Dr Paul Thomas (our managing director) has appeared on several TV programmes, radio shows and in many written articles. Specific areas of expertise include entrepreneurship and the biology, cultivation, hunting and cooking methods of the wide range of truffle species.
Dr Thomas also has many years of expertise in collecting and cooking a vast range of unusual edible fungi. These range from those the size and shape of footballs to the glow-in-the-dark and unusually flavoured, including aniseed and apricots.
If you would like an interview or require an expert/presenter for features and articles then please contact Dr Thomas – Paul@PlantationSystems.com
The prime tree planting time November – March is upon us. Traditionally, November to March are good months to plant, as the trees are dormant and planting in the winter allows the truffley-roots plenty of time to settle in before mycorrhiza and root-growth starts again in spring.
The white truffle, the most expensive fungi in the world, is now in season. This rare truffle that is only available for these few months of the year are almost exclusively from one part of Italy. They fetch staggering prices of thousands of pounds per kilo, and are the ultimate culinary luxury. One of the reasons that these truffles are so expensive is that wild harvests continue to decline.
Our first annual grower’s seminar was held on the 18th of this November. It was a resounding success and we would like to thank everybody who came. The day started with a presentation by Dr. Paul Thomas and was then filled with plenty of Q and A time. We love meeting fellow truffle enthusiasts and enjoyed the day so much that we are planning to hold two seminars every year from now on. The next one is scheduled for March 2012, if you would like to attend please emailshop@plantationsystems.com
If you are interested in creating a truffle
plantation please contact us at: invest@plantationsystems.com or Tel: 01422 844095. We will send you a free information pack and provide
a free soil test to assess the suitability of the potential site.
Now is the perfect time of year to get the
ball rolling, as the prime time for truffle tree planting is just around the corner and MSL have trees in stock for planting this season.The Woodland Trust is calling on the public to help them track the early signs of autumn to see if it is affected by the unusual seasonal events that have taken place so far in 2011. With spring 2011 possibly being the earliest on record, one school of thought suggests that an early spring will be followed by an early autumn since leaves may have a “shelf-life”. Another believes that trees will remain growing as long as temperatures remain high and water is
available.A keen gardener in a West Yorkshire village has just made the discovery of a lifetime when truffles, worth hundreds of pounds, appeared in her flowerbed.
“I was digging over the flower bed, when my garden fork pierced something solid” explained the plucky gardener who wishes to remain anonymous to prevent people foraging in her garden. Her find was verified by our truffle expert, Dr Paul Thomas “this is a super find of our native British truffle.
We’ve never recorded a find from this area before and it’s very exciting”.As part of RE:LEAF, a partnership campaign led by the Mayor of London Boris Johnson to enable the planting of more trees in the capital, the Woodland Trust is offering 100 free tree packs to help community groups to get planting in their local area.
We have an update on the location and dates of the truffles seminar in October. It will be held at Robin Hood Golf Club, Solihull, West Midlands, B92 7DJ on 18th October 2011.
The seminar is open to
all those interested in growing truffles and will be packed with information. If you would like to reserve a ticket for the event please contact us at shop@plantationsystems.comPlease be quick as there are limited spaces.
This month we were contacted by the world renowned programme Marsterchef, they were looking for some indigenous Irish truffles to be used on the Irish version of the TV series. We supplied them with native British summer truffles (Tuber aestivum/unicatum) and they didn’t disappoint.
October has now been set as the month that we’ll be running this years truffle cultivation seminar. The event will be aimed at everyone and anyone who has an interest in truffles and truffle cultivation.
The day will consist of presentations covering all aspects of truffle growing, lunch and the rest of the day to ask any questions that you might have.
We are planning to hold the event at a central UK location, in mid October.The seminar is likely to be quite popular and if you would like to reserve a place, please do get in contact.
