Any ideas on how to keep stuff like this down? I know that fungi are evidence of good decomposition, but I'd prefer not have tons of toadstools nor these rather obscene looking specimens. Any ideas would be appreciated.

You'll know a Jack '0 Lantern mushroom because if you go out in the dead of night, you'll see that their spores grow an eerie green. (Seriously, I don't make this stuff up)

Either way, you're mulch is rotting and it's helping the process along for you.

Hi Tennessee Gardeners, I am hoping you can help me with some problems we are having in our Antioch (Nashville) garden.

1. We had some black mulch put down by our lawn guy last summer. This spring as we were digging in the mulch, we have noticed a white "dust" or fungus inside the mulch. We have noticed that where we disturbed the mulch an orange thing grows for a few days. This orange thing is about 12 inches wide and looks like foam insulation. What is the white "dust"? Good, bad or indifferent? What is the orange thing? Is it connected to the white "dust?"
2. Has any one tried to use wet news papers to keep weeds at bay? I read in a "pass this to ten other people" email about how you can use wet newspapers under soil or mulch.

Thanks for your help, Beth in Antioch

We've used newspapers under mulch for five or six year. If it's windy we wet them to keep them in place when shoveling mulch, otherwise they can go down dry. In a year with normal rainfall, six to eight sheets of newspaper will decompose under our mulch between spring and the next spring.