Slowly, things began to crystallise.

What the experience taught me was that the values I had begun to foster in my late twenties were more important than ever; I would need to be more relentless in my pursuit of them. Less waste (food, clothes, worrying about trivial things), more action (politically, environmentally, personally). With this new motivation as the final push, I began studying Permaculture in the hopes of becoming, well, I suppose just a more decent person living on this planet.

Created by two Australians – Bill Mollison and David Holgreem – in 1978, Permaculture is a design system and way of living that creates harmony between people and the environment through full circle practices like organic gardening, sustainable farming and energy-efficient design. It has grown into a global movement that is far more than the sum of its parts. It was easy to become enamoured with the philosophy (you need only fall down a YouTube well of natural farming, food forests and self-sufficient living to see the appeal) and in the midst of this new education, we bought our first home, out of the city and surrounded by nature. Bringing those lessons into everyday life felt like a salve to ease the hurt.

I don’t need to tell you what happened next.

But six or eight or however many months it is later (is anyone still keeping track of universal time?) and isolation has made gardeners of us all. I know this because until very recently it was impossible to buy organic heirloom seeds – the kind you want – anywhere. Like toilet paper and spaghetti, demand had conquered supply. And while the panic-buying seems to have subsided, the joy lives on. More people are discovering that nurturing a tiny seed from apparent non-existence to a fertile chili plant, a bounteous pot of herbs or a full-blown backyard veggie patch has the power to soothe, inspire, delight.

Gardening gives you something to look forward to (and it can’t be postponed, unlike everything else in these upside down times). You will learn to chart the course of the sun around your home, discover the magic of companion planting, test soil, turn mulch, fertilise, prune, and if your green thumb is really flourishing, become a parent to thousands of eisenia fetida (worms, congratulations!).

You haven’t started yet? Now is the time; spring is here! I promise, there is nothing like it. As quickly as you sow your first seeds, you will begin to wonder if eating only what you grow in your own garden is possible. You will begin to see the spaces you inhabit in different ways – the balcony where you drink pet-nat on a Saturday afternoon becomes the spot to sun-soak geraniums, that corner of the garden where nothing seems to grow is the perfect size for a compost bin. Start small and just use what you have; this is as much about the journey as the destination. Leave the instant gratification fix for Instagram.