Here's the most recently found  Perigord Truffle grown here at Keep Your Fork Farm. 
Yes!  The 2008-09 winter season is over!!

The price for the prized truffles here each year will be the price which the French set on December 1st.  It has been $800 per lb./ $50.00 per ounce for 3 years now.  We will continue to use the price which they set as our standard.

Ordinarily, harvest season runs December - February.  This  past year's harvest began with the beauty you see pictured here.  We found a few each week but the harvest season is over now until Fall.  The truffles this year varied in weight from 4.2 to 6.3 ounces.   Not bad!!

We hope that all the rain we're having bodes well for a bumper crop this year.   We will be working the orchard until harvest season rolls around, replacing irrigation tape, mowing, weeding, watching for any signs of more maintenance needed.  Finding truffles is always a mystery and every farm has its challenges.  If you come to tour our farm and taste our wonderful truffles, we'll share the whole story.  Tours and tastings are done by appointment only.  We charge $50 per person and the tours take a couple of hours.  If you're interested, please send us an email and we'll find a time that works for us all.  We do the tours spring, summer and early fall and have a reasonably flexible schedule.  Please let us know how you heard about us in your introductory email.

We have many individuals and local restaurants on our waiting list.  You may join  by sending an email to us via the link on this page.  Please include a little information about how you found us and how many ounces/pounds you will want.  Look for newspaper articles both local and national as the number of truffle growers increases.  The number of farms in the Southeast is approximately 100.  Our goal is to become the Perigord Region of the US.  We would love to see this alternative crop become a staple in the agricultural community as we live into our motto.

As pioneers in truffle growing and the smallest farm on the tax records in Stokes County, we remain an optimistic pair.  While we may not be large in terms of acreage, we plan to have a rewarding return on our investment of time and energy.  So far, we have done all the work ourselves and NO farming operation is without its challenges.  We have worked through many of the difficulties of non-farmers trying to learn to farm.  Even buying the right tractor can be a challenge (we now have our third).  We have begun learning what will be necessary to manage the natural predatory animals and diseases that can compete with us for our truffles.  Any farm effort is at the mercy of Mother Nature.  However, we stand ready to help other  truffle farmers find solutions to their individual challenges, either from our own experience or the collective experience of the North American Truffle Growers Association -- NATGA. www.trufflegrowers.com

NATGA's yearly meeting is held in January at the height of truffle harvesting and this year's meeting was held in Winston-Salem at the Brookstown Inn.  There were several interesting speakers, wonderful food and, of course, a truffle hunt!  Visit the NATGA website to become a member of  the organization.

If you're interested in truffles in any way, send us an email.  We love to hear from others who want to grow or buy truffles and the community is growing.  

 
The Best Is Yet To Come!

 

 

 



 

We have two orchards which have several hundred trees.  The first trees were planted in 2000 and the second orchard in 2004.  In the fall of 2007, we planted seedlings whose roots were inoculated for us by Franklin Garland with spores from our very own truffles and hope they will produce truffles in as little as 4 years.  We call them the "Friday" trees named for our truffle-hunting border collie, Friday.  We are proud to be the only farm in Stokes County ever to harvest the black perigord truffle.  If you are interested in learning more about growing truffles in North America, we would be glad to talk with you or your group about it.  Please email for details regarding the fee for presentations and consultations.  www.trufflesnorthcarolina.com

We are charter members of the North American Truffle Growers Association (NATGA).  Jane is the President of that organization.  Please visit that website also.  We maintain forums and blogs for information sharing among the members.  Membership is $50 per year. www.truffflegrowers.com

In March 2009, the first National Trufflefest  exceeded all our hopes www.nationaltrufflefest.com It featured the gourmet perigord truffles and was held in Asheville, NC.  Please join us next year as we share knowledge and hear from experts on growing truffles, training dogs to hunt them and chefs who love to prepare them.  It promises once again to be an extraordinary event!

On January 12th, 2007, Martha Stewart came to the farm and hunted truffles with us.  On February 7th, the film aired on her show and we were there!   What Fun!!!

Since the Martha Stewart experience, the number of folks interested in farming truffles has increased.  Garden clubs and individual groups have been making appointments to see the orchards and learn more about this new farming trend.  We invite you to contact us for your visit soon.

Our farm is at the foot of Sauratown Mountain with a beautiful view of Pilot Mountain.  Hanging Rock State Park is nearby.  Even with all that natural beauty around us and the rich prospect of a new crop for NC farmers, we believe -- the best is yet to come!  That's why we named the farm Keep Your Fork.

Stokes County, North Carolina is the only county in the entire United States that has its own mountain range contained within its borders-- the Saura Mountains. 

www.news-record.com/node/5913
www.visitstokesnc.com
http://www.nctruffles.com/news.html
http://www.trufflegrowers.com

www.garlandtruffles.com

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