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
One of the most essential steps to growing and living sustainably is making sure that the soil you are growing on will give you the best possible yields. Sustainable living is about getting the most out of your land and the best way to do this is to ensure a good foundation for your crops.
To learn more about the services we offer please visit www.mslanalysis.com
Truffles are often found in a range of ecological niches, but a recent find in Gloucester is a completely new one on us!
This past month we’ve had to say a fond farewell to Emma Bleakly-Dean, who’s moving overseas to start a new adventure and will continue to work with us from time to time.
We’ve also been joined by two new recruits, Heather Sutton and Catriona Jones. Heather has taken on Emma’s role and will be your first point of contact and will be helping out at this years events. Ecologist Catriona has joined us on a research role and has already started mining our data-sets and designing new trialsFor further information on truffles, contact us now: 0845 519 5808
The summer or burgundy truffle (Tuber aestivum/uncinatum) is a species with a huge market and a wide geographic spread. Wild finds of this species have been recorded from areas as diverse as Northern Africa to Russia. With a flavour that varies
through the season, early summer varieties are often mildly flavoured and quite clean on the palate, while those harvested from late summer onwards can be really quite intense - in a similar vein to the Perigord truffle (Tuber melanosporum).For those in the know, a recent article in the prestigious science journal, Nature, has caused waves in the truffle world. Having no less than 50 authors, this excellent piece of research helps to start to answer some of the current questions in truffle research. One of the big questions has been whether the truffle itself is responsible for its complex aroma or whether it is other organisms that call the truffle fruiting
body home. Through sequencing the genome it can now be conclusively stated that the truffle itself is responsible for the majority of its heady scent -We are delighted to announce that later this year we will be holding a residential course for those interested in truffles and truffle cultivation. Based in exclusive, award-winning, 5* accommodation on the Isle of Bute, the course will be over two days and involve excursions and full in-depth sessions on all aspects of truffles and their cultivation. Including meals and accommodation at Balmory Hall, a spectacular grade A listed Victorian mansion, the course will include a champagne reception and some seriously good truffle-heavy food.
We had a great response to our Trees for Schools project. Our final trees of the season went out to Carnforth North Road Primary School and their 5-8 year old students.
The very first bottles of the world’s first all natural, truffle infused vodka go on sale this month. The vodka, branded Black Moth, is created with the world’s finest black truffles (Tuber melanosporum) and is truly delicious.
Made from grain, Black Moth has a warm and mellow taste, perfectly complementing the wonderful flavour of the black Périgord truffle. Infamous for its rich, earthy aroma and distinct taste, the Périgord truffle lends tangible hints of freshly dug earth and spice, creating the inimitable flavor of Black Moth.Earlier this month we took journalist Sarah Falkingham on a secret visit to one of our UK plantations. Without giving away the location, we drove Sarah to one of our young plantations to observe our annual monitoring procedure and to see how the truffle-cultivation system works. Despite the rain, it was an interesting morning and Sarah’s investigative piece was broadcast on Friday the 9th of April on BBC Radio 4’s Farming Today programme. The programme can be live streamed or downloaded from the BBC website through their ‘listen again' service.
This month MSL is delighted to have contributed to the Sheffield Lord Mayor's Charity Dinner, organized by city
councillor Ray Satur. We provided several free truffle trees to be auctioned to raise money for the charity, although it turned out that Ray had other plans.
