So after doing all of the above correctly, there are still no guarantees that your black winter truffle farm will ever produce a single truffle. Even thou science has taken this once dodgy farming technique and has turned it into a very profitable type of farming, it does not mean that you will automatically reap a bunch of highly priced black winter truffles. A lot depends on your truffle tree type. Much also depends on the quality of the original black winter truffle tree sapling to begin with. A good inoculation and a good sapling is probably the secret to a successful black truffle farm. Here in Spain, your black truffle trees come with a certificate of inoculation.
A certificate of inoculation is a certificate stating what type of truffle is inoculated on the trees roots and the percentage of the truffle mycelium. If you want a tree that produces black winter truffles ( tuber melanosporum ), make sure the certificate states just that. Some people have planted black truffle trees on their farm and left it to defend for itself. They show up years later to see how things are going. Surprisingly, some of these black truffle farms do quite well. Seems that leaving mother nature to take her due course works very well sometimes. But it is not a technique I would not recommend. Weeds can quickly out grow your small saplings the first couple of years, so weed removal is imperative. A wild boar could somehow get into your farm and ruin it, by up lifting trees and just being the destructive animal that it is.
The burn or brule is a patch of ground that the black truffle mycelium wont allow any weeds to grow in. The brule forms around the truffle tree trunk, starting in a small radius near the tree trunk, growing outward every year. Once a brule appears on your truffle trees, it is a good sign that all is well underground and you should be collecting black truffles on you farm in a couple of years. The brule is the black truffle defense system, so to speak. The mycelium underground burns the weeds above on the surface to probable kill off any competition for water. Sometimes the brule will make a complete circle around the tree on the ground, other times it will be only on one side of the tree. Regardless how the burn appears, it means that all is well underground and the truffle spore is the dominating micro organism killing off its competition.
The black winter truffle collecting season is regulated by law here in Spain and in Europe. In Spain, the collecting season starts November 15th and ends the 15th of March. The truffle is collected using a machete like type of tool that lessens the damage to the mycelium when the truffle is removed from the ground. You should always try to avoid digging excessively around your truffle trees. The black truffle grows from just under the surface to a depth of about 30 centimeters ( about 1 foot deep ). The more successful black truffle farmers add a soil compost mix to the hole where the truffle was removed from. This compost will always contain some minced truffle. The idea behind this is that it will help the area in the following years to reproduce more black truffles.
People use dogs now a days to hunt for truffles on their farms. It is far easier to train a dog to hunt a truffle rather than using a female pig or sow, which was used in the old days. A dog will willingly jump into a car to chase truffles while a 300 pound sow just might cause you some head aches with her temperament. Here in Spain, some truffle farmers do not even own a truffle hunting dog. They rely on individuals who rent out their services in hunting for black truffles in exchange for a percentage of the truffles found.
A fresh truffle should only be brushed clean when it is first harvested. Do not wash in water until just before you will be using it. When you wash a truffle in water to clean it, it has to be used in a matter of days or it will rot. A brushed truffle will last longer before it rots. Try to store your fresh truffles in a cool dark place or in the fridge, so they last longer. Black winter truffles are usually cheaper at the start of the harvesting season and will gradually get more expensive as the season progresses. Christmas time is the high point in the price of the sought after black winter truffle, sometimes reaching unbelievable prices per kilo. Check out what a kilo of black truffles where selling for in your area recently and you will understand why this type of farming is so lucrative. There are many scams concerning black truffles. People will sometimes include lesser valuable types of similar black truffles in lots they sell. There also exists a Chinese black truffle that is sold but its aroma or taste is nothing in comparison to the real deal. So take care when you are buying black truffles, use only reliable sources. When you are buying black truffles, make sure they specify that they are tuber melanosporum. Creative advertising is used in many cases to rip you off, do be blunt. So take care.
Tags: truffles