Eight days, seven flights, six airports and five presentations later, I am home.

Despite the scary numbers, it was a good trip, mostly because I saw a lot of old friends. And also, because, well, I didn’t pass out or throw up or otherwise get too anxious before speaking in front of large numbers of people! I am learning to relax.

Oh, and I also signed and sold lots of copies of Fresh from the Farm, so I did my job.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch (er, farm), Roy collected, washed, packaged and sold something like 2500 eggs. And fed, watered and cooped the 500 hens, of course. He also picked up our order of seed potatoes—100 pounds total.

And today I planted 500 onion starts that have been lying in wait on a cool floor upstairs (they arrived the day I left) – only about 700 more to plant tomorrow. (I think we doubled, like, every order this year. What’s a few hundred more?)

In the hoop house, 1500 seedlings greeted me. All very happy with this new temperate (relatively speaking) weather. And the overwintered lettuce and spinach (250 heads maybe) had gone bonkers—lush and lovely.

Well, speaking of numbers, I have three (3) magazine deadlines to meet, now that I am back, so I am keeping this blog short.

Here are a couple photo highlights from the trip, for those of you who aren’t doing the Face Book or Instagram thing!

 My first glimpse of the Rocky Mountains from the car as we headed to Zone 4 Magazine’s “Plant to Plate” conference at Chico Hot Springs Resort in Pray, Montana.

 I snuck in an early morning walk before the conference began.

And again the next morning…

Then it was off to my 30th reunion at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. The Chapel is the focus of West Campus.

Glimpses of spring at Duke.

 My freshman dorm room!

Two highlights: Left, my college room mate, Carolyn Kates Brown, holding my book while I hold her new book, a wonderful biography of Eudora Welty called “A Daring Life;” right, one of the many efforts Dan and Andra Spurr made to offer fun, goodies, and know-how to Plant-to-Plate attendees in Montana.

Counting my blessings on all my fingers! (At least the ones that don’t smell like onions…)