Edible Wild Plants of the Prairie - 2nd Edition by Kelly Kindscher (Paperback)

About the Book

"For some 10,000 years, the Indigenous peoples of the Great Plains regarded edible native plants as an important source of food. Not only did plants provide sustenance during times of scarcity, but they also added variety to what otherwise would have been a monotonous diet of game. The use of native plants as food sharply declined when white settlers arrived and imposed their own culture with its differing notions of what was fit to eat. The biggest change with this new edition is that line drawings have been replaced with color photographs that will assist foragers in identifying edible plants and allow the book to compete more successfully with other foraging guides. What else is new? A completely revised introduction Some new species; some removed Language that honors the cultures from which the plants came and a recognition that Native people's food traditions did not die out in the nineteenth century"-- Provided by publisher

Book Synopsis

The wild plants in this book tell stories of land, people, and food. As renowned botanist Kelly Kindscher guides us through over one hundred edible plants in this beautiful field guide, we find that foraging has always been an important part of prairie life.

Before colonization, Native American women were the primary gatherers of wild plants, which were an abundant, sustainable, and delicious feature of Indigenous diets. Colonizers reduced the significance of wild plants in prairie life as they relocated Native peoples and imposed their agrarian culture on the land, but these Indigenous foodways were never truly lost. In the recent past, foraging has become a tremendously popular way for many peoples to connect with the earth, promote sustainability, and revive and honor cultural food traditions.

In this beautifully illustrated new edition, Kindscher explores 117 wild plants of the prairie, offering information about habitat, food use, and cultivation. Color photos and maps make this stunning book a useful foraging guide for anyone to take out into the prairie. A must-have for enthusiasts and professionals alike, Edible Wild Plants of the Prairie gives us the great opportunity to engage with the land we live in.

Review Quotes

"Kindscher's Edible Wild Plants of the Prairie was already an ethnobotanical classic; this fantastic new edition, with excellent color photos and expanded text, is indispensable for the edible plant enthusiast."--Samuel Thayer is the author of Sam Thayer's Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants: of Eastern and Central North America and The Forager's Harvest: A Guide to Identifying, Harvesting, and Preparing Edible Wild Plants

"A casual visitor to a prairie in summer might think, 'There's nothin' to eat here.' Would he be right? Not at all! According to award-winning ethnobotanist Kelly Kindscher, the prairie hosts over a hundred edible species. His new book, a revised version of his popular Edible Wild Plants of the Prairie, features striking color photos, useful descriptions, distribution maps, detailed uses, and both English and Indigenous names for 117 species. An excellent work and a go-to source for prairie lovers!" --C. Thomas Shay, author of Under Prairie Skies: The Plants and Native Peoples of the Northern Plains

"I can't say enough about Kelly Kindscher's second edition of Edible Wild Plants of the Prairie. The first edition was plenty good and now we have even more 'good stuff.' Here is a man who 'talks the walk.' I am remembering that 80-day trip he took 41 years ago from the Kaw at Kansas City almost to the Rockies that was 690 miles. He saw and tasted as many plants as the Native Americans had for thousands of years."--Wes Jackson, author of Hogs Are Up: Stories of the Land, with Digressions

"I ran across Kelly Kindscher's book Edible Wild Plants of the Prairie while researching for my second book, Foraging Central Grasslands. It was truly inspirational, and Kindscher's expert guidance was instrumental to the completion of my project. His second edition is obviously a life's work with its in-depth information and stories gleaned from Indigenous peoples' understanding of the plant world. For anyone interested in the historic/prehistoric use of wild edible plants and ethnobotany, this book is a must-have!"--Bo Brown, author of Foraging the Ozarks: Finding, Identifying, and Preparing Edible Wild Foods in the Ozarks