Ziplock Bag of Beans
note: click image to open high-resolution scan
What This Is
A ziplock bag containing scarlet runner beans (Phaseolus coccineus), saved and labeled by hand on August 12, 2027. The beans were preserved in Dorchester, Massachusetts during the early volatility period and buried beneath an oak tree in a red metal toolbox.
Why It's Important
This bag represents an act of preservation during crisis. Someone chose to save these seeds when everything was collapsing, trusting that someone in the future would need proof that scarlet runner beans existed. The beans remained viable through 45 years of soil burial and now anchor the Memorial Seed Commons collection as Vault #2027-408B.
Where It Came From
Recovered during the Dorchester site excavation in 2045. The bag was discovered in its original burial location, exactly where it had been placed during the August 2027 evacuations. The handwriting on the label belongs to the grandmother of Mx. Kora Osei, current Archive Division coordinator at the Memorial Seed Commons.