TRUFFLE PROGRAM

Blackberry Farm began cultivating a truffle orchard in 2008 after importing two Lagotto Romagnolo dogs, Tom and Lussi. The Lagotti are talented truffle hunters, and after Tom’s success hunting truffles in nearby orchards, we wanted to learn everything about growing these amazing, coveted fungi. We prepared the ground near our Garden and planted Perigord black truffle-inoculated hazelnut trees.

Truffle cultivation is still a relatively new practice in the United States, and we are learning with each passing year. Since 2008, we’ve learned that the hazelnut trees are susceptible to Eastern Filbert Blight, a fungus wiping out many truffle orchards across the country. We planted our second truffle orchard with hardy bur oak trees in 2020 between two of our sheep pastures. We inoculated some of the bur oaks with Perigord black truffle and others with Summer truffle in hopes of having multiple harvests at different times of the year. While we will wait almost 10 years to see results, we hope to one day offer our guests the experience of harvesting truffles with one of our beloved Lagotti.