Mushrooms and Other Fungi—and Our Sins, by  Dr. Jeff Mirus

By Jeffrey Mirus, Catholic Culture, May 28, 2024

Jeffrey Mirus holds a Ph.D. in intellectual history from Princeton University. A co-founder of Christendom College, he also pioneered Catholic Internet services. He is the founder of Trinity Communications and CatholicCulture.org.

My wife and I have been battling mushrooms amid the fairly lush grass in one section of our front yard. We’ve had a few pop up here and there in recent years, but this Spring there have been scores of them (sometimes hundreds) popping up every few days, especially after significant rain, for they love moisture. According to the most knowledgeable authorities (e.g., Felder Rushing) there isn’t a great deal you can do about this apart from radically drying out your lawn (which in many cases will mean making your lawn look worse than it did with the ‘shrooms).

Even using fungicides to kill the mushrooms is only a temporary measure. Since the mushrooms are not a cause but a symptom, what you really want to do is eliminate the fungi that are growing in crisscrossing mats under the soil, feeding on such things as “fallen leaves, twigs, old grass clippings, animal waste, buried wood, old stumps, and dead or dying tree roots.” Indeed, about three years ago, we removed a very large tree from that section of the yard. …

Continue reading >>>>>>>>>