makes a great addition to any family event.
@PNW Farm dog Fellow PNW-er here, about an hour south of you.... I can't find a way to private message you, but would you be willing to share the name of that co-op or a way to find it? If you prefer, I can share my FB msgr name here, or email, and we could continue there. I would understand if you don't want to put the co-op on blast.
@Blue Moon yes it’s local to the state but it’s still a drive. But in the fall when we do cider or apple sauce my wife and kids will go and pick apples from trees within a few miles of home. Amazing how many people have fruit trees and don’t pick or take care of them.
I am in my 70, and grew up on a ranch in southern New Mexico. My father was a truck driver and would come home with large quantities of produce and grans from all over the country. Our problem was how to store it, but our hogs were fed well. Then in the 70’s when I moved to Arkansas and got married, I bought a home with a full basement that was good for dry dark storage and tornado safety. At my employment I met a older gentleman that was LDS and he introduced me to homeschooling and better food storage. At that time we joined a support group of Christian for homeschooling, but we’re exposed to cooking from scratch with our bulk food. I am Baptist, but in out group we had mennonite, Seventh Day Adventist, catholic, and mormon. Most of us had large families and modest incomes. We did not try to proselyte each other but capitalized on teaching our children and feeding them well.
I lived in Arkansas for over 13 years. Never heard from anyone that there were homes that had basements. Our children want us to move back to Arkansas. They live in Russellville. That is where we lived. The area your living in are there many homes with basements? That is what we are looking for. Would love to hear back from you. Thank you. Bette Rose
@@betterose9167 Russellville is a a great town, but me being a prepper I would be afraid to live that close to the only nuclear plant in Arkansas. The only reason I lived in North Little Rock was I work for Union Pacific Railroad and my wife’s family lived there. basements are not common in Arkansas, but they are out there. You want find them much in the southern low lands because of the water table is too high. Where I lived was in North Little Rock, this home had been build by a builder for his own family. It is not common in track houses.
Love hearing about brotherly and sisterly love. It's nice to know that people can get together and work as one. No matter what religion or politics they believe in. Especially these days. Hope ya'll try to spread the message.
Wow, just saw this video and had never heard of Azure Standard but I see that their HQ was completely destroyed in a fire (CEO says its a "total loss") a couple days ago ... thats on top if the other 14 or 15 other food/meat processors who have dealt with significant fire damage to their facilities in the last few weeks .... not suspicious at all though.
Off topic but…PRAYERS FOR AZURE STANDARD! 🙏🏼 The headquarters of Azure Standard, the nation's premier independent distributor of organic and healthy food, was destroyed by fire overnight. There were no injuries. The cause of the fire is unknown and under investigation. The loss of the facility and the impact on company-wide operations is being assessed and expected to be limited and temporary. No other Azure Standard facilities were affected.
Hopefully it's just the headquarters that does the burning and nothing else! There's been A LOT of large distributing companies (everything from meat to grains) that have been ablaze this year for no "apparent reason".
I’ve been looking to bulk up our food supply as an “insurance policy” with so much turmoil going on and having two young daughters. I have refused to order from Amazon. Prior to this video I had never heard of Azure and I am happy to be their newest customer.
You can order palouse from A
Melissa here in Canada we cannot order from Azure but I do grow my own. We grow our own Einkorn. Probably a years supply plus enough for 1 drum (55USG). The same thing with hard red and soft white wheat's. Corn (regular and popcorn), barley, oats, amaranth, and most other minor grains. You must be very carful when buying wheat and regular corn because a lot of these are GMO. We have 5 x 40 foot sea cans buried half way in the earth and covered to 5 feet on the sides and top. It keeps quite cool. However in the drums and 5 gallon pails we never use oxygen absorbers they are far too expensive. Instead we will buy about 10 pounds of dry ice (very cold solid carbon dioxide). Inside of a drum we will put about 1 pound of dry ice under a plate on the bottom of the drum. Similar to the plate under your jars in the pressure canner. When you do this don't seal the drum or pail for a week. As the dry ice turns from a solid to a gas (CO2) is heavier than air and will push all of the air out of the drum leaving only CO2. After a week you may seal the drum or pail. As long as you do not unseal the drum or pail and it does not get punctured the grains are good forever. We then store the drum in one of the sea cans. Another sea can we have all of our canned fruits and veg plus store bought items. Things that we cannot grow here because of climate we take orders for and they are shipped to a central point in coastal Oregon placed in one of our own sea cans and when we go for fuel we may pick up 3 or 4 sea cans to bring back. Perishable things like organic citrus are trucked immediately. Love your channel along with Homesteading Family. Keep up the great work. Anyone needing good beef and pork can order from Our Wyoming Life. Watch their channel and they will tell you how.
God Bless Joe Scott Muddy Dog Ranch
What is a sea can? A shopping container?
I'm sorry a sea can is an ocean going shipping container. They come in 20 foot and 40 foot lengths. These are made from thin steel except the floor is wooden so you must make a plan that will wick water away from where you are storing these containers. I use a series of drain tiles in a one foot bed of sand and gravel. You can buy these used containers in a lot of places and a good used container will cost anywhere from $2000 to 3000. A lot cheaper than making something of wood and will last 20 or more years. God Bless Joe Scott Muddy Dog Ranch
Also check out the Amish and Mennonite community stores. They usually have bulk food.
I like the fact that I can use my grains in multiple ways. The fact I can cook it, grind it, and even plant some of these grains. Thank you Melissa for fantastic information. Happy cooking and baking, Debbie
I appreciate the grain lesson so much! It gets confusing for newbies
All ready on it, planted my winter wheat in the fall, ordered more grain to plant from Migardener , hoping to grow enough grain this year to make my own flower 🤗
That’s so good! Do you need heavy machinery to do that? How much are you planting? I’d love to start doing this on our acreage.
@@spoolsandbobbins just small raised and in ground beds , my garden is only 350 square feet, got winter wheat I planted in the fall taking off and I’ll be planting Triticale, similar to wheat and Amaranth, I just have to figure out how I’m going to grind it down into flower in the fall
@@jasonbruno1779 - high speed blender with a "dry blade", or a Grain Mill, Electric or Manual..
I ordered a G.Mill from Breadbeckers and is arriving today... =^..^=
Just signed up and ordered from Azure and found out the drop off coordinator is a good friend of mine
Folks buy polenta - it's cheap and super easy to cook - 3 minutes later you add some vegetables & oil & pepper and you re good to go 💪🏼
Just picked up our first Azure Standard order yesterday! I was pretty excited when I found out there was a drop spot here in Interior Alaska! Of course we have to pay shipping for it to come up on a ship then onto a truck to us. Even with the 105$ for my order I saved a lot of money compared to Amazon which is our other choice.
Im relatively new to Azure and love that my pick up location is right around the corner from my house. Makes it very convenient but their drop off times change constantly and regarding my orders, I get several "sold out" items not shipped to me. Other than that, I'm grateful for what I get.
You are becoming one of my favorite youtube channels.
For Ohio, Shagbark Mill in Athens is a great resource for organic. They don't advertise bulk sales but, I called and was able to purchase in bulk. For non organic options many Amish bulk food stores will sell to you in bulk, again if you want 25pounds plus at a time they just ask that you make those arrangements ahead of time. Azure Standard also has a few stops here in Ohio.
We have local farmers in Georgia that does the same also. You can also visit the farms and pickup 🛻👍🏽😊 grass feed meats, milk, cheese, eggs & wild caught fish 🎣 , honey, vegetables 🥕 & many other items too 😊🛻
How do you find these farms?
I’m in Georgia too, where do you go for your supplies? I’d like to stay as local as possible.
Whoo hoo 🇱🇷🚜💪
Last time I spoke to Azure they were out of hard white winter Wheat and had been for some time. Palouse Grains,a Very local source for me , is also short on some grains so best bet is to call about availability.
I just got my first azure order. Got my first wheat berries!
How cool? I love your TH-cam channel. I've seen a post of yours on vertical gardening that was super cool. I'm trying hydro-towers this year pretty cool so far.
I totally love Azure Standard! Great, family-owned company, and they have excellent deals on organic grains (I bought a lot for my chickens). They are not always the absolute cheapest, but usually very reasonably priced, and more importantly, unlike whoever on Amazon, I trust their values and I feel like I know what I am getting (no hype, lots of clear details). I am interested to try Einkorn wheat berries, haven't done it yet.
Hello .. I too am in the middle of making my pantry area and have stuff in the kitchen, laundry, bedroom and living room.. well pretty much wherever I can put it for right now lol
You are great, you're the first person that mention the different kinds of wheat and grains to buy for cooking. So, if I go to a farm and ask them for a bag of wheat should I ask then what kind it is.
I just listened to the podcast with the fellow who did the 3 day challenge. You said you were too far north to grow lemons. I'm in the gulf islands and have a lemon tree outside in the ground.
We put it in las summer and 3 of the lemons are almost ripe! Check out Fruit Trees and More to learn how you can keep them alive in colder weather. This guy is amazing. He has oranges too.
My mom finally stared prepping. It’s getting real!
It is REAL NOW… get skipping peeps!!!!!
Haven't popped in on you in awhile, just recommended your channel to two others. They were new to self sufficiency so I thought of you immediately as a storehouse of info on gardening. Canning, !multiple subjects and probably sounded like a suck up but I wish the massive info in your brain was common knowledge in everyone, thanks so !much for sharing your knowledge.
My azure standard drop order closed yesterday 🙌 mama is stacking it to the rafters!!
Hey Melissa 😊
First time I have ever ordered wheat berries
Never use them before or bake with them .
All this is new for myself with buying wheat berries grinding and baking..
Question do you clean your wheat berries before using in bread
Or just grind and use for bread.
How many oxygen absorbers do you use in a 5 gallon bucket ..
i’m a beginner and trying to learned where to buy and use the best wheat berries..
thank you Melissa for your great videos and help
Blessing
👩🌾
I'm totally going to get the organic popcorn! The prices are great!
I'm not a fan of plastic bags or jars for long-term storage. The reason is moisture manages to evaporate from them, and the food goes bad. Maybe they've made improvements in the bags, but I'll go with cans or glass jars just to avoid the risk of spoilage.
Greetings from East Texas! I just started purchasing Wheatberries. Ordered via Azure Standard. Next plan is to get a grinder. Great explanations on the types of grains. Your videos are much appreciated
If you are looking for a hand crank mill, we just got a Nazko brand, is a really good one, nice fine milling and affordable starting at $149.00
@@c.gaisser7506 - thank you so much for the recommendation! A good manual mill is where I wanted to start - for long term planning. Doing my part to help Grandson build his muscles 🥰. Blessings to you this week
@@c.gaisser7506 does the Nazco do dry grains and oily? (Peanut, sesame, etc)
@@vinlago yes, but you have to get the metals grinders, it comes with the stone one, the metal is almost $70 extra.
@@rebeccasanford8607 blessings to you as well.
We tried it with with whole corn an got very pleasing results.
It took about a month to receive the mill, due to high demand.
They don't take your payment till is ready to be shipped.
Baking is amazing for the kids
I just picked up my order from Azure Standard this morning!!
Well my first batch of sour dough didn't turn out the way it should because, thinking of Biscotti, I didn't knead it a second time and put it rite in the pan. Tastes great though, havin fun with the starter for sure, found some old bread books in my library, to boot. My house and yours probably look the same and I also am a bit confused at times. My stove top went on high just as I was finishing the stew, after taking the garbage out, I came back in and it was boiling over, now I'm getting stove top oven with a air fryer inside. I also found some 2 gallon Mason jars that are working great for oatmeal, beans and such. OK I'm going to try to give you a complement, here goes. Me thinks, you are up there with Paula Dean, Martha Stewert and Wolfgang Puc. From your presentation to depth of content, your all over it girlfriend, you look healthy, vibrant and alive, you come from hardy stock and it shows, your husband is a lucky man.
Thanks for sharing. Blessings to you and your family!
❤❤Great tips!!! If you don't have room for big buckets for storage Mylar bags are a good storage solution. 😃
Canning jars. Look for used but clean, non cracked jars. If that is too much you can vacuum seal in bags and stack them flat in a box under a bed if necessary. We are in an RV and know storage space is precious.
Start growing your own if you can. Over the coming years things are about to get interesting.
In the PNW Azure standard is local. Im getting my first order tomorrow and Im excited that Azure Standard is "local" to me in Oregon
Awesome video, great to know all this! 🙏😍
Azure has not filled my wheat for last 2 months. If you pay shipping direct this is the only way you guarantee your items. Order direct from Palouse. More money but at least you have it plus free shipping.
Thank you 👍 greatly appreciate your advice. Would like to know more about storing and shelf life of canned food that you've already have done. I've seen some videos on people storing beans and I'm not quite sure of why they put them in the freezer first or they can them. Like pressure can them.
They will put them in the freezer first to kill off any bugs/eggs that may be in the bag. Canning them will create a ready made meal in case of power outage or water shortage
We only freeze things that can end up with weevils /larvae in it like flour & wheat berries. Some go as far as freezing rice and beans but we don't. Our freezer is very tiny so if you have the freezer space and want to do it for any dried food you are putting up, go for it, but be sure to bring items to room temperature, freeze a 2nd cycle to kill any eggs that make it through the first freeze cycle and then be sure items are at room temperature and free from any moisture or ice crystals before putting away into long term storage.
I've never had an issue with beans but I don't know that it will hurt to freeze them. It is extra work though.
To freeze wheat we leave our wheat berries in Its original packaging, then put in mylar or a vacuum bag with moisture absorber & o2 absorber and then vacuum seal the outer bag.
We then freeze a few days, thaw, freeze a few more days and thaw and then store in 5 gallon buckets. We figure if we miss any eggs and some hatch, they only infest that 5 lb or 2 lb package, not the entire bucket. The moisture absorber should deal with condensation that arises.
Then again we take these extra steps and don't store just directly in a 5 gallon bucket because we have no climate control. Our food is either in bins in our RV compartments or in an outdoor shed. There is risk of temperature fluctuations and pests so we make sure there are many layers and compartmentalization as possible to mitigate the risk.
For some items we vacuum seal in glass jars or store in a bail top glass storage canister (Walmart usually has a few) with a rubber or silicone gasket. These are the shorter term - easy access needed things.
For the remainder of our beans and rice & oats we leave in original packaging and store several in 5 gallon buckets with gamma seal or other gasketed lid.
For a few items we get in and out of often we use a quick snap on lid. Typically this is one bucket of each variety like a dehydrated potato bucket and a pasta bucket. We plan on doing a salt bucket and will probably do a gamma seal lid due to the ambient humidity in the shed.
Only store what you will actually eat and can manage to prepare. If water is hard to come by dry I'd store more canned beans than dry.
We used to store dried peppers and other veg similarly but some items have too much moisture or won't hold up to temperature fluctuations well so we use small glass containers for them almost exclusively so we don't lose our entire supply if a few go bad. For example, we stored dried green peppers in food saver type vac seal bags. With the heat, humidity and time - 1 bag was moldy, another was obviously leaking since the peppers were rehydrating and the bag was taking on air. It would likely mold if we didn't use them soon.
Mylar alone for dried peppers worked better in that there was some moisture returning after a year but nothing like the plastic food saver type bags.
After we got a batch of used jars and stocked up on lids we switched to storing iffy items like peppers & other home dehydrated food in them exclusively.
We have a manual brake bleeder in the shed for vacuum sealing jars with the food saver jar attachment. Our food saver in the RV still works, sort of, but is on its last legs. For doing large mylar bags we have a bag sealer with adjustable temperature dial. There are handheld versions that are less expensive.
I hope some of these rambling notes are helpful.
@@alyssaheide7979 some are doing what they call "dry canning" or "oven canning" but this seems like extra work only to risk killing off nutrients and trapping moisture.
Basically they put beans in a jar, pop it in an oven and heat for a period of time and then remove from oven and add a lid. I've never found this necessary even without climate control storage.
Basically they are getting the jar & lid hot so a vacuum is formed as the jar cools.
You can simply vacuum out the air in the jar cold.
Did you see azure standard had a huge fire the 19th?
Nice! I am going to try this :) keep up the good work and thank you for sharing again!! 🥰❤️
I buy Palouse through Amazon - high quality, well sealed bags
Thanks for sharing this!
Azure standard drop off is 60+ miles away 3+ hr trip. They charge 8% shipping to our drop spot in Florida. It is more expensive
You might try calling them and placing a large order. Minimum must be 140 pounds of product. Then they will calculate a custom shipping cost for you. I just ordered 150 pounds of stuff and it cost me 73.00 for shipping, which is a lot but with gas so high here (CA) it offsets some of my shipping cost.
Perfect timing! I'm familiar with grinding wheat berries in the past but have never stored them long term. Azure hasn't had it lately so I bought a 25 bag of Palouse hard white berries from Amazon....I was surprised that there is no inner sealed bag....do I need to freeze the berries first? Should I pour them into quart Mason jars and remove the oxygen with my food saver? Thanks in advance!
We do freeze our bulk grains or flours for several days before storing them long-term. It's inevitable that whole grains/flours often have some little critters and/or critter eggs, and freezing does them in. We just lay the whole bag in the freezer - if you don't have room for everything immediately, do it in stages. Hope this helps.
I believe wheat grain can simply be stored in an airtight container, without freezing or using oxygen absorbers, and it will still keep for years.
@@nataliebutler , that’s what I’ve read. Freezing can create some moisture
Awesome video!
Melissa, do you ever sprout your grains before milling them into flour? Ever since I saw your How to mill flour at home video (when it originally posted), I have had an interest in doing this but this year I am finally getting my mill.
There's something to be said on saving money if bulk is an option for you (ofc it's a case of needing money to save money) and building a pantry for when life hits you, but that is done properly over time and not by joining in panic buying and creating artificial shortages like people are doing rn (and other stuff before -like toilet paper-).
I feel we should also look at the wisdom of our elders, some of which actually have dealt with or learned the tips of their parents or grandparents from when they dealt with full on shortages. I know here they baked a sort of bread for example by putting potatoes in it and used alternative sources, that way our communities at large can get around, rather than the select few.
How wonderful to read another person who shares my opinion on panic buying pantries! I agree with you that it has to be done correctly!
@@Stephanie-rf9xs Glad I’m not alone either
Azure has always been great prices for great quality food. They are suffering from “the new normal” with shortages, deliveries, etc like most companies. But nonetheless I’d rather take my chances and spend our money on them before Amazon and Walmart. They have been out of hard red wheat lately.. I was in East Tennessee recently and there was an incredible store maybe in Chuckey? Called Mountain View country store or something..Where I found wheat berries, spices, canning lids, it was incredible! So if anyone lives around there, heck if I lived closer than New Hampshire I’d be there once a month!
I sure wish azure could figure out their stock issues. I’m a new customer and the last three months all the items in the cart are in stock the day before my cutoff date just to log in right before cut off and everything is out of stock. I was furious my first month to find out out of a $200 order that I placed and expected to pick up only $6.00 of it was delivered. I didn’t get an email or anything notifying me that my items were out of stock and not shipping. I had to take off work early that day to get to the drop point. And my missed time from work most definitely exceeded the delivered amount.
That is frustrating but I've always gotten an email when the order is shipped and says order shipped incomplete if an item isn't coming and lists what wasn't sent.
yup more then half my order didnt ship and it says in stock., some were never out of stock - multicolored popcorn is 1 of them. they give the run around when you call. so many issues the last few months it is not good business
I'm curious of what you ordered. Was it bulk items or regular grocery or both? I'm trying to figure out if Azure is for me and I'm like you -in that my time is valuable.
@@aaronandelise I ordered some gamma lids, glass jars, a bread pan, honey, tried to order some flower. Really I feel like my order was a little all over the place but only the one item came in
Very good video!
Great video!
WINCO has bulk wheat berries for about 1/3 the price if Palouse 25 lb bag but one store I frequent ran out and did they wouldn't get more until August
Love Azure Standard
Enjoy your videos. What about storing grains in Mylar bags long term ?
Great video! I do have a question about storing organic grains, though. I try to eat mostly organic, but I heard that they don’t store as well for long term use. I’d love to hear opinions about this. I’m mainly thinking about rice. Thank you
I really wish Azure Standard could ship to Canada :-( So many of the homesteaders I follow use them. Have you also analyzed how cost effective it is compared to buying the already ground flours in bulk?
Haven’t compared price, but WHOLE grains will last YEARS longer than already-ground flour, even stored carefully.
Try OM foods and Daybreak mills in Canada. You likely have someone local to, just might take some work to find them.
I’m also in Washington-have you tried Bluebird Grain Farms in Twisp? Excellent quality!
Very good topic
Just got one of your books.
Good morning! Just wondering- if I wanted to test grow a small plot of my own wheat where would I get the seed? Can you plant the wheat berries? Thanks.
Check with the supplier to be sure they are sproutable.
If sproutable they should grow. How well depends on your region, climate and soil. We were going to plant wheat but decided on Sorghum and quinoa since they have uses other than the grain.
Look onto the drying & threshing process for the wheat you are interested in growing.
Check your local Farm & garden supply store
Great video, never heard of Azure, great website. Most people don’t know that Ukraine and Russia supply a massive percentage of the world’s grain; get some now before prices really heat up.
Dont worry us farmers here in the US got your back 👍
Great info. Thank you
Been kind of disappointed my rice hasn’t shipped the last couple times I’ve ordered from azure. It was in stock so not sure what exactly happened. But definitely trying to order from them vs the grocery store/Amazon!
Half of the items in my Azure orders don’t ever ship and are out of stock and removed from my order - even though there were hundreds when I -laced it in the cart ... frustrating.
more then half of my order didnt ship yet again this month and shows in stock.when you call you get the run around of "stories" they have not put the customer first the last few months and it is definately bad business. somany of us are not happy with azure .
Very informative..thankyou so much.
Really enjoyed the info you put out in this video.
Is the red wheat slightly more astringent due to the tannins? What is the red wheat typically used for?
The hard red wheat typically has more protein in it, so better for baking bread. The soft white wheat has less protein, so it’s better for cakes and other similar types of soft baked goods.
Once your order ships that is when Azure tells you half your order was out of stock....eventhough it was in stock when it was purchased.
yes this has been happening more and more.l and when you call they give you stories - false advertising when it shows items in stock you order and pay yet they say it is out. has gotten worse the last few months
Thanxs for sharing the information
Do you do anything to the grains before you put them into the 5 gallon buckets…like freeze them, etc
Palouse is the best. Direct without any middlemen. Best product AND prices. I'm in Virginia
Hello Janine
This was very interesting. I just started looking into grinding my own grains. Do you have a link to the electric mill you used that you like? Thank you.
Yes, it's in the video linked in the description on grinding your own flour
I recommend a hand grinder also
Regarding storing grain for long term, I've heard some say that you should keep it in the freezer for several days, first, to kill any weevils? Is this correct? We only have a small freezer so I guess I'd have to break it down into smaller quantities (maybe gallon size?) And freeze them one at a time. What about just putting the grain in a mylar bag with O2 absorbers? Would this be sufficient?
Good video 👍
You should use a mylar bag with the bucket.
When did they close the Latter-day Saints store in Mt Vernon. That was a good place to get bulk items.
Good stuff. Thanks for sharing.
Hi, hoping you might could help me out.
Just now i got my first order of Azure dark wheat bran. My idea was to stop eating so much processed bran flakes - i thought to mix some of this bran in with the flakes.
Any suggestions on ratio? For 2 cups of flakes I should maybe add in....how much of this bran?
Hoping you may have a solution for me.
Thanks!
What do you think about storing rice in Mylar bags? Is it necessary?
What would you do with 40 yr old stored wheat berries? Air tight in 5 gal buckets. Have you heard of a way to test them? I was thinking if seeing if they sprout. Berries are clean, they do not have off smell or signs of mold etc.
Any suggestions?
Wow nice video 😍😍😍
Great videos
Thanks for the video helped alot
Interesting video
Good video
Can you vacuum seal grains and other items like rice for longer keeping?
What grains would you suggest for a first time or starting now to make bread
Already did a azure standard order but when it shipped most of our bulk items that we needed weren't shipped......
join the club. and it still shows in stock -
Nice video
I love palouse.
Can I ask you, what wheat grinder do you recommend?
What kind of grinder do you use for the wheat berries?
I sure wish Azure Standard was available in Canada.
lmao yep food for storage all over my house also as I am rebuilding my pantry and doing in wall shelves also to give me more room as we gonna need it if this continues.
Can you recommend a grain mill?
Azure Standard sounds great!
Do any Aussie viewers have recommended sources please? I’m in south east Victoria.
Great!
Amazing