The roots of the mushrooms are living off the decomposing organic matter and the mushrooms that you see are the fruiting body (the spores). So you are spreading them to different areas by picking the caps and putting them somewhere else. They will most likely fade away by themselves when their food source depletes. But, you could cut off the caps before they mature and throw them away if you don't want them to spread. I enjoy finding mushrooms. They are interesing and maybe you are already learning to love them, too!

Hi there, I'm trying a sort of SFG here in 10b, but am allowing more spacing because of my specific climate. I basically followed the Mel's mix with the peat, vermiculite and various composts, but I deviated from the 6" recommendation and went with 12" This is my first season with SFG, but a local gardening friend has been doing a variation of SFG here for nine years successfully and gave me some tips on making it work in our area (yours may be different). For 10b I was advised the following: more spacing, soil depth of at least 10" for surface crops and 12"-18" for root crops to help combat heat and moisture loss, need to add the trace minerals in a slow release form (ie - bone meal, Azomite, greensand, etc...) at the start of each season when building up the soil depth because the very frequent downpours here can quickly wash out the mix, and keep a good eye on the watering needs outside of rainy season (for my area the soil could dry out very quickly), and need to have a mulch covering. I'm a ways south of you so, I also need shade cloth for mine during the intense sun periods and had to build the support for it into my bed design. My local advisor also has to strictly adhere to crop rotation due to bug build up and even has to redo his beds every few years or let them lay fallow for a good soil solarization every now and then to cut down on our gazillion bug and disease problems that will build up this far South. I'm glad I found a local to ask about "variations" to Mel's mix - I asked in a few forums and was nearly stoned in the public square for thinking Mel's mix was not perfect the way it was for every situation. Guess those folks forget that the latest book is the third time Mel has revised his mix and that he has a different mix suggestion for countries that can't access the ingredients we can. Good luck! Chrissy

I don't recognize the mushrooms right off the bat, but I can tell you that they are saprophytic, doing their job of decomposing the mulch you've used in the garden. Mushrooms of various kinds are a perfectly normal and perfectly healthy result of using a wood chip mulch. A saprophyte is an organism that feeds on dead stuff...like your mulch. No harm to your plants. Simply knock the mushrooms over if they alarm you; the REAL fungal body is located where you can't see it, anyway.

Mushrooms are actually a boon as the "root" system helps with the nutrient content in the area they grow. Saying that though they like really damp areas wich may pose a problem to the other plants in the garden. Are you overwatering? Are you getting enough sun? If you pick them they will just grow back. As long as the conditions are good for the plants you want I dont see a problem, others may have better knowledge though.