http://totallytruffles.weebly.com/

There are however other mechanisms of this symbiotic relationship that are more poorly understood that limit the scope of the truffles growing in Southern Europe.

The distribution of truffle finds in the UK is very much governed by the balance of free cations in the soil which very much limit where these inoculated trees can be grown.

There are lots of places in France that sell REGULATED controlled trees by either I.N.R.A or C.T.I.F.L.- Search for such ‘pepinieres’, and look for a local one.

In the UK there are no controls, and unless a supplier has proof of having obtained truffle of the species used for inoculation you have no idea whether you will be waiting for 10-15 years to get nothing, or some other undesirable fungi.

Make sure they have been a long time in the trade, and have technicians on board that can guarantee you the survival of the plants.

We do these sort of things but would not travel that far!
See the list of services you need on http://www.grosol.co.uk

Good luck!

First of all where do I go for information on obtaining the trees and also for guidance as to how we look after them?

Edwina

Truffles that are white inside have no value. If your truffles are 2-4cm with a black hard peridium witrh marked warts, they are more likely to belong to the aestivum group. They are 5 species in that group. Some may have some colour now, but inside they should be brown ( brown to dark chocolate) marbled white to be of any value and have a strong perfume, be firm to the touch. Some are not marketable because they are not in the commercialised truffle list.

There are official seasons for the hunting of truffles per district, and in Italy you need a license to hunt, just like for fishing over here. The season for picking to avoid harvesting unripe specimen starts in mid September. The ‘summer truffle’ can be confused with other more valuable truffles and in certain regions it is illegal to harvest even these. September is for Autumn truffles not winter truffles.

A ripe truffle can grow to 10-12 cm, is dark marbled coloured and perfumed (some species to pinch your nose!). Truffles can grow much more than that.

Try to learn from them!

See the pictures of truffles of the aestivum group on http://www.grosol.co.uk

French Marie

I have recently returned from Italy with 5 (i think i have identified them as) Black Perigold Truffles.

Could someone please advise me where or how I can sell these in the UK?

Thankyou for your help

Paul