In this video podcast episode I speak with one of the global leading experts on truffles and truffle cultivation, Professor Paul Thomas.
What we talk about 👇
00:01:56 – Welcome and UK Truffle Festival Chat
00:03:24 – Paul’s toy poodle future truffle dog
00:05:53 – Tuber Rufum truffle smells like bacon
00:06:57 – Paul Thomas on Dragon’s Den
00:09:55 – First Successful Cultivation of Perigord Black Truffle (Tuber melanosporum) in UK
00:14:36 – Threats and opportunities for the truffle industry
00:16:40 – Climate change will cause truffle supply to collapse
00:22:00 – French truffle supply now 80 tonnes/year vs 1000 in 1970.
00:22:40 – How many truffle farmers are in the UK?
00:24:14 – What projects are exciting you right now? – Truffle Museum
00:25:16 – Truffle and insect home experiment for the kids during lockdown
00:29:23 – Truffles, Sex and DNA
00:34:42 – The process of truffle cultivation
00:36:50 – How to grow truffles at home in your garden
00:38:28 – How to correctly test your soil PH for truffle cultivation
00:42:05 – The Napa Truffle Festival
00:42:58 – Using a microscope to identify truffles
00:46:58 – How much do different truffle species vary under the microscope?
00:49:10 – What truffle dog training is Ben doing right now?
00:55:00 – How to develop drive in your truffle dog?
00:59:02 – How to you build a dogs drive toward a tennis ball?
01:06:25 – How truffle hunters can contribute to Paul’s truffle research projects
01:07:30 – White truffles switching on and off their aroma within 24 hours
01:20:25 – White truffle cultivation progress update
🍄 ABOUT PROFESSOR PAUL THOMAS
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After pitching his truffle cultivation business plan on Dragons Den back in 2005 (and winning), Professor Thomas founded Mycorrhizal Systems Ltd and 12 years later became the first successful cultivator of the famous Black Winter Truffle in the UK (Tuber Melanosporum). He has gone on to publish more than 30+ scientific articles and has contributed significantly to what we now know about truffles around the world. He was also kind enough to volunteer his time and be a headline speaker at our first UK Truffle Festival in Sussex in November 2022 →https://trufflefestival.co.uk/
You can contact Paul via Twitter @SummerTruffle or visit his website: https://plantationsystems.com
