Growers in Ontario will be producing Burgundy truffles, a rare variety that matures in the fall, compared to other truffles that mature in the winter or in the summer. There are some native truffles in Ontario, and when found in the wild, are very valuable.
Adam Koziol is the owner of EarthGen, a propagation nursery company located in Dunnville/Wainfleet. It uses unique methods to speed the development of trees. They have been able to inoculate hazelnut and oak tree roots with Burgundy truffle spore from Spain. This is the nursery that supplied the native trees for our Garden Club Earth Day sale.
Truffles grow in several places in Europe, but mainly France, Italy and Spain. France and Italy closely guard their truffle spores and won’t allow their export. Spain, however has allowed some export. It is expected that Niagara is a viable region for truffle production.
It can take 6 to 10 years until both the hazelnut trees and the truffles mature. Hazelnut trees can earn up to $3,000 per acre. And then there are the truffles. There are a few years to go yet, as the original coverage of the topic was in 2018.
But on the West Coast, truffles have been growing longer. There, Grant and Betty Duckett have been growing truffles since the 2000s and even have Lagotto Romagnolo dogs for truffle hunting. They are focused on growing black Periogord truffles. While their website is a bit out of date, they do say that they have passed the operation on to their family. Let's hope this endeavour continues.
Here in Niagara, Earthgen's website - says they are scheduling tours for interested hazelnut and truffle growers.
Could you have guessed there would be hazelnuts and truffles in Niagara?
This picture was taken on a ride on the Strasburg Railway almost 10 years ago - what a field of flowers!
