I haven't grown or eaten fava beans either. They are one of the crops on my list of new things to try, once I move someplace where I can have a decent in-ground garden. I just took out Weaver's _Heirloom Vegetable Gardening_ and he says, "Young favas will withstand hard frosts, and some varieties are hardy to 12* F. In many places they can be overwintered by simply covering the plants with straw. The tops may die back, but the roots will sprout again in the spring. Since favas thrive in cool, damp weather - one reason why they do so well in England - it is far better to plant them early rather than later. Hot weather not only causes the flowers to drop, but also heralds black aphids, which attack favas ruthlessly." Sounds like favas would do very well wintersown.

I have been picking the immature shellies and freezing them until I get a large enough amount for a meal, which will be in a couple of days for me (yeah!). Pretty soon I'll be able to pick enough pods for a meal without the intermediate freezing step. I like the mature favas too, but I would use them in soup if mature. Immature I just sautee them or cook like any other shelly, rather than as soup. I also tried the green snaps last year but did not much care for them. Shelly favas are truly special, not something you can buy at the store (I can buy dried favas in middle eastern stores here, even peeled!)

From the reading and study I have done, the nitrogen that has been fixed in the roots of the legumes is used up as the plants begin to flower. So, you would indeed lose the nitrogen benefit by letting the plants go through their entire life cycle. Assuming you are growing vegetables in the area, you will also end up with very difficult to eradicate weeds if you let the clover go to seed. I plant it each fall, then turn it over into the soil at the first flower bud in the spring. It is a wonderful source of organic matter and natural nitrogen. Don't know if this schedule will work for you because you don't indicate where you live. It is important to getting good information to always include your zone number and state in the heading of your posts.

I have a Samsung fridge, Frigidaire range, and Kenmore dw, all in ss. The range has a special coating and it doesn't show fingerprints as much as the other two. However, I don't feel any of them are too bad. A couple of times cleaning the fingerprints off themselves and DS and DD (ages 8 and 6) learned pretty quickly to use the handles on the appliances!