Fungus in my composting manuer??

[TanksHill]

I went out today to turn the horse manure that is in my raised beds. It's been in since mid summer composting with no problems. But today I turned up some strange looking fungus things. We did have our only rain this winter about two weeks ago. The boxes don't seem overly wet. Not sure if they are harmful or what I should do with them. Do you think I should cover beds with black plastic to try and kill it? Should I be worried?

 

[patandchickens]

I get that ear-fungus (honest that is its common name, from the shape) all over the place here, in horse manure compost and often when I've put down newspapers or corrugated cardboard under mulch, oh yeah also in the tree chippings from taking the poplars down last summer, and have never seen any sign it's causing a problem for plants.

So personally I'd just ignore it.

(The main fungus I get in my horse compost is those ink-cap mushrooms, do you get those too?, but other than the stains being sometimes hard to get out of jeans or socks, they don't seem to do any harm either )

Pat

 

[TanksHill]

Thanks Pat, I don't have horses and this is my first time with horse poop. I was just a bit surprised when I saw it. And yes it does look like an ear.

Is it a problem for the hens? Should I through it away in a trash can?

 

[patandchickens]

Many (I am not swearing it's "all") kinds of ear fungus are edible -- the wood-ear and cloud-ear mushrooms you've probably had in chinese restaurant stirfries are related to what you've got there -- so for me, personally, it would not be high on my list of worries. There are, after all, fungi all around us in the world, and most of them are no problem at all (unless you inhale gajillions of spores, which is kind of a separate issue)

JMO,

Pat