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Women are reconnecting with nature to dig their way out of stress in a post-pandemic world
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Therapy can come in all forms, from connecting with animals to practising yoga or even baking.
For some it is getting their hands dirty.
Several years ago, Emma Horswill went through a difficult time with her mental health and decided a garden would be a good outlet to relax.
"I feel like I gardened myself out of anxiety and depression, " she said.
The garden on the family property south of Hobart at Lower Snug in the D'Entrecasteaux Channel, soon grew into a small-scale flower farm.
It is now filled with more 80 species of annuals and perennials for the public to pick their own blooms.
The former video editor turned farmer florist was compelled to share the property with others.
She set up a "garden and gossip" group to help tackle the mountain of work running a flower farm.
Each week, volunteers drop in for a few hours to prepare beds, plant, weed and prune in exchange for a cuppa, cake and conversation.
"This was a way of attracting people in our community who had an interest in farming, interacting with people and jumping in and doing some hard work," Ms Horswill said.
"A lot of them are telling us they owe me, because it's learning, enjoyment and friendship — all of the good things."
The COVID-19 pandemic hit many businesses for six, but for Earthenry Farm it was a blessing in disguise.
With freight delays affecting the international and interstate flower trade, the fledgling business experienced an uptick in demand for homegrown blooms.
"A lot of imported flowers were hard to get when flights stopped and everyone turned to local growers, " Ms Horswill said.
"Awareness is also increasing about the amount of chemicals that need to be sprayed on the flowers in order to meet quarantine requirements."
"It's enabled us to feel confident about tripling our growing space this year."
The pandemic triggered a national gardening boom as a coping mechanism to deal with the isolation and improve wellbeing.
People were inspired to grow their own food as lockdowns slowed the harvesting and movement of produce.
In some states, this led to a shortage of vegetable seeds and plants.
It was a silver lining for Abbey Howard who had lost her job as a chef in northern Tasmania.
She has always been an avid gardener, collecting and propagating seeds at her Bridgenorth property in the Tamar Valley.
The demand for seeds during lockdown propelled her hobby into a full-time job.
"When I first started I thought, 'We'll see how things go after COVID; things might go back to normal and people won't want seeds anymore'," Ms Howard said.
"It's definitely remained steady, if not increased."
Ms Howard now grows more than 400 different types of seeds in open garden beds, inside greenhouses and poly-tunnels.
"Nanna was a great gardener, she taught me the ropes, about nutrition and all the different things that plants need to survive."
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