At $1,500 a kilo, truffles have been found on this orchard for the first time, thrilling the hobby farm’s new owners

A South Australian farm has produced truffles for the first time.

A truffle orchard was included in the sale of the Limestone Coast hobby farm and tourist destination Anthea and Damian Harrison bought last year.

There was no guarantee Echo Farm’s orchard would produce truffles, so they were thrilled when dozens were found during their first hunt of the year.

“We had no idea what to expect,” Ms Harrison said.

“We were on a high after having a very successful first hunt.”

The 600 English and French oaks that make up the orchard were imported from Tasmania and planted in 2009.

Despite being told by industry experts that inoculated trees from that period in Tasmania had not had a high success rate, Mr and Ms Harrison decided to persevere.

After a successful start to the season, the Harrisons commissioned another truffle hunt this month and viable truffles were found much later in the year than anticipated.

“We had no expectations, but at the end of the day they found quite a few truffles,” Ms Harrison said.

On the hunt

Dogs or pigs locate the truffles, which are then assessed by an expert to determine whether they are ready to be picked.

“They will just gently peel back the soil — it’s almost like an archaeological dig, you know, with little brushes and little tools,” Ms Harrison said.

“Before they take it out of the earth with a little scoring knife … they will score a little bit of the surface to look for the colour.”

Adelaide Hills-based Dean Poletta and Warren Rogers travelled down to the region with their labrador Gus and koolie Ruby to conduct the farm’s hunts this season.

Mr Poletta said the region showed real promise.

“There are plenty of truffles around, and the dogs are having an absolute field day,” he said.

“We love coming down here — the natural soil here is really great for truffles.”

$1,500 a kilo

Good quality truffles can be sold for more than $1,500 per kilogram and are usually bought by chefs and restaurants.

Naracoorte chef and caterer Ian Perry attended the hunt this week to get a look at the process and the harvest.

“They are very, very good truffles — the aroma is fantastic,” he said.

Mr Perry said he took the farm’s truffles to chefs and restaurants after an earlier hunt.

“Quite a few of the local chefs at the time were buying truffles in from Tasmania, so I gave them a chance to see what is being grown in their own back garden,” he said.

“This region has so much great produce anyway — to add truffles to that mix as well, it just really lifts the produce listing from the area.”