Hello and welcome It's now the beginning of autumn and maybe the greatest mushroom gathering month of the year, October. We have had more fresh Summer Truffles sent to us by Marion Dean (our expert dog trainer) and from other keen foragers. They are of fantastic quality, so if you would like to purchase some of these fresh British truffles please email shop@plantationsystems.com for prices.
This time next month will be the start of the prime tree-planting season and we are, of course, on hand to offer advice. It looks like some of this advice may be needed at the Royal Estate in Sandringham which has been in the news again recently. More details below.
We've also got a few more updates for you, including a wild truffle find in a school in Perth, the most northerly location for a wild find in the UK! For now, enjoy the updates and please feel free to get in contact with any questions or comments.
Kind regards,
Dr Paul Thomas and the Mycorrhizal Systems Team
Woodland tax breaks
A recent report has shown that the amount of woodland in the UK has increased and is at its highest level for nearly 250 years. Over 11,000 square miles of the UK is now taken over by woodland, almost 12% of the entire land area. However we still fall short of Finland which tops the scoreboard with a massive 72% of its land area being covered by woodland, 97,717 square miles. Research shows that a lot of the new growth is down to "new-born greens" meaning people who buy their own woodland glade because of the tax breaks it affords and therefore the assurance that money can indeed grow on trees. This is not surprising when you consider that forestry outperformed shares and commercial property in current years with the average annual return being 5%.
There is no capital gains tax on the growth of value in tree crops, and any money made from the sale of timber is exempt from income and corporation tax. Also, once you have owned your woodland for two years it is exempt from inheritance tax. If this is not incentive enough there are also grants available to help you plant your first saplings. All this is fantastic news if you are interesting in starting a truffle tree plantation! If you would like any more information about the tax breaks or grants please contact us on: shop@plantationsystems.com or (01422) 844095
Truffles found in a school in Perth
Recently pupils from Moncreiffe Primary School in Perth were digging up their vegetable patch and discovered a "mystery" truffle. Head teacher Karen Young said: "Children from one of the school gardening groups were harvesting their potatoes, onions and beans, when they dug up something they didn't recognise."
The teacher who leads the gardening group, Jane Savage, had an inkling it might be something rather special and contacted one of the school's business partners, locally renouned chef Graeme Pallister. Pallister confirmed that the children had indeed found something that resembled a truffle.
Mrs Young added that the pupils and staff were amazed at the discovery. The truffles were handed over to wild food expert Andrew Fraser whom said it was not a variety he had ever seen before in Scotland. "They are truffles - we just don't know what sort they are," he said.
We have since been in contact with the school and have received a sample of the truffle for analysis, so we can find out exactly which species it is and whether it is edible or not. There are over 70 different species of truffle but only 7 are edible, therefore it is important to get them identified scientifically by an expert before you consider eating them. We will let you know the result next in next month's newsletter but on a first glance, it looks like we may have a new find of the white spring truffle- Tuber borchii.
If you have found something and you would like analysis to know exactly what it is please contact Invest@PlantationSystems.com
Duke of Edinburgh- Sandringham
The famous Sandringham Estate seems to have its eyes on a truffle prize. There is one problem however - there are no truffles! This month has seen this story publicised in several newspapers. In summary, the Duke planted several hundred truffle trees on the estate and is disheartened to have found not a single truffle. The Duke shouldn't be too disappointed, as the trees are only three years old, so a harvest may be a couple of years away yet. We didn't supply the trees, so we can't comment on the quality of them, but it looks like the Duke is in need of some serious and honest advice, so we have offered our services to help guide him on what he can really expect from the plantation...
If you are thinking of planting trees and would like some honest, bespoke guidance, please just get in contact: +44(0)1422 844 095
Seminar in Bulgaria
At the end of September Catriona the ecologist here at MSL flew out to Sofia, Bulgaria to attend a conference about cultivating the summer truffle. It was a big event with a huge turnout and even the Mayor of Veliko Turnovo showed up. Bulgaria has a great climate for growing the summer truffle, and we would love to set up some plantations over there. We have certainly got a lot of interest from the local land owners, so maybe MSL truffle domination of Bulgaria isn't that far away. The Summer Truffle has a broad tolerance of climates and if you would like more information about setting up a plantation please contact our ecologist Catriona Jones on c.jones@PlantationSystems.com or Tel: +44(0)1422 844 095 /font>
Help for UK Truffle Hunters
Interest in truffle hunting has been gaining ground recently and there are now a good number of truffle hunters working the woodlands across the UK. Our Truffle Hunting dog school has also had some excellent students and we frequently have requests from people who have trained dogs and who would like access to truffle plantations to keep their dogs in practice. As most readers will know, here at MSL we have a large network of truffle plantations and can offer training grounds for those in need. If you have a truffle dog, no matter what their skill and are looking for a local site to run them on please get in contact and we may be able to provide access to a plantation. Priority is given to students from the Truffle Hunting dog school, and we recommend that all interested parties have had training in our facilities. If you're interested in this offer, no matter what your skill level, then please do contact us at training@plantationsystems.com or Tel: +44(0)1422 844 095
If you are interested in training your dog to hunt for truffles and would like to know more please visit www.plantationsystems.com/dog-school or email our expert dog trainer Marion on training@plantationsystems.com
