Seed to Dust

Life, Nature, and a Country Garden

By: Marc Hamer

Narrated by: Owen Teale

For listeners of Late Migrations and Vesper Flights

From the acclaimed author of How to Catch a Mole, this meditative memoir explores the wisdom of plants, the joys of manual labor, and the natural cycle of growth and decay that runs through both the garden’s life and our own.

Marc Hamer has nurtured the same 12-acre garden in the Welsh countryside for over two decades. The garden is vast and intricate. It’s rarely visited, and only Hamer knows of its secrets. But it’s not his garden. It belongs to his wealthy and elegant employer, Miss Cashmere. But the garden does not really belong to her, either. As Hamer writes, “Like a book, a garden belongs to everyone who sees it.”

In Seed to Dust, Marc Hamer paints a beautiful portrait of the garden that “belongs to everyone.” He describes a year in his life as a country gardener, with each chapter named for the month he’s in. As he works, he muses on the unusual folklores of his beloved plants. He observes the creatures who scurry and hide from his blade or rake. And he reflects on his own life: living homeless as a young man, his loving relationship with his wife and children, and - now - feeling the effects of old age on body and mind.

As the seasons change, Hamer also reflects on the changes he has observed in Miss Cashmere’s life from afar: the death of her husband and the departure of her children from the stately home where she now lives alone. At the book’s end, Hamer’s connection to Miss Cashmere changes shape, and new insights into relationships and the beauty and brutality of nature emerge.

Just like all good books and gardens, Seed to Dust is filled with equal parts life and death, beauty and decay, and every listener will find something different to admire.

©2021 Marc Hamer (P)2021 Greystone Books

Critic reviews

Shortlisted for the 2021 Wainwright Prize for Nature Writing

“Mr. Hamer has found his ideal calling in this book stitched together from small essays, a genre in which such capricious mutability of opinion is not only tolerated but encouraged. Through his words, we connect with the ultimate text, the landscape itself.” (Wall Street Journal)

"Seed to Dust is a magical amalgamation of memoir, natural history, philosophy and gardening, a breathtaking narrative that transcends genre and geography. Fans of Helen Macdonald's H Is for Hawk and Annie Dillard's Pilgrim at Tinker Creek will find Hamer to be a kindred spirit. Candid, tender, thoughtful and absorbing, Seed to Dust is that rare book that will appeal to nonfiction readers everywhere.” (Shelf Awareness starred review)

What a gem of a book

Delightful. Contemplative. Profound.

And why do I need to add 12 more words?
Why?
Why?

Amazing book for gardeners

So relatable, as an estate gardener. Fantastic book and great performance. Really takes you there and gets you thinking

Mesmerizing

I so enjoyed this book!
I smelled the earth and flowers as he described them flawlessly!

If you’re interested in living, well and gardening, this is the book for you

Beautiful. A narrative that intertwines the art of living and an appreciation for flowers, earth, and the fact that we are all one organism.

Insightful Journey

I haven’t finished listening to this yet, but I have a feeling that there isn’t really an “ending.” It’s more of a journey through old age, the reflections of a gardener that progress through the seasons, meditations interwoven among observations. It emulates Zen Buddhism without condescending scripture, instead applying mindfulness to daily tasks. It’s refreshing and insightful. I suggest beginning to listen/read this in January, so you follow along with the narrator through the months and changing seasons.

This is my favourite book

I have read it five times already. I have annotated two physical copies because I had to give one away to a friend. I will read it again, and again it will change me.

On the nature of change

A marvelous work. Wonderfully written, read, and thought through. For anyone wanting to change, this book will help you understand how. And why.

Beautiful prose, well read, insightful thinking

Although slow and uneventful this book is beautiful and my copy is littered with tabs on all the moving passages. Great for fans of nature writing, poetry, or meditations on the cycles of life, aging, and appreciating the small things. Audio is great too - I went back and forth seamlessly.