We have established a 5,000 oak tree Truffière orchard, infused with black Périgord truffle (Tuber melanosporum).
Infrastructure has been constructed for a further 2 orchards, each of 5,000 trees.
The land for these 2 future orchards is still to be limed and treated, required to be done prior to planting.
This will be done the year prior to planting.
The black Périgord truffle is the second-most commercially valuable species in the world and derives its name after the Périgord region in France
The growing of truffles is a difficult and precise business.
The road is littered with failed attempts to establish a successful Truffière, for one reason or another, but mainly because of poor attention to soil quality at the outset and maintaining strict controls throughout the process.
As you can imagine, satisfactory soil requirements are a closely guarded secret, stumbled upon mostly through the trial and error of previous attempts…..and plenty of learning and studying.
Good soil preparation and ongoing maintenance and strict controls are the key to a successful Truffière.
The growth of truffles requires a very particular soil quality.
Our Truffière started long before the first trees were ever planted.
First, the soil needed to be tested to determine what minerals were present and in what quantity.
This allowed us to ‘develop’ the soil with the correct level of particular minerals, thought best for the growth of truffles, based on best practices and current knowledge within the industry.
Next came the reticulation of suitable, high quality water and in sufficient quantities. Fortunately, the estate is blessed with a multitude of natural underground springs providing copious quantities of water, naturally filtered by Mother Earth.
Then, and only then, were we able to plant the trees.
Oak trees only start producing their prized ‘fruit’ after about 5-7 years but live for 50+ years producing their prized ‘fruit’.
Until then, we play the waiting game to see if our work has been ‘fruitful’!
