I found this once in my garden - it totally freaked me out. I found out what it was, but I have since forgotten. Help us out folks.

That one is called "stinkhorn, "Mutinus elegans."

here's a good link to check out on mold stuff in the yard

Here is a link that might be useful: Tom Volk site on fungi

yeah these are soooooo gross! I had them popping up in one of my flower beds last summer. I just read that if you take 2 T of baking soda and mix with a gallon of water, spray the bed, you can get rid of them. I hated them! gross

Can anyone explain these two items that I found when the snow melted?

{{gwi:381500}}
and one of these...
{{gwi:381501}}

While digging in my soil the other day I found 2 marbles (1 white, the other orange/white). Where in the world did these come from? I don't have kids, my next door neighbors don't have kids. Then I found myself wondering could these be a relic from the past. My house is 100+ years old, could these have belonged to some Victorian kid. Anyway I left them there, figured they were not hurting anything and years from now somebody else may discover them.

-StLGirl

Old houses have wonderful treasures hidden in the soil in their yards. I once found an arm from a small china doll that had to be from long ago. Marbles are fun to find, you should check them out, some can be valuable. They also look really cute in a houseplant, or a bird bath.

Mary

When we moved into this house over thirty years ago, I found an old styrofoam cooler(know the kind I am talking about?), buried in the yard. Well I dug it out as it was where I was putting a garden, and carefully lifted the lid expecting the remains of the previous owner's cat or something. ....absolutely nothing!.....no fur, bones or anything else. .....just empty. Never figured out what that was all about. 8-)
gg

In my last yard, we were cleaning up not log after we moved in there were lots of leaves that were never raked. We found a pair of boxer shorts, YUCK

Last year I found some kind of mushroom mold like thing that looked like dog poop. When I squirted it with a hose the dust or spores from it blew in the air. It was odd, I wish I had a picture.

Karen

Along the lines of Karen, I usually get an outbreak of dog vomit fungus. Blech.

I found a green, plastic army guy in one of my front beds this spring when I was transplanting delphiniums.

cheers,
Nora Belle

Here is a link that might be useful: Dog Vomit Fungus

I found part of a fence buried about 2 feet down while
planting a tree last year. I kept digging til I could find
no more fence.

My daughter found a class ring from aroung 1953 at our
other house. Lots of cool things found digging around
in the dirt. So much fun!

Mary

Nora Belle, that was exactly what I had. I found it in the spore stage, It was gross!

Thanks, now I know what to call it. Funny thing is I thought it was dog poop at first so I was close to the name :)

Karen

Lots of strange things heave their way to the surface (besides your canna tubers!). After a good rain is a good time to find things. The people that lived here before me used the area where I garden as their trash burning pile. After every rain I have to pick up pieces of broken glass, pieces of broken dishes, etc. I have found lots of really neat marbles. The other day when I was planting out and apologizing profusely to all the worms I cut in half (thanks to you guys) I dug up an old garden trowel. It was probably one I didn't put away several years ago. I'm pretty bad about leaving things lay around. (Now where did I put my glasses.)

While digging a new bed where an old trash/burn spot had been many many years ago I found a quart mason jar of lard and a hub cap from a small garden tractor.

I have found various bits of metal, old pieces of pottery, some army guys, marbles and doll parts.

Not to mention I found two different swarms of ants this weekend. Yuck! Why do they do that?

mmqc: Those artifacts are fascinating. So unusual. If you ever find out what they are, let us know!

I once found a pirate's sword in the dirt. Well, not really, but there are some neighborhood kids who sometimes hang out with me while I garden, and that day they kept talking about pirates and buried treasure. When in my digging I unearthed an old butter knife with a wooden-looking handle, we all declared it a pirate's sword.

Ah yes, the green plastic army guys! I think we all have those, lol!

The far back area of my yard, a patch of woods, must have been used for dumping by either the previous owners and/or others in the area. I've found an alarming amount of junk, including bits of ceramic tile (actually, whole tiles, not just bits on this one), dishes, building materials, little toys, etc.

The most interesting thing I've found is a football helmet - yes a football helmet! It looked rather old in style, and had the name "Dale Cargill" on the side. I've found that he was a professional player but on a small scale, and perhaps a college player (can't remember the research off the top of my head). I thought I was onto a valuable collectible, but seems no one ever heard of the guy so it's just a piece of yard junk at this point.

Fun thread!

:)
Dee

I once found a really thick and heavy nail...well rusted as well. It looked like one of those nails that you would use to seal a coffin in a movie :S im guessing it might have been a railroad spike. there's a train track about 100feet from the back of the yard fence

Funny you would start this thread! Earlier this week I was planting out (yea!) in a bed I've planted for over 15 years & right on top was the pull tab from a can-one of the removable ones from way back! If you're of a certain age, you know what I mean, & how long ago did they start using the "built in" ones? And yes, I remember having to use an opener on soda cans! I thought that the only thing that keeps coming to the top of my soil was ROCKS! Guess I was wrong!