[Fabrice Caporal]

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Hello Holly,

I have been asking similar questions since we have started and the best answer I have received was “I don’t know”… There are some data for European conditions but those don’t really transfer to us. They live on calcareous soils and we often recourse to amending with lime. The soil type will directly impact the ability for the plant to absorb the nutrients.

We don’t have enough data. We have relatively few producing orchards, and many of us are resisting sharing the little information we have. So much so that some are even trying to turn this confusion into a lucrative advantage and provide advices only under the veil of non disclosure agreements. I think these short sighted approaches are counter productive are destined to fail. Who is to tell that there assumptions are correct? Because of the secrecy there findings will not properly peered reviewed and will derive from a smaller pool of information.

This is why efforts like the North American Truffle Survey Database are so important. Right now most of us are shooting in the dark. Only with appropriate information sharing we may discover why some of us hit the target, and what elements are actually relevant to a producing Orchard.

[Fabrice Caporal]

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I can’t claim to be a truffle expert but that said, my understanding is that the burgundy truffles can handle frost as they are harvested during the late summer months.

There are also the native Appalachian Truffles that are prized but are not yet well known that can grow up north.

Good luck,

Fabrice

[Fabrice Caporal]

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Thank you for sharing this resource. Unfortunately these pages have so much commercial that it is very distracting from the real content…

[Fabrice Caporal]

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I did not understand Rowan great presentation that way. What I understood when he talk about diversity was to recognize all the other species of truffles the US have (pecans, appalachian, oregon…) and to bring them at the same level than T. melanosporum or T. magnatum. He is all about breaking the stuffiness of the old world tradition, and I could not agree more with him.

He is about educating and clarity and accuracy. He is certainly not about confusing the consumer and I am pretty sure he is about “calling an apple an apple” and he would discourage all attempts at inventing new names.

California wine were successful at affirming themselves in the world and to be recognized as fair competitors to the Bordeaux and the Bourgognes, without having to reject its european origins. Truffle are the same. We can evolve and develop our own identity without having to reject our origins. We can be vibrant, endorse diversity, and accessible by standing on the shoulder of the old world.

This is a very important discussion and if you are ok, I would like to transpose it on the forum so that the community could contribute. Fran and Brian I have your permission to transpose this content?

[Fabrice Caporal]

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Thank you for sharing. The original article has videos from the original TV documentary. It is in Spanish but quite entertaining.

 

[Fabrice Caporal]

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I second Staci’s comments. We have two pairs of the 812 and used them last season. I don’t think we could have pruned the 1,000 trees we did last year without these tools. Oak is a hard wood and we don’t have the forearm strength. The 812 is not too heavy for a day long use and it is powerful enough to go through quite thick wood. We have both extension size but did not need them last year.

This year will be a different story. We are getting ready to prune the orchard next week… And this time around we will have 3,600 trees to prune! We are going to top the tallest tree but for those we probably will use a pole rather than the sheers.

[Fabrice Caporal]

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This year we have decided to let the cover crop go to seed and to carefully manage the self seeding. We have a great take on the reseeding so we will not plow/seed this season.

[Fabrice Caporal]

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Can you share your seed mix?

[Fabrice Caporal]

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Hello Ruth,

These are very important questions however you will find that answers are very hard to come by. Part of NATGA’s mission is to come up with the data, but it has been a challenging endeavor for multiple reasons.

Secrecy. Traditional truffle production is associated with black market and hidden harvest spots. This is still ingrained in the practice. It will be very hard to get accurate numbers from the traditional channels.  Australian and to a certain extend Spaniards are changing that practice and recognize the value of an open market.

Lack of production. In the North American continent production is only a very small proportion of the demand. So we don’t significant data on the supply side, beside import. Most volume imports is done by a handful of importers that are still very much intrenched in the old world “business” practices. Further, restaurants would gladly serve truffles if they could rely on a consistent supply of quality truffles. So current market size is grossly under estimated.

Global import does not accurately distinguish truffles. As you know truffles are many different products and often they are amalgamated with mushrooms.  So I found using border control reports and such to be useless,  not even to get an idea of scales.

Please share any information you would find this would be a grate service to the community.

[Fabrice Caporal]

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I am no truffle expert, but my understanding is that it is truffle species dependent.  For example T. aestivum, like shade, and apparently T. melanosporum, needs sun on the ground. You will have also to consider your local climate, it is also possible to have too much sun.

[Fabrice Caporal]

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It depends who you are talking to. French growers are now swearing by bonzification of trees. Others argue that over pruning cut the sugar supply to the truffle… others are saying that we are now getting too hot so some shade may help… I have not tested either way so I can’t say which is better. Do you have some productio. So you could test one way vs another?

[Fabrice Caporal]

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To pull a traditional subsoiler you need a very powerful and heavy machine. The chains of the Case will somewhat mitigate compaction. Further if you run it in good soil moisture condition you should be fine. We went that route.

Alternatively you could look into the Yeomans plows. These can be harder to find but they are favored by the regenerative farming community and can be pulled by “regular” tractors.

All that said the question is do you really need to subsoil your parcel? The only reason would be if you have a hard pan that needs breaking. Otherwise regular disking or chisel plow should do the job well…

Hope this helps.

[As always take my opinion just as is. I am no expert and have only limited experience]

[Fabrice Caporal]

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This is true here to. Often people are uncomfortable of admitting not knowing… and not that many knows much about truffle farming. There is that nagging fear of being blamed for giving the wrong advice.  So they prefer to stay quiet.  You need to put on your common sens hat and try to transfer knowledge from other practices. Don’t ask about truffles, but rather ask about other techniques and don’t focus your attention on the what, but on the why…

[Fabrice Caporal]

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Hello,

Note that the fescue took about 2 growing seasons to establish itself, so you may want to weigh in the benefits of plowing after the first season…

[Fabrice Caporal]

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Like you, I am no expert, but your top horizon looks quite crumbly, I don’t know what you would gain with the subsoil. Was the water in the in the pit due to the rain or is it representative of your water table?

[Fabrice Caporal]

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Article summary:

With a hospitable climate and numerous success stories, North Carolina has become the hub of the country’s young truffle industry.

[Fabrice Caporal]

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Poplar and pine are both ectomycorrhizal species (see Type of Mycorrhisal Plants), so your soil will be naturally be rich in such fungus. You want to take actions to reduce the competitive pressure in favor of the truffle. My understanding is that in this situation you should try to remove as much as possible the existing roots, treat with lime to adjust your pH (if necessary) and let it rest for a while. Soil work should be to break any existing compaction pan fluff it up as much as you can without destroying the soil structure (no roto tilling).

I hope this helps. Good luck.

[Fabrice Caporal]

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To have a soft soil you need a well structured soil and rototilling pulverized the soil structure. The pulverized soil may appear soft at first but at first rain it will reaggregate into a solid uniform hard pan with very little interstitial space for micro-ecology, aire and water. Organic mater and carful care of your soil structure are your best friends for a soft soil. I recommend doing a bit of web search about the importance of soil structure and the difference between soil structure and soil texture.

Hope this helps.

[Fabrice Caporal]

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[Fabrice Caporal]

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Personally I have not imported truffle, I have purchased them from importers. From my research I don’t think there is much regulation around importing truffles.

[Fabrice Caporal]

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Hello David,

Cover crop is a controversial topic, at least when it comes to planted orchard. Your choice of plant will depend on the specifics of your area and on what you are trying to achieve.

We have selected a cover crop based on these criteria:

• Help with soil compaction (deep roots)
• Protect the soil from erosion, direct sun exposure, and water drop compaction (grasses)
• Do not bring more nitrogen as we have a very rich deep soil (no legumes)
• Increase organic mater (any plant, mulched)
• Low growing to not hide gopher activity
• Beneficial to pollinators (flowers)
• No plants known to be antifungal (mustard)
• Economical
• Maintainable (mowing)
• Can withstand watering schedule

Here is a picture of the mix we used for our orchard. A reminder, this is what we choose to match our needs and your mix should be specific to your needs.

As for the lime, how big an area are you treating? What is your starting pH? What is your soil type?

Make sure you are using Calcium Carbonate, the more readily available dolomite lime brings too much Magnesium.

Two tons feels very little, but again that depends on your soil buffering capacity and what you are trying to achieve.

I have been told a rule of thumb that it takes about 1T/acre to raise the pH by 0.1, but you  in my experience it took double the amounts estimated by the rule of thumb. We are on loamy soil (ranging from sandy-loam to silty-loam) and started at a pH of 5.5-5.7.  We have added 40T per acre and ended up with a pH of 7.4-7.7.  The problem is that the pH increase is not linear and the farthest you go from the original point the more lime you need to raise the pH.

I hope this helps. Good luck.

[Fabrice Caporal]

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The Orchard Grass thread talks about cover crops as well.

[Fabrice Caporal]

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Unfortunately I can’t give you a name of an importer I used as I went through the help of someone else. But I am sure you could go through any local distributor. However, if your intent use is for innoculum, make sure to DNA test every single truffle.

Another source of spores that I know of is Marcos Morcillo with Micofora

 

[Fabrice Caporal]

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This is a very scary prospect. No experience with it (thanks!) but this is really a nightmare scenario. It would be very valuable for the community to have a webinar on the potential plagues and the workable prevention/remedies.

[Fabrice Caporal]

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Hello Todd,

First congratulation on your first harvest.

I don’t know about best practices but I will give you my personal opinion with regards to testing.

You have tested the first truffles and confirmed the species.

I would use different protocoles depending on the usage of the truffles.

If its for human consumption I would maybe do a spot check on a few truffles if they were reasons to doubt on the cleanliness of your orchard or the appearance of the truffle would bring reason to doubt on the species. We are lucky that in the US we don’t have endemic truffles that look like T. melanosporum.

If its re-inoculation I would test every single truffles, at least the first few years to make sure that you would not spread a contamination.

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