Chicken Thighs with Creamy Mushroom Sauce

Mushrooms

• Grow various mushrooms like oyster or shiitake from a kit indoors or on logs outdoors in a shaded, humid spot.
• Maintain high humidity (80-90%) around the growing medium, often by misting or using a humidity tent.
• Ensure good air circulation to prevent mold and encourage healthy fruiting.

Garlic

• Plant individual cloves, pointed end up, about 4-6 inches apart in well-drained soil after the last hard frost in spring or in autumn for an earlier harvest.
• Choose a spot with full sun, ensuring the soil is loose and fertile.
• Water consistently, especially during bulb development, but reduce watering as harvest time approaches.

• For mushrooms, hand-pick slugs or use shallow beer traps to deter them.

• Maintain good air circulation and avoid overwatering substrates to prevent fungus gnats around mushroom kits.

• Use reflective mulches around garlic plants to deter onion thrips.

• Practice crop rotation for garlic to minimize soil-borne pests like nematodes.

Mushrooms

• Harvest most mushrooms when the caps are still slightly curled under or just beginning to flatten, before they release spores.
• Twist or cut the mushrooms at the base of the stem, being careful not to damage the underlying mycelium for future flushes.

Garlic

• Harvest garlic when the lower leaves begin to yellow and fall over, but there are still 3-5 green leaves remaining on the plant.
• Carefully loosen the soil around the bulb with a fork and gently lift the entire plant, then cure in a dry, airy place for several weeks.