Wilding pines recently cut down from around the Manorburn Dam will go towards heating homes around Central Otago next winter, thanks to the Alexandra Rotary Club.

Every second Thursday each month, Rotarians turn up at the Alexandra Community Gardens to help process the donated wood that comes in from all corners of the district.

Manager Brian Seymour said the willow and poplar are given away, but the pine is sold and money raised goes into supporting the running of the gardens.

He said there has been a slight increase in the amount produced every winter. The Rotarians used to split it all by hand - then they bought an electric saw, and now they own two splitters and chainsaws to get the job done.

“The vast majority we get is donated and this year we haven’t had to buy any in, which is good,” Brian said.

The wood is then given to the Salvation Army to sell to families in need at a very low price, in conjunction with its food bank.

Captain Jonothan Whybrow said this year’s allocation of firewood had already been used by families, but they were now planning for next winter, and people could choose to pay off their wood allocation to make it easier financially.

Last spring the Alexandra Community Garden had a new orchard planted with cherries, nectarines and greengages, but a big snowfall on Friday September 13 wiped most of it out.

Brian said surprisingly they still had some fruit left for their first season, but they expect this summer to be a strong one for the gardens.

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