When Manjimup fitter and turner Scott Johnstone decided to enter a local Italian sausage competition, the last thing his wife Leanne expected him to come home with were plans to install a French truffle orchard on their family property.

But with the support of fellow sausage competitor and founding WA truffle producer Al Blakers, the Johnstones were soon planting 760 truffle-inoculated hazelnut and oak trees on the southern slopes of their beautiful Manjimup home ‘Millgrove’.

Six long years after planting their first tree the Johnstone’s unearthed a single truffle – a perfect specimen weighing in at an impressive 223g.

“After all our work – the planting, the annual pruning, weeding, fertilising, watering … the waiting and wondering and worrying … it was absolutely wonderful to hold that first earthy fruit of our efforts in our hands.”

Millgrove Truffles now produces the elusive black truffle each season and Leanne’s initial doubts about Scott’s ambitious truffle project have morphed into a deep pride about the unique business they’ve established in the heart of their lifelong home in Manjimup.

Seasonal truffle hunts at Millgrove have recently been added to the Johnstone’s business mix along with direct truffle sales.

Come and experience the thrill of unearthing a ‘star of winter’ among the huge Karri trees of WA’s beautiful Southern Forests.