Truffles

Now is the fun part, planting a massive amount of truffle trees. Even if you do not have a bad back before you start, you will have by the time you finish planting all your trees. But, the good news is you only do it once. You dig a hole, next to the wooden stake, deep enough to completely bury the saplings roots to a depth about 2 fingers above where the root pack ends and the truck starts or so its level with the surrounding ground. Remember to remove the root protectors / guards before you insert the tree into the ground. Make sure the tree is straight. Add soil to the hole where the truffle tree is planted, about 3/4 the way up the root system and pack firmly with hand or foot so the truffle tree sapling stands firm. If you have access to water, add 4 liters or so ( about a gallon ) to the hole to remove air pockets. DO NOT REPACK THE WET SOIL! Just add soil so the the root system is completely covered about 2 fingers above where the root system ends. Put the truffle tree protector over the tree and attach the protector to the wooden stake with plastic tie down. Repeat above procedure with all remaining truffle trees. After planting 6 or 7 trees in this way, you will quickly become a expert at it. Under no circumstances do you try to untangle the root mass! The roots are balled up and some people will try to unravel the roots to help the truffle tree to root quicker. You will most likely kill off your trees, so do not do it. The holm oak will spend the first 2 to 4 years after planting establishing its roots system, hence it grows very slowly compared to other types of trees. Do not worry as this is the normal life cycle of holm oaks. Once finished planting your black truffle farm, stand back and admire your handy work. You can even pat yourself on the back if you feel so inclined. You are now on the way to be a successful black truffle farmer. Read the rest of this entry »

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. Read the rest of this entry »

Once the proposed truffle farm has been spiked, plowed and fenced, you will need to stake out the planting grid. You stake out the planting grid a couple of weeks before planting your truffle trees. You want to make sure that once the proposed truffle farm is staked out, you wont be needing to plow the land again. Here in Spain the planting grid is 6 meters by 6 meters ( about 18 ft by 18 ft aprox). The 6 x 6 meter planting grid is mandatory by law to receive governments grants for this project. It also allows for the trees to shade the ground in summer but let enough sunlight thru in the winter, once they are mature.

You will be planting your trees in autumn or fall, depending on which side of the Equator you are on. Fall planting of your truffle farm has a number of advantages. Your truffle trees will be entering hibernation and suffer the transplant better. You will have less mortality rate of your trees. Black truffles trees are not cheap, they cost between 5 and 7 Euros here in Spain ( September 2010 ). There is also now scientific proof that proves that when you plant your truffle farm in the fall, your truffles trees will suffer droughts better if you do not have irrigation and will produce more truffles over the life of your black truffle farm.

The holm oak, Downey oak and Hazel nut trees are your choices of truffle trees for a black truffle farm. The Holm oak is by far is the best truffle tree on the market. It is known to be a hardy and resistant host to the black truffle spore or mycelium. This black truffle tree is king when it comes to truffle trees or at least here in Europe. The holm oak is also very resistant to droughts and has a number of different strains to fit your geographical location on mother earth. The next truffle tree of choice is the Downy Oak. The Downey oak prefers a more humid environment to thrive well. It suffers droughts worse than the holm oak but it is still relatively resistant to cross contamination of undesirable micro organisms. Last but not least is the Hazel nut tree. The hazel nut tree has virtually been eliminated in Spanish black truffle farms even thou some inoculation nurseries still produce some hazel nut trees each year. Read the rest of this entry »