To breed truffles? It works!

Truffles: No fast money, but interesting niche
Truffles are booming: restaurants or hobby chefs who are on their own are characterized by the expert handling of truffles to fine dishes. Farmers are u. a. In view of low milk prices, the search for income alternatives is increasingly on the alert, especially when the decision to extensify dairy cattle farming has been taken. With these two facts in mind, an intersection is not as remote as one might think: truffles are the highest priced food ever, and so a good source of money, if not gold, could be hidden here. But it is not that easy.

The biggest disadvantage first: the yield may take up to 15 years to come. And nothing can be left to chance. First of all, a thorough preparation of the soil is needed, which should have a comparatively high pH of 7.5, so that truffles can even grow.
After the application of lime, there is afforestation - with specially prepared deciduous trees, whose roots were inoculated with the spores of the truffle fungus.

Grow truffles yourself, is that possible? Picture: different picture - fotolia

Truffles are fruiting bodies of the underground living mushroom mycelia and enter into a symbiosis with trees. Symbiosis means: The two living beings provide each other with nutrients. Since the truffle is just a mushroom, it is obvious that the soil must be kept moist. For this straw bags are laid out, the vegetation between the trees is mowed because of the water competition and often a drip irrigation system must be installed.

The Swiss Agricultural Information Service (LID) reports that, despite this elaborate process in Switzerland, there is an increasing interest in truffle courses, in which farmers and hobby gardeners learn to cultivate the valuable tubers. For many, it remains more of an experiment or a hobby, since the risks and the time to first yield are quite high. Also, it could happen that with increasing interest in the niche, the market would soon be saturated. Truffles as a commodity - the charm of the expensive would probably have disappeared quickly. (Friederike Heidenhof, aid)