Truffle Tree - Adopting Truffle Producing Oak

For many years now it has been possible to ‘adopt’ or ‘rent’ a row of vines and enjoy a few bottles of wine each year from one’s own grapes.

Truffle Tree takes this concept one leap forward and offers food lovers the opportunity to have their own truffle-producing oak tree in a French truffle plantation.

TRUFFLE TREE ADOPTION SCHEME

The idea is simplicity itself. The adopter makes an initial payment reflecting a share of the cost of establishing the truffière, planting the tree and care for the first year. Then in subsequent years there is a ‘care and maintenance’ charge to cover such items as irrigation, weed control, harrowing, pruning and ultimately harvesting.

Adopters may choose between the evergreen Holm Oak, Quercus ilex, and the white, deciduous Downy Oak, Quercus pubescens. Your tree stands in a 20 sqm plot (4m x 5m) and each adopter will own all the truffles harvested in their area. You can elect to have your truffles mailed to you or we shall be happy to sell them on your behalf and send you a cheque at the end of the season. If you want to spread your risk a little, you can choose to pool your truffles with others making the same election. Each adopter will receive an A4 colour photograph of their tree and an adoption certificate. Regular newsletters containing latest news of developments in the truffière and the world of truffles, will be posted on the website and/or e-mailed.

A PERFECT PRESENT

"If you've got a truffle-lover in the family then this might just be the
best present you ever give them" The Week 15th March 2003

A truffle oak makes a wonderful present for a gourmet, a francophile or anyone with a love of the countryside. It can produce truffles for up to fifty years while costing no more than a three-star Michelin meal lasting a couple of hours. It is a gift for all ages – to mark a birth, a marriage, a birthday or Christmas. The Daily Mail spotlighted Truffle Tree in their feature Fantasy Father's Day Gifts – forget the aftershave – this is what Dad really wants.

Detail of a window from Auch Cathedral

Séviac Mosaics

COME AND VISIT YOUR TREE

Truffle Tree intends to be much more than just a tree seller. We want you to participate in the development of your tree, to visit it, to picnic beside it (and ultimately under it!), to prune it and, most importantly, to be there for it when it produces truffles.

Your tree can be the stepping stone to your discovery of the département of Le Gers, a delightful but little visited area of South West France known mainly for its Foie Gras, Gascony wines and Armagnac. However there is much more to Le Gers than its food and drink, good though they are.

Fortified towns and villages, fabulous deserted countryside, oak woods full of mushrooms, cathedrals, music festivals, incredible roman mosaics and the pilgrim routes of St James of Compostela are all well worth visiting. As our web site develops, we will provide links to the main attractions.

Le Gardian offers B&B facilities. from €50 to €70 per room per night depending on season and tree owners will get a 20% discount. With a former restaurateur at the helm, our food isn‘t too bad either!

Dick Pyle, the founder of Truffle Tree, has a varied background, many elements of which have helped enormously in launching this project. He began as a mathematician, became a Chartered Accountant and worked for many years in the finance sector. In more recent times he has run a small farm, founded a Chelsea-exhibiting, silver-gilt medal-winning plant nursery and been chairman of and major shareholder in Hilaire, the highly-rated South Kensington restaurant, sold just before Dick’s departure to France. To ensure succession, Dick will eventually be joined by his two children, Hannah, an economist currently working as an energy consultant, and Oliver, a globe-trotting IT expert. Hannah has already got her hands dirty with a spot of oak planting! And, of course, the two youngest members of our team must not be forgotten – Polka and Valeta, our future truffle-hounds!

To adopt a truffle tree for yourself or as a gift click on “Adopt a Tree”

Hannah planting one of the first Oaks