This simple act introduced a new phase to our gardening - propagation from cuttings.
Our discovery of what is, of course, an ancient art has come at a perfect time. Having transplanted most of our vegetable seedlings outside, the indoors had lost some of its fresh greenness.
But thanks to the twig, our kitchen has become a weird and wonderful place.
Our windowsills have sprouted a swathe of pots and containers with cuttings of all sorts of things. Most of those are then covered with plastic bags to give them the best environment for growing roots.
While there has been a number of losses, there are several plants which seem to be doing quite well.
The lilac is a bit iffy - it seems to be constantly on the verge of shrivelling and dying. But where there is green, there is hope.
Scented favourites, lavender and thyme - gathered from the wild clumps around Gibbston - are more heartening, looking fresh and healthy through the plastic.
And the kaka beak twig, which started our adventures into propagation, has also survived after a rough start.
Being novices, we obviously left too many leaves attached because they all fell off except a couple at the top.
These stayed, and now it seems to be staying alive and, hopefully, forming some roots.
Having read about a dozen books and searched the Internet, I am fully aware this is a very slow process and we will be lucky if any are ready to plant out this year.
In the case of the kaka beak twig and its now numerous cousins, many, many summers will pass before it produces any glorious scarlet flowers.
But I guess that is something else the garden is teaching me - patience.
