@pbsnews: There are around 100 truffle orchards in the U.S., according to the North American Truffle Growers Association (NATGA). One of those is in rural Virginia, finally producing black truffles— a decade after planting their first trees. “There is a demand for this type of truffle, and we need to be able to get it so that it is something that is replicable,” said Pat Martin, who helped start the farm with her husband. “It's a finicky truffle, it's not easy to cultivate, and we need to try and streamline it and understand how the inner workings go to make it come up faster than in the past.” Truffle grower Margaret Townsend, who heads NATGA, said part of growing the young American truffle market is giving farmers the tools they need to understand the science behind truffles and adapt their crops to local terrain — and a local market. “The orchards coming on board now, I am very encouraged that we've transferred enough information that those orchards may really get up to significant production quantities,” she said. PBS News producer Casey Kuhn looked into how science is helping this new market grow.

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Monday 07 April 2025 20:44:41 GMT