When I walked upon my straw bale garden and saw a forest of tall, lanky mushrooms growing about every inch of my bales, I panicked. I thought for sure I had done something wrong in fertilizing them, overwatered them (if that’s even possible), or possibly gotten a disease infested round of straw.
Turns out it was none of these things and my straw bales (full of tomatoes at that time) were just fine. As a matter of fact, those crazy looking mushrooms were a sure sign that the microbes in the bales were working their magic and breaking those bales down into dirt.
Inky Cap mushrooms thrive around decomposing organic matter.
While these mushrooms are edible, they have limits. They have a short lifespan and turn to black, inky goop if you do not consume them almost immediately after harvesting them. Also, they can cause alcohol poisoning if you have a drink within a couple of days, before or after, eating them.
I personally don’t recomment eating them, but if you want to know more, here’s a great article with the details.
