About us

Sowing hot chillies, growing old tomato varieties, cultivating rare vegetables - trying out something new has always been a part of gardening for me. Watching plants germinate and grow is simply fascinating.

I am Nicola Krämer, a trained ornamental plant gardener and graduate engineer in landscape planning. However, I had no idea during my studies that I would one day become an expert in the cultivation of edible mushrooms.

How it all began: Shade corners and shiitake pioneers

In the mid-1990s, I moved into an old house with my husband. Half the garden was in the shade - what to do with all the damp corners? Nature uses every nook and cranny - and so do I! A book gave me an idea - vaguely at first: 'Mushroom cultivation in the house and garden' by Jolanda Englbrecht (unfortunately in German language only).

Whilst travelling to England, I discovered a small farm in Llangadog, Wales, which was already growing Shiitake mushrooms  at the time. Meeting the mushroom growers Richard and Joy was the deciding factor: I returned home with an inoculated log in my luggage. After just a few weeks, the fruiting bodies sprouted close together. The first mushroom dish appeared on the table. And I was infected with a passion for mushrooms.

The first offer and a great response

In 1999, the first 'Plant Days' were held in Hanover. An extensive plant exhibition in a large public garden at a congress center. I was there as an exhibitor and offered shiitake as ready-made cultures (so-called substrate blocks) and also on inoculated wood. Through the many conversations with market visitors, I realised that I was not the only one interested in mushrooms. My idea of trying something completely different in the garden was really well received.

I continued to experiment with other types of mushrooms in the garden and in the cellar. I discovered which ones could be grown reliably and without excessive effort. Soaking a bale of straw in the bathtub, dragging it dripping into the garden and inoculating it with oyster mushroom spawn was not a solution ... Instead, I developed Spawn and substrate kits that are easy to handle and even produce a nice yield indoors.

Picture: Spawn and substrate kits (Left: Oyster mushroom kit with straw pellets, right: ripe pink oyster mushrooms)

Growing knowledge and the internet

Over time, my experience with various edible mushrooms and the small mail order business that I initially ran turned into something bigger: I tried, discarded, got new ideas (and other mushroom species), became more and more informed, found employees and exchanged ideas with experts and private mushroom growers.

Soon, the results of my passion could also be seen on the Internet. Since then, you can order mushroom spawn with cultivation instructions online at shii-take.de and find out about edible mushrooms. We also offer practical gardening accessories - but only those that we ourselves are convinced of.

Books, lectures and networking: mushrooms professionally

I have been a member of the 'Mushroom Utilisation and Toxicology' expert committee of the German Society for Mycology (DGfM) since 2008. I give lectures on mushroom cultivation at national garden shows (most recently in Mannheim 2023) and elsewhere, write specialist articles for gardening magazines and have visited many mushroom cultivation businesses in Germany and abroad over the years.

When Ulmer-Verlag asked if I would like to completely rework Jolanda Englbrecht's standard work on mushroom cultivation as an author, I was delighted - after all, this book was where it all began for me. In the new edition (order free of shipping charge on this website), you can read about much of what I have discovered and passed on over the last 30 years about edible mushrooms and their cultivation.

You will also find answers to many of your questions in my online instructions and in my mushroom growing guides (PDF files). If anything is still unclear, feel free to give me a call or send me an e-mail!

Honest information for a good start

I run my mushroom spawn mail order business in Hanover together with a small team. Many of our customers praise the information on our website and the possibility of contacting us by phone and receiving honest and straightforward answers. Growing mushrooms is a wonderful leisure activity and I am happy to help you grow them!

Yours, Nicola Krämer
Mushroom spawn and growing advice since 1999

P. S : You are currently on our shop page. You can find our further information about mushroom cultivation in English language here: www.shiitake-shop.de