Perigord Black Truffle
We have 1 acre of 100 oak trees and 300 hazel nut trees that have been inoculated with the perigord black truffle spores. We are one of the few farms in B.C. attempting this rare crop.
What is a truffle?
Truffles are the fruiting bodies of a fungus that forms an ectomycorrhizal association with tree roots. The truffle fungus explores the soil for water and mineral nutrients which it passes along to the tree. In exchange the tree provides sugars through photosynthesis to the fungus. The tree and the fungus depend on one another. The Perigord Black Truffle was originally produced in France and Italy in truffle and oak orchards on calcareous soil. Techniques for successful Perigord Black Truffle production have been developed, tested and shown to be successful in New Zealand, Australia and parts of the US. There are now a small number of farmers attempting to do the same in BC, mainly on Vancouver Island, the lower mainland and the Okanogan.
What does it take to be a truffle farmer?
Your children’s inheritance and your retirement fund. Joking aside the planting of a truffiere can be expensive and the following requirements need to be given consideration when looking for a truffiere site. The ground ideally would be a south facing slope and have a high PH. The PH level is really critical. A minimum PH of 7.5 and an optimum PH of 7.9 is highly recommended. The development of the fungi can be inhibited in clay soils. Well drained soils ranging from sandy to clay loams, including rocky and marginal soils have been successful truffle production sites. If the soil becomes too wet the fungi can also rot underground before it is ready for harvest. Here on the island, a drainage system is probably a must. That being said, water quality and irrigation needs must also be met. Although the site does not need irrigation all the time, the fungi develops poorly if the ground dries out for too long. The site should not have had ectomycorrhizal trees (some species of conifers, oaks and other nut trees and some shrubs) on it for at least a few years before planting the truffle trees to avoid competition from other fungi. It is also considered essential to provide a buffer zone wide enough so that the roots will never make contact with nearby ectomycorrhizal trees. A climate with crisp frosty mornings and plentiful sunshine hours is considered ideal. The first harvest (with luck) may be from 4-7 years after planting. Here on the island we would be looking to harvest from Dec – Feb. Traditionally pigs were used to sniff out truffles, but unfortunately they to like to eat them, so today specially trained dogs are the sniffer of choice. Once located the farmer needs to dig carefully (usually with a pronged fork) to harvest the truffle. That’s another reason why soft ground is beneficial.
Here at Terra Nossa we have planted 400 trees consisting of 300 Hazelnut and 100 English Oaks. These trees were inoculated twice at the nursery with the Perigord Black Truffle (tuber melanosporum). Our trees vary in age from 2- 4 years old. The biggest challenges we had to address were the PH level, the drainage and the deer. The 6’9” fencing hopefully has eliminated the deer problem and through a series of lime applications we have applied 20 tons of lime over this past season. Then we put in the drainage system before planting the trees in October. The trees are planted on a 10’ x10’ grid pattern. During planting we dug holes with our excavator and put about a 5 gallon pail of crushed limestone rock fines into each hole, mixed this with soil, planted the tree and then put more limestone rock fines around the base of the tree. This spring we will be installing the drip irrigation system for the trees.
