‘THE MEADOWS TRUFFERIE’ A STORY ABOUT CREATING AN ECO-FRIENDLY HOME — Andrea Long, Colour Consultant and Founder of A Hint of Tint, shares her story about transforming two old sheds into an eco-friendly home in the Tarana Valley. Five years ago now, we purchased a beautiful block of land in Oberon. Fifty amazing acres, 1165 ft above sea level. The land overlooked the whole of the Tarana valley, and all the way to Bathurst. I had been keen to buy something in the Southern Highlands, but my father-in-law found this block and said if you don’t buy it I will. My husband convinced me that Oberon would provide me with the four seasons I was seeking, and particularly the cooler climate, and so the decision was made, the land was purchased, and we named it ‘Longview’ Long, being our surname, and the view, well it just went for ever… Our block has three paddocks and three spring fed dams. It sloped gently downwards. There are several large boulders huddled in clusters, the boulders give the terrain an interesting jagged skyline. We are very high up and exposed, with little protection against the elements, but we knew the land had several positions to locate a house, a home that would nestle comfortably into the hillside. Neither of us wanted to be city slickers with a country property they visited on weekends. The thought that the land would remain redundant did not appeal to either of us, and was not an option. As I had no
42
desire to farm animals, we had to come up with a use for our new block of land. My husband came up with the idea of farming truffles. Truffles love the cool harsher climate that Oberon has to offer. More research, attendance at truffle conferences, and excursions to other truffle farms increased our knowledge of this growing industry. My job was to research and understand the selection and training of a truffle dog. My two beautiful aging poodles were not showing the slightest interest in putting their paws up for the job at hand! Having chatted to several other truffle farmers, it became evident to me that you just needed a dog with a great sense of smell. The best advice I was given, and the advice that appealed to me the most, was to go to the pound with a handful of treats in my pocket. Take the dog that finds the treats first I was told. I am bearing this advice in mind for when the time is right to purchase the new addition to our family! The truffle trees, either English oaks or hazelnut trees will be purchased with the spores, and after having our soil tested by the CSRIO, we were confident that we had the right ingredients to potentially produce truffles. It can take around four years to produce your first crop, and there are no guarantees of success when growing WWW.THEDESIGNERCHICKS.COM.AU
truffles. We decided we were prepared to take that gamble, and our first batch of trees will now be planted in the next couple of months. ‘The Meadows Trufferie’ was born, the sign was firmly attached to front gate, The ‘Longs’ were about to embark on their latest business venture. We dug for bore water in the bottom paddock; we needed to water our truffles. The truffles would be planted in the top paddock, exposed to all the elements. For growing truffles, we had learned, the tougher the climate, and the more distressed the trees were, the more likely we were to succeed with a crop. My father in law had a couple of very run down old site sheds in Sydney. He showed them to me and asked if I wanted to use them. Recycling was appealing to my husband and I, we both thought this was an
