The European truffle season is getting into full swing, and I've been getting behind with On The Farm's coverage. Here's a couple of interesting catch-up items. The Toronto Star offers a look inside the Universita dei Cani da Tartufo (Truffle Dog University) at Roddi in Italy. Their training technique is possibly a little expensive:

"We play hide and seek ... with truffles," says Monchiero, who has been running the school for 23 years. "First, we let the dogs sniff the truffles and eat them because if they don't like them, they'll never be a good hunter." Once they get the taste, Monchiero puts truffles in sacks and hides them. When the dogs find them, they are rewarded with other treats ... meat or cheese. "Then they learn that they don't have to eat the truffles, just find them," he says.

And truffle cultivation is moving steadily northwards in Europe, now reaching Finland, according to the Helsingen Sanomat:

"In the Mikkeli region in Southern Finland, ten or so truffle cultivation farms were set up last year, in which truffle mycelium was planted among the roots of oak trees. Now Shamekh aims to start a new project in Åland, which should be an ideal location for trufficulture, thanks to the maritime climate and the calciferous soil. Shamekh compares Åland with the Swedish island of Gotland further south, where naturally-growing truffles were spotted in three different locations in the late 1990s."

Dr Shamekh organised a truffle cultivation workshop in Finland last month, and our very own Ian Hall gave paper. I'm resolutely sceptical about the Finn's chances with melanosporum, but they've probably got a good chance with aestivum.