Pictures would be helpful. I am sure there are people on the forum more expert than myself, but it sounds like some kind of bolete. Generally speaking the ones that bruise blue are not edible. But maybe you knew all of this already. Liz

Hi Everyone, I have finally made a dent in the listing of seeds, spores, and plants that I've got and am happy to trade for just about anything so give me a shout if you fancy anything, and I'll be happy to swap! Happy Gardening! Shelley

Ray, I found out by accident how to get my own mushies. I buy bulk mushroom compost and store it behind the shed where it is slightly damp, shaded and sheltered, no sun and quite 'dark' - perfect growing conditions I only use it on the garden the following year because I like to rot it down but lo and behold, when Autumn came around this year, we had a fantastic crop of free mushrooms. If you have a bulk supplier, just pile it up and particularly buy a supply that has mushrooms in it. Most of the bagged stuff will have because its been undisturbed since bagging. I've seen massive mushrooms in the bags at the nursery, so I reckon its worth buying those instead of those little kits. I love a free lunch! Cheers Linda - Back from the big smoke and down to earth again.

unless you garden on a beach, if you add OM, you will get fungi. I have two main sources, first my compost pile is under some old trees, and second I collect and bury rotten wood in the beds. You could get the fungi also by collecting dead leaves under established shrubs, some dirt from a forest floor, etc. The glomus species needed for veggies or trees are virtually the same. Note that using gloms species plus tilling equals flushing money down the toilet. You use them only in a no-till situation. I have had very good experience with mycorrhizal spores in the past, in particular a planting of strawberries yielded 100% survival for those plants whose roots had been dusted, and close to 0% for those which had not. But then I discovered that putting some rotten wood in the planting hole gave the same results, and of course it is fungi AND fungi food, which is why it is better (and cheaper).