Katrina BRANDON
DIGGING up something special, Hollyoak Truffles are bringing luxury to Gippsland soils.
Hollyoak Truffles owners Laura and Andrew Considine grow fresh black truffles on their property.
Originally hailing from the UK, Laura backpacked in Sale, where she met Andrew.
Then, 15 years ago, the couple bought the property because they wanted some land. Having no experience on a farm, the couple said that it was quite a learning experience.
“It’s been a pretty steep learning curve in terms of learning about what to do with the land, how to look after animals,” Laura said.
“The amount of money that’s required for farming has surprised me. It’s not just a case of you can buy some land, and plant something or put an animal on there, and that’s it. There is a lot of investment that’s required.
“You’ve got to be willing to back yourself. I think that’s surprised me a lot, and the amount of time that you have to put into the land as well – make sure that they’re growing well, they’re looked after, and there are no pests.”
At the start of their farming journey, Laura and Andrew worked with cows, but thought their property needed something else.
For a while, Andrew worked offshore, while Laura worked as a teacher. Both wanted to explore more options, particularly with their land and found that truffles were the answer.
Both Laura and Andrew enjoy their time in the kitchen and are big foodies, which ultimately made the decision.
Going into the truffle journey, Laura told the Gippsland Farmer that they dug up a lot of research beforehand to determine what type of environment truffles needed to grow in, and that they had the right environmental factors in place.
“We had to look at our soil health, so we spent a lot of time getting different tests done on our soil to work out what our pH levels were and how we needed to improve,” Laura said.
“We spent the first two years just implementing plans to get our soil right before we could even look at planting any trees.
“I’d say (it took) three years from the researching, the testing, and then doing our soil preparation, working with Calcimo (Lime and Fertilisers from Sale) to use the lime to get our soil pH right, and then working with Dale and Rob to make all the beds for the truffle trees to go in.”
Laura and Andrew worked with Calcimo Lime and Fertilisers, Sale Water Specialists, Dale Crossfield and Robert Jans Earthmoving throughout the project.
During the waiting time, Laura said it was stressful knowing they had to wait to use their soil and wondering whether it would be worth it when it was completed.
“You have to constantly remind yourself that there is going to be light at the end of the tunnel. It’s a really long road, so you’ve just got to have faith, and some of it is just a waiting game,” Laura said.
“We started the business in 2020, which was the first year of COVID. We couldn’t really go anywhere or do much, so those two years were spent getting our paddocks ready. It was hard because there wasn’t much practical stuff to do, but at least we were doing it in those years when we were here, and we could keep an eye on things, and we could see how things were going all the time.”
When the time came, the couple held working bees with families and friends to plant the trees by hand. About two weekends passed, and 1000 trees had been planted.
Along the journey, Laura and Andrew also had a look at truffle pups. Working with Canine Truffle Program, the couple received a black Labrador to help sniff out any truffles.
Because truffles are underground, Laura saw the need for the truffle dog so that they weren’t digging blind.
“It was really exciting when Luna and I found one together (for the first time),” she said.
“It was just the relief of knowing it’s working; all the hard work that we’ve put into doing the soil, planting the trees, looking after the trees because we have to spend so much time watering them, pruning them.”
Now that she has been on a few truffle hunts, Laura said she is excited to bring luxury to the countryside and eventually host people on the farm to experience it firsthand. But for now, Laura shares the journey online.
