Part Alchemist, part Chaotic Squirrel

Mushrooms are just the fruit of the mycelium, so by the time you see mushrooms growing, the mycelium has been in the organic matter for some time, interacting with he soil biology. I generally think mushrooms are an excellent indicator of soil health and balance. They drop spores, which bugs eat. Bugs poop and fertilize the soil, birds eat the bugs and poop too. They're also breaking down the larger, complex molecules like cellulose and lignin for the smaller critters to eat. Some fungi, however, are definitely parasitic to the plants we want to grow. Powdery mildew is not fun to see. It's a fungus, but does not produce mushrooms. Trichoderma mold, the green stuff you see on bread if you leave it out too long, is absolutely fantastic in as a compost accelerator. It doesn't produce mushrooms, but it is a fungus. Then we get into some *really* cool fungi (called mycorrhizal fungi) that weave, wrap around and embed themselves into roots of plants. The extend the reach and capability of the plants by orders of magnitude, trading water and mineral for some sweet, sweet sugars the plant produces. Some produce mushrooms like truffles, chanterelles, porcini (boletes), and matsutake. Others don't. One of those mycorrhizal fungi is called glomus. We LOVE glomus. Not only does it secrete helpful proteins directly into plant roots, it also sweats out a special protein that "gloms" particles together which helps make soil feel and act like soil. So yeah, mushrooms are mysterious, but they make up such a small percentage of what's going on. By the time you see a mushroom, the mycelium has been having a party with the plants and soil biology for a while ;) I'm certainly pro-mushrooms in all of the soil. Even parasitic fungi, as frustrating as they are sometimes, gives us insights into the complexity of our gardens and how we can relate to them.