It sounds like dog vomit fungus 'Fuligo septica'. It won't hurt anything and it appears on damp mulch. I just rake it off and dispose of it.

Wow! I just googled Fullgo Septica, and that's definitely it! I can't believe there is really something called dog vomit fungus! That's totally what it looked like. Well, thanks for your help! I am sure glad to know it's nothing to worry about. :)

LOL! We call it mulch vomit! It is pretty gross.

Nasty, for sure!!

You know, I have noticed a lot of mushrooms growing from this mulch too.

What kind of mulch do you use?

This time, I think it was Scott's. Midnight mulch. In a bag from Home Depot.

I think this mulch was kinda funky. :( What is up with all the mushrooms? We never had mushrooms at the other house. This neighborhood just sort of seems to be more prone to them. I see them in people's yards. In our yard. I do not remember a single mushroom in our other neighborhood. I am so perplexed by this. And annoyed...I am working so hard to keep the backyard completely free of plant material that is of questionable toxicity to pets. Then I have these stupid mushrooms popping up everywhere, and from what I understand I would have to become a mycologist to even begin to take a guess on whether or not they are poisonous. Argh! Stupid mushrooms!

OK, sorry about the mushroom rant. :)

When we first moved into this house we had mushrooms growing everywhere. I think it was caused by the lawn holding too much water and too much shade.

We repaired two gutters and added a flexible tube to a downspout to redirect the water away from the house. With these improvements, additional landscaping, and regular mowing the mushrooms no longer pop up every spring.

I have added planting beds along the front and side of the house, and evergreen trees/shrubs along the edge of my property, so that all that spring rain is used up.

Our front lawn used to have a musty, funky smell in the spring that has now disappeared with all the plantings using the excess water.

Not much we can do about the shade since our neighbor has 3 large Silver Maples that border our property. We trim what we can reach that hangs over our property but it's a losing battle.

Tn seems to be deluged with rain in the spring, much more so than other places I have lived. Tn also seems to have an abundance of mushrooms spores.

Hmm, that's interesting. Our gutters need some work...maybe that's part of the problem. Maybe with time and care ours will go away too. Thanks!

Fungi are just a part of the decomposition process in this part of the world. (Well..ok...most parts of the world.) Mulch is chopped up wood. It rots and holds moisture, which is good for the plants. That also forms a perfect growing medium for spores.

I used to get bent out of shape over them but decided it wasn't worth worrying that much about. And in general, most animals won't eat things that are harmful to them. Otherwise the plants would have won a looooong time ago.