Resow your Seeds.

one of the things my friend Joel has taught me is the importance of letting things adapt to their environment naturally. the last two winters here in Portland have been hard. last year we had more snow than i ever remember seeing in the city, this year the ground was frozen solid for a week in November.
these are not great conditions for a startup urban farm; last year we lost some two thirds of our fava beans to the cold and this year i think we lost even more, but this years crop was planted with last year's harvest. and next year's will be planted with this year's. now it may seem obvious to replant your seeds but many people buy new seeds for their garden every year because it's cheaper that way, and the seeds from the store are just as good. however, if the climate changes, as we know it shall, seeds from a nursery that are designed to survive in a climate that no longer exists are not what we want.

we live in a rapidly changing environment, and the winter's getting colder here in Portland is just one of the hundreds of things happening to the local environment. most of the changes occuring and about to occur are probably not apparent and difficult to plan ahead for.
by resowing from our limited fava crop, we ensure that the beans that have what it takes to live here are the ones that we plant. we let nature breed us a new strain of fava bean specially designed to survive in our yard, in our soil, in our climate, and our beans will be able to react to the fluctuations of global temperature before those fluctuations even become apparent to us.

i urge everyone, wherever you can, to resow your seeds, and increase your food security not just for this season but for many seasons to come.