Agree that it sounds like unfinished compost and the fungus growths you saw was just part of the decomposition process. But the MG Garden Soil may also pose a problem depending on the size of your "garden box". It stipulates on the bag that it isn't for use in containers but is intended to be mixed with the dirt in an existing garden. The compost will fix itself given enough time but the rest may require the addition of either some high quality soil-less potting mix if it is a small bed or some good old dirt it it is a large bed. Not only would that speed up the decomposition of the compost but help balance out the pH of the soil. You mention watering but you don't mention any feeding or fertilizing ever done. Plants require a regular source of nutrients to grow and thrive. So that may be the primary issue right there - feeding the plants. Dave

I just checked back at this forum and when I revisited the picture of my mushrooms, I was astonished to see the amount of weeds in the garden. Creeping Charlie in the front and all of the trumpet vine sprouts in the back. Now you will realized why we are in the process of killing these vines!!!! Ha ha ha!

Should not be a problem. Actually is usually very good. Obviously you have invited a saprophyte (=lives off of dead material) into your garden, by adding the cotton hull waste. Whether the mushrooms you have are edible or not is another matter. In my opinion it is beneficial to have mushrooms. Very few will attack garden plants (none I know of), but at the same time they help to reduce the stress on your garden plants by connecting the mulch together with their mycelium strands. This seems to effectively widen the reach of your plants' root systems. Most mushrooms are very beneficial organisms. Generally, we have the Brits the thank for our "fungal phobia". Most other ethnicities regard fungi as something good. A large majority of mushrooms are not poisonous. Respect them, they do an extraordinary job. Just don't eat any that you are not absolutely positive of-- and be sure to always cook the ones you do know. There is some good info in "Mycelium Running: How Mushrooms can Help Save The World" by Paul Stamets. And lots of good websites on the subject, just do a google search.

I'm not altogether sure that is a Morel, a look a like possibly. Mushrooms grow where conditions favor their growth, soils with high levels of organic matter that are fairly moist and most often I have found them growing in a stand of hardwood trees, seldom in a garden. False morels can be toxic so you do want to be sure of what you have. http://nature.mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/field-guide/false-morels kimmq is kimmsr