If it is indeed Ganoderma, would it be safe to eat as a medicinal mushroom? How can you tell? Are all Ganoderma species edible & medicinal, like Reishi? "Usually known as Reishi or Ling zhi, Ganoderma Lucidum is one of the highest ranked medicines in Chinese medicine and has extended to usage in Japanese and Korean medicine as well as having some prevalence in the West. Its mechanisms are diverse, but are usually localized around moderating the immune system (reducing its activity when overstimulated, increasing its effects when deficient) and proliferating the immune system at the same time, increasing the amount of active cells and thus the potential for their effects. Ganoderma also possesses anti-oxidative effects, and can act on a few other systems such as aldose reductase (which can help with diabetic symptoms) and 5-alpha redutase (which can help with prostate cancer risk). Due to these effects paired with the modulation of the immune system, Ganoderma Lucidum shows promise in being therapeutic for insulin resistance, prostate cancer risk, and a variety of conditions correlated with metabolic syndrome. It is also well known and touted for its anti-cancer effects, which are secondary to both potentiating the immune system (usually through activation of natural killer cells, and increasing tumor necrosis factor-alpha) and also some other mechanisms that allow Ganoderma to be synergistic within itself in reducing tumor growth and reducing the chance of metastasis." Here is a link that might be useful: Mushroom of Immortality

Tomato_worm, the one from last year had a very gaudy pink top on it. The top was not umbrella shaped. It was very small, mayby six inches tall. I found it on one of the species fungi sites but didn't write down the name. When I noticed it, I was very embarressed. But since it was way out back behind a brush pile, I left it as a joke. It was not one that can be eaten.

You don't have to remember what you threw in the soil, I can see where they came from, the wood chips. You can take them out or leave them, I doubt it matters much, they are just the fruiting body of the fungus in the soil. And I wouldn't sweat the fact that you have fungus in your soil unless your tomato is looking sick, not all fungi are bad.

Have you noticed movement? I was thinking that it could a form of scale (cottony maple leaf scale) that is treatable using Bayer with an active ingredient called Imidicloprid or insecticidal soaps or insecticidal oils (neem oil). This pest usually surfaces in late May every year. The cotton acts as a sac where eggs will hatch in the summer. Many of these products will work best when they are applied after the eggs hatch. You may want to apply those things next year too but start spraying ahead of time. Say 2-4 weeks before you first noticed the problem.... they like to return back home.