Camas Blue Prairie

Camassia quamash

Native edible bulb with gorgeous blue flowers in spring.

Blue Prairie Camas has been stewarded by the Nimiipuu (Nez Perce), Shoshone, Bannock, and other Indigenous groups for generations. Sadly, the Bannock in 1878 saw that the prairies where they were stewarding these invaluable bulbs were being destroyed by the grazing livestock of settler-colonizers. Already starving from life on a reservation, seeing the destruction of their food source lead to a war with the US Army which lasted several months that year. The Bannock, along with many Shoshone and Paiute, were imprisoned at the Malheur Reservation in Eastern Oregon. Those still located at Fort Hall Reservation were restricted from leaving to collect food, causing further starvation and struggle.

We are offering a packet of seed as a gift to anyone with an ancestral relationship to Camas, free of charge, as long as we have the seed in stock. Free shipping is automatically applied to this packet. Please email community (dot) snakeriverseeds (@) gmail.com to arrange this.

As a white-majority seed cooperative, we have chosen to offer this seed in hopes to increase the plant's likelihood of future survival and repopulation in the prairies.  We are open and interested in feedback from anyone who has an ancestral relationship to this plant. To contact us with comments or questions, please email Reiley at communications@snakeriverseeds.com.

Camas bulbs are a nutritious and long-keeping winter food. Women traditionally roast the bulbs in a pit, cooking them until they resemble very sweet potatoes. They are also ground into a flour and used for baking. Blue flowers bloom late spring.

Seeds grown by Bluebird Forest Garden in Orofino, Idaho.

120 seeds.

Directions: Requires 2 to 3 months of cold, moist conditions. Seeds can be sown outside in containers or direct sown on site in late fall. Do not mulch the area where they are planted. To start indoors, remove seeds from the packet and wrap seed in a moist (but not sopping wet) coffee filter or paper towel, place in a plastic sandwich bag, and place the bag in a clean glass jar, and store in the refrigerator for 8 weeks. Check periodically to see if seeds have begun to germinate. If they have begun to sprout, go ahead and plant them. The seedlings resemble blades of grass.