Unbelievably, we finished planting all garlic today. A combination of good timing, semi-favorable weather and awesome volunteers firmly positions us, with a little good luck, to be able to harvest over 250,000 premium organic garlic cloves in July, 2015.

But, make no mistake, numerous season-changing events still abound here. Today, the first day of South Jersey Duck Season took priority for a major player here, our son Quentin. Up at 4:30am, meeting fellow professionals and friends is simply a non-negotiable cultural thing here as we respect our land and its surrounding bounty. To simply be asked to hunt with others is a sign of ultimate respect and a fellowship cementing activity like no other.

As inspiration usually rears its head on these occasions, it did so once again today as Quentin brought home an enormous bounty of 9 wild ducks- unusual for a mild, blue-bird day. Given that we now have freshly harvested black and wood ducks, more respect and inspiration simply happens instantly. Quentin dutifully and respectfully cleaned all the birds from his party's harvest, and transferred them to Dr. Lloyd.

On the edge most times, Pat consulted chef Jake Waddington for some advice on confit, and as it often does, turned into an exponential experiment. Here's the recipe and progression. Hope that you enjoy and share the goodness.

Confit of Wild Duck

8 Wildly Harvested Ducks, thoroughly plucked and cut into breast and leg portions

1 cup Demerara washed raw cane sugar

2 cups Course dehydrated ocean salt

1/8 cup Obis One Black Crack

1/8 cup Obis One Organic Beet Shreds

8 Lengths, Organic Lemongrass

Combine everything but ducks to make a simply cure. place a thin layer on a sheet pan, add duck then cover with remaining cure. Top with another sheet pan, add weights and refrigerate overnight.

Rinse away the cure and pat the duck dry. Add duck to a vessel and cover with rendered duck fat. Heat to 200F and cook 3-4 hours. Remove duck from fat and pat dry. Heat in a skillet to crisp skin and serve. Simplified but good enough. Enjoy.