As the nights draw in, our thoughts often turn to firewood. And I don't mean just burning it, but planting it, pruning it, cutting it, carrying it, splitting it and stacking it to dry, too.
I don't think I'd like to depend only on wood for all our needs. There would be a nasty edge of panic about all our work, and every seedling pulverised by a possum or shorn off by a sheep would be a heartbreaker. As it is we can always resort to the electric heater if we get desperate.
But we rarely do, and we have enough seasoned wood under cover for all of this winter, plus a good start on next year's supply.
We've been here long enough now to really get some payback for our efforts. Eucalyptus seedlings that cost us as little as 50c-75c each are now tall trees ready to be coppiced, and the firewood we get out of them is worth hundreds of dollars.
Of course we have to do the work and buy petrol for the chainsaw, but it's still a good investment. And if we didn't do it, we'd just waste our money and energy keeping fit at the gym, and paying for the privilege. It's a nice feeling to look out at a full woodshed: it's as good as money in the bank.
This winter it might be time to plant some more, and this time I will be thinking of the bees, not just the fire.
Fortunately, some of the best firewood trees are also great for bees. Acacia, willow, eucalyptus, tree lucerne and manuka all make great firewood, suit the bees nicely and grow well at our place.
Some of them coppice, too, but best of all is the manuka, because we don't have to buy it or plant it. It just springs up willy-nilly in the paddocks, and we trim the gorse away from it to let it thrive.
The bees will be happy in our bush paddocks, too, among the lemonwood, the tree fuchsia and whatever else Mother Nature has seeded there.
Even the gorse is a valuable supplier of pollen, though I don't value it very highly as a supplier of prickles.
But the bees aren't home yet. They are still out on the Taieri where the weather is a bit warmer. I was finding the drive a bit pricey to go and feed them their sugar water, but now my stolen car has been found the cost is reasonable again.
Still, I need to bring the girls home soon, before the winter really arrives.