subject: Black Truffle Farming For Idiots! [print this page] The black truffle harvesting season officially ends in Spain the 15th of March (beware the ides of March), many black truffle farmers stop collecting black truffles around mid February. They leave the last black truffles to ripen and rot underground. The black truffle spore will then impregnate the area with new black truffle spores. In the following years there will be more black truffles in that general area.
Old timers who used to collect black truffles in the wild used to carry a small sack of compost mixed with minced black truffles. When they removed a black truffle from the ground, they would add a small amount of this mixture to the hole in the ground where the black truffle was and then cover it back up. They claimed that in the following years in the surrounding area there would be more black truffles.
Some farmers dont start looking for black truffles on their farms until the 5th or 6th year after planting their trees. Even thou there might have been black truffles to be collected, if you leave the 1st truffles to rot underground, your black truffle farm will most likely produce more black truffles the following years.
Heres an idea to deter wild boar from trying to get into your black truffle farm. I havent tried it yet but I thought to spray the bottom of the fence with some long lasting, horrible smelling substance (non toxic of course). They sell nowadays imitation predator urine which I will be planning to use in the near future. All animals have a genetic panic button that says run when they come into contact with a carnivore or its scent. Wild boar are tenacious head strong critters. When they smell the black truffles, they will go to any lengths to get them. I continuously find new wild boar tracks around the outside of my fence, where they circle my land looking for a way to get in. What interests them is the smell of the black truffle spore inoculation on the truffle tree roots. That is how sensitive the wild boars scent of smell is.
One thing that I have failed to mention so far is how the truffle spore propagates or gets dispersed over large areas. Seeds from plants, trees, weeds and such are air borne dispersed, the truffle spore has no such advantage. Mushrooms will also disperse their spores wind ward bound. The only way a truffle spore can disperse itself is by being eaten by some rodent / critter and once passed thru its digestive track, be defecated some distance from where it was originally eaten. The black truffle spore is resistant enough to pass thru digestive tracks without suffering harm. If luck is on the truffle spores side, it will be defecated in an ideal spot where it can take hold and restart its life cycle. Unfortunately, this is the exception rather than the rule.
