Wonders of nature (with truffles at the top)

Patricia McCracken interviews a couple who grow truffles in Underberg, reviews a new edition of a stunning David Attenborough book, and suggests a read that savours life's joys. Plus, something special for the kids.

- Patricia McCracken

For radiographer-turnedsales-supremo Trish Kemp and her husband Rob, a builder, their ultimate business challenge has been farming truffles in Underberg. Trish tells of their experiences in The Story of an African Truffle Farm (bellvuetruffles.com, R389), with handy hacks by Rob.

Here’s how that story came about:

Property: Our families used to holiday in Underberg and we met here, so it’s always been special for us. We found the right property in 2012 and look forward to becoming full-time residents one day.

2. The learning curve: Learning new things has been the most stimulating part of our journey. I found an incredible amount of information online, and Rob loves solving problems.

3. Inoculation: To establish a truffle orchard, you grow the trees, then inoculate the roots with the fungus. Rob is great at making things work with few resources, and succeeded with our first truffle harvest last year.

4. The investment: Instead of putting cash into a retirement plan, we created a business that interested us and kept our careers going to make it financially viable.

5. Training dogs: We’ve shown our dogs in the past, but that was nothing like training truffle hunters!