Learning about how truffles happen in Spain

While we only spent a few short days at a farm in Asturias, near Santander, it was productive. We spent a few hours each day chipping weeds away from baby holly oak trees. The holly oak trees are seeded with the truffle fungus when they are young, before they are planted. Later in life when the trees are fully established, the roots should start to grow truffles. This should take about a decade.

In the meantime, we need to keep a clean space around the trees for the roots to grow into, without competition from any other weeds.

This whole field will one day be dozens and dozens of ancient oaks, maybe. Bit of a shame I will be dead by then, because I would have liked to see that. But if the trees I tended to in life continue on, do I ever really die?

They are such sweet small trees, and in need of my protection! Weeding is a long, never ending job, but not complicated. As a bonus, this weeding project was in some beautiful countryside in the Asturias.

Related;

I have been gardening a bit around mainland Europe, you can read about pruning yuccas in central Portugal here, or digging garden beds in southern Spain here.

You can also order your own truffle trees here.