London - June 19, 2006

Rich Pickings

Adopt Your Own Truffle Oak

You’ve chosen numbers. Joined syndicates. Bought whole rolls of scratch cards. You even watch that awful Saturday game show.

But still you’ve never won the lottery.

Here’s an easier (and far more enjoyable) way to get rich: adopt a truffle tree. More specifically, buy an oak in Truffle Tree, a plantation in Le Gers, France, and benefit from the basketloads of Black Diamond (Périgord) truffles it produces every year.

You’ll have to wait a few for truffles to grow around your tree, but once they do, you can have the tasty morsels sent to you by post or sold on your behalf and get the profits by cheque (they currently retail at around £1000 a kilo). You’re welcome to visit your tree at any time for planting, pruning or harvesting (real truffle hound included), followed by a traditional French dinner and a good night’s sleep in the family farmhouse. Or spread the love and give the experience to someone else.

Think that’s a bit rich?

Perhaps. But this one’s a winner.

Truffle Tree (00 33 562 641523 or truffle-tree.co.uk).