The wall faces south-east and it receives direct sunlight a great majority of the day. I'm considering adding a dripper line now; I was originally opposed to it when I first read your post. But since I've tired of filling the watering can one gallon at a time (3 gallon can) with the RO'd and pH'd water. If I setup a dripper line, I can put it on a timer so when I'm gone from home for a while (which is often) the garden will still get irrigated. I was in Home Depot the other day and saw a few kits. I wasn't sure exactly what to look for and I wasn't shopping for them so I tried to not spend too much time looking at them. What should I look for in a good system? I already have a large resevior with a pump that I just added to it so now I'm not dipping into the reseviour to get water. I can connect the pump directly to a hose with a wand attached to the end and walla! I'm watering! But if I can automate it for each individual plant, that'll be ideal. And I do have two compost bins going simultaniously; one worm bin and a traditional compost bin. The worm bin has scrap vegetables and the outside compost bin has anything that's biodegrable in it. It's mostly horse manure and some certified compost I got locally as "seed". Right now I would assume that I have about 150 gl of compost just starting to rot. Worms are supposed to be faster... I'm not impressed. I don't know how many worms it's supposed to have been, but I purchased a 5 gallon bucket of worms and bedding. I'm certain there is too much food in there now so I stopped putting anything in with the worms and have only been adding it to the bin outside. BTW, I didn't keep the worms in the 5 gl bucket (if you're wondering). Yes, I can't wait for it to get warmer! It has been warming up here lately, though. It almost feels like Southern California again!

Thanks for all of your responses! The containers have bottoms with lots of holes drilled in the bottom and the whole thing raised off the ground by bricks. My compost bin is new and the compost is not ready yet. I'm wondering if I am not testing the Ph of the soil and providing appropriate remediation or if I'm using all the same kind of soil i.e. nothing is 'sandier,' or 'richer,' than the other, will my veggies still grow? The more I read, the more I realize what I neglected to do and its overwhelming me. How precise do I need to be? Its my first time. THANK YOU! Here is a link that might be useful: Photos of the progress

if you cultivate regularily, you don't really have to worry about them. Out of personal curiousity I'd love it if you could take a pic for identification... Pablo's right though, mushrooms are the "fruit" of mycelium, which is easily explained as a root structure. The best way to stop the fruits is to cultivate the areas around the muchrooms to attempt to break up enough of the mycelium colony underneath. Mycelium colonizations are more worrisome in potted plants where they can gain such a stranglehold over the substrate/soil that it literally drowns the plants by blocking fresh air exchange to the roots. In open gardens, cultivating regularly can take care of it. Ultimately, there's something in your soil that was not decomposed enough and the mycelium is just trying finish cleaning it up for you. Depending on the type of fungus it could be something woody (your mulch) or something with more readily digestible sugars such as manure.

The only way to know if this is a soil nutrient deficiency, or soil pH related, is with a good, reliable soil test. Contact your local office of the University of Idaho Cooperative Extension Service about having this done. You can also dig in with these simple soil test, 1) Structure. From that soil sample put enough of the rest to make a 4 inch level in a clear 1 quart jar, with a tight fitting lid. Fill that jar with water and replace the lid, tightly. Shake the jar vigorously and then let it stand for 24 hours. Your soil will settle out according to soil particle size and weight. A good loam will have about 1-3/4 inch (about 45%) of sand on the bottom. about 1 inch (about 25%) of silt next, about 1 inch (25%) of clay above that, and about 1/4 inch (about 5%) of organic matter on the top. 2) Drainage. Dig a hole 1 foot square and 1 foot deep and fill that with water. After that water drains away refill the hole with more water and time how long it takes that to drain away. Anything less than 2 hours and your soil drains too quickly and needs more organic matter to slow that drainage down. Anything over 6 hours and the soil drains too slowly and needs lots of organic matter to speed it up. 3) Tilth. Take a handful of your slightly damp soil and squeeze it tightly. When the pressure is released the soil should hold together in that clump, but when poked with a finger that clump should fall apart. 4) Smell. What does your soil smell like? A pleasant, rich earthy odor? Putrid, offensive, repugnant odor? The more organic matter in your soil the more active the soil bacteria will be and the nicer your soil will smell. 5) Life. How many earthworms per shovel full were there? 5 or more indicates a pretty healthy soil. Fewer than 5, according to the Natural Resources Conservation Service, indicates a soil that is not healthy. to see what else is going on with your soil and what to do to work on and make your soil into a good, healthy soil that will grow strong and healthy plants. What you have might also possibly be a plant disease, although most often that appears as blotchy leaves that then turn yellow, or maybe, possibly due to some herbicde although most often plants sprayed will wilt, not become rigid. Here is a link that might be useful: UI CES