Leading the Way in Canadian Truffle Tree Production

With good climate, optimal site choices and proper cultivation procedures Black Perigord production will occur under hazel, oak, chestnut, poplar, willow and other trees. To ensure tree health and viability Duckett Truffieres have selected hardy Vancouver Island stock primarily in Garry oak and hazelnut, the best potential hosts for truffle production.

TRUFFIERE LIFE CYCLE

• Oak has the longevity to sustain truffle production over a century, requires less pruning and produces less debris;
• Hazel has a lifespan of over 50 years and the benefit of the secondary hazelnut harvest but requires extensive pruning to produce a tree form;
• A truffiere can use mixed species or monoculture – it is an individual choice.

HOST TREES

The key to successful truffle production to establish the symbiotic relationship between Tuber Melanosporum and its host tree. This association involves the complete envelopment of the tree roots by the fungus. The T. Melanosporum, in return for mineral ions, particularly phosphorus, receives carbohydrates from the tree. In order to promote optimum truffle production constant nurture and protection safeguards this association to ensure the root coverage is complete and undisturbed.

Trials have been ongoing to expand our variety of host trees that accommodate T. Melanosporum. Our primary goal is to ensure the highest quality truffle production while also ensuring climatic suitability, adaptability and consistent production in the widely varying extremes of Canada’s climate.

DUCKETT TRUFFIERES TREES

Duckett Truffieres raise hardy BC host trees well established in gallon containers. Quantities available in a given year will vary. Recently available proven host tree varieties are:

Common Name	Scientific Name
Garry Oak *	Quercus garryana
Hazel	Corylus avellana

Garry Oak is the only native oak in B.C. and Washington State. It is well known for its hardiness and for the fact that “Sudden Death Oak Syndrome” has never been found in Garry Oak. This oak has become our top choice host trees in our own truffiere, producing the best flavour in the truffles and as abundantly as our other host trees. The Garry Oak have, so far in our trial plots, hosted mature truffles as early as any other hosts and the Garry Oak truffles are of equal size to those produced by other tree varieties.

The Garry Oak wood has been valued for wine cask construction, its acorns for a high protein food supply, and now we recognize it as Canada’s leading native tree that produces Black Perigord Truffle. We are delighted that it is proving to be an excellent truffle producer. Documentation of harvest time is ongoing and closely connected to our documented year-round soil, weather and other conditions.

Trials of some other varieties with excellent potential are ongoing. Current trials include:

Common Name	Scientific Name
Willows	Salix spp
Rouvre oak	Q. pedunculata
‘Prairie Dream’ Birch	Betula papyrifera “Varen” Prairie Dream
Tree trials are long-term in order to prove productivity and hardiness in the trial species. At this point, with about 3-4 years growth, we are seeing microscopic development of the “Hartig Net” that indicates successful inoculation of the root system with t Melanosporum.

CONTACT US ABOUT AVAILABILITY BEFORE ORDERING AS TREES MAY NOT BE AVAILABLE

Click here to download the Truffle Tree Order Form

 

Contact Grant or Betty Duckett:

Phone or Fax 1-250-586-5133
Email Duckett Truffieres