In message , shannie
writes
My largest and fullest compost heap was doing beautifully, the other day I
took the vinyl cover off it and put some holes in it with a stake, its too
full and too deep for me to empty and turn, it's made up of four
4'palletts. Anyway, when I took the cover off and put the holes in, steam
(for want of a better word!) came out through all the holes. I was really
pleased, thought I was obviously doing something right. However...today I
took the vinyl off to put a layer of hay on top and found to my astonishment
loads and loads of mushrooms(?) fungus(?) toadstools(?) no idea what they
are!..They stand about 6"high and are grey with an open flat grey/black top
on them. Where on earth did these come from? and how, if it were hot enough
to create steam did they survive?...will they go or am I stuck with a large
heap of unusable compost?

Fungi are the principal mechanism for rotting down dead plants and
animals. If it were not for them we would be literally submerged in dead
things. There is nothing wrong with your compost heap if it gets a
decent head of steam up it will see off most weed seeds. Worth turning
the top few inches into the middle though otherwise they will not get
cooked enough.

I expect the fungi survived in there and then colonised the heap. Spent
mushroom compost is often used as a cheap soil conditioner. Unusual to
have then form fruiting bodies on your compost heap - worth looking them
up in a reference book to see if you have anything there worth eating.

Despite all the advice about what works and what doesn't I find that as
long as I add a couple of cubic metres at a time it really doesn't
matter what it is. The heap gets so hot after a few days that it all
rots down. I do try to put some woody stuff inbetween the grass cuttings
if possible.

Regards,
--
Martin Brown