A job that changed me: I mulched city parks in the dead of winter – I was not cut out for manual labour or working with family

‘I offered my brother my landscaping CV, which included mowing Mum’s lawn’: Jack Larkin (L), one-time landscaper, now journalist, with his brother in 2020. Photograph: Jack Larkin

In early 2020 in Canberra, I left my job in human resources. Ironically the constant onboarding and offboarding of employees made me realise no one ever stays in the same job forever.

By the time winter rolled around, it was Covid lockdowns. I had grown a scruffy beard and turned my bedroom in my mother’s house into a man cave, complete with empty beer cans, a TV blaring sport and a glowing gaming setup in the corner.