What is the best time of the year to gather British truffles and does anyone on the site do it please give exact grid reff....
Truffles
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xylaria
Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Summer truffle tuber aestivumis available(?) from about june to september. It likes chalky soils and beech wood, but they can do very well under old hazel trees. They also like well drained soil and they grow very shallow in the soil. They give off smell like a mans skin which you can pick up but dogs etc are better at pinning the location. I have never found one.
xylaria
Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Don't tell anyone I told you this but your local mycology society keep location records, but you will have to join and put with 'oh you don't eat them do you!', but they are interesting people.
I don't think I could put up with those long boring lectures I'll take my chance searching
I did a little virtual searching for truffles! Apparently the UK may be as rich in truffles as France or Italy. Also, the human nose if probably OK at detecting the truffle. The trouble is we don't wear our nose near the ground! There is an insect called the "truffle fly" that apparently can help you locate the truffle.
I had a few creative thoughts on this. I reckon you could rig up a ground sniffer with a long tube! I also thought you could get hold of a truffle and then germinate acorns in its spores and so grow new truffle bearing oaks. I wondered if (like last year) you had a lot of macro fungi growing round local oaks then you might narrow your search to segments of the radius of the tree that did not have any fungi above ground.
I WANT TO FIND A TRUFFLE!!!
I had a few creative thoughts on this. I reckon you could rig up a ground sniffer with a long tube! I also thought you could get hold of a truffle and then germinate acorns in its spores and so grow new truffle bearing oaks. I wondered if (like last year) you had a lot of macro fungi growing round local oaks then you might narrow your search to segments of the radius of the tree that did not have any fungi above ground.
I WANT TO FIND A TRUFFLE!!!
The white truffles (tuber magnatum pico) which grow in italy are a world apart from the black truffles which grow in the UK and France. Taste wise they have no resemblance to speak of which is why the white ones cost so much more. By the way I don't lead a lifestyle which affords such luxuries but was once in the right place at the right time and ate both for free
xylaria
Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
I also have creative thoughts on finding/cultivating truffles. In nature they are germinated by squirrels digging them up, eating them, heating the spore to 37c and then depositing them with nitrogen rich matter. Mycophagic germination of spore is by far the most effective method of germination of members of the tuber group. Artificial inoculation is by planting acorns in areas where there is already a tuber mycorrhizal system in place. I can't help thinking if these two pieces of research are combined successfully a money tree would be produced.
http://www.nature.com/hdy/journal/v86/n4/pdf/6888550a.pdf
http://www.fs.fed.us/pnw/wenlab/pdf/Lehmkuhl-et-al-mycophagy-final.pdf
So maybe hunting squirrels maybe easier and buring the entrails around oak seedlings in mildly alkaline soil.
I have oak seedings and substrate but I have no experiance of mushroom cultivation.
xylaria
Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
What is the best time of the year to gather British truffles and does anyone on the site do it please give exact grid reff....
: The time of year is dependant on species. I found these last week. Eledgedly not great eaters but they taste really strong to me.
As for the grid ref, ooOOO I don't know about that mate. It 'ill cost ya. See you early sunday afternoon.
I'd like to train a young dog to "hunt" truffles.
Apparently you start by buying a small truffle, and hiding crumbs in a ball or rags around the house, and rewarding the find and retrieve etc.
Then move on to hiding, then burying them in the forest and repeating the find, retrieve + reward procedure.
Eventually you should have a fully trained truffle hound. No point if you don't have the right growing environment locally though.
Have a read here if anyone else is interested...
http://www.lagotto.net/addestramento2.htm
Apparently you start by buying a small truffle, and hiding crumbs in a ball or rags around the house, and rewarding the find and retrieve etc.
Then move on to hiding, then burying them in the forest and repeating the find, retrieve + reward procedure.
Eventually you should have a fully trained truffle hound. No point if you don't have the right growing environment locally though.
Have a read here if anyone else is interested...
http://www.lagotto.net/addestramento2.htm
