Slow Projects, 2026 Edition

Every year we publish a list of projects—ideas designed to coax us out there, to re-engage our hands, minds and hearts. Because action—making, restoring, observing, documenting—is the antidote to anxiety, despair and getting caught like a deer in the headlights.

This year we're slowing things down a bit. This year we're focusing on the quiet projects, the ones that require no power tools, and little overhead. Low pressure pursuits you can start now, around the kitchen table or in the backyard. We wanted to lower the barrier to entry—to leave you, by the end of it, a little more relaxed, a little more whole. 

I've been learning how to sashiko mend, and have been experimenting on the busted elbow of my favorite chambray shirt (pictured above). Slow or fast, what projects are you working on? I'd love to hear from you (peter@bestmadeco.com). 

Making:

• Wattle and hurdle weaving
• Dying with natural plants
  
• Woodblock printing
• Stone wall building
  
• Sashiko embroidery
• Net making
• Rope making
• Knot tying
• Chair seat weaving
• Pressed-tin Repoussé building
• Carve a walking stick
• Ink making (oak gall or walnut)

Restoring & Repairing:

• Cast Iron restoration
• Sash window repair
• Darning
  
• Knife sharpening
• Axe sharpening
  

Observing & Documenting:

• Nature journaling (see the Grinnell method)
• Field sketching
• Keeping a weather log
• Tide reading
• Moon phase tracking
• Bird watching
• Animal tracking
• Learn the constellations
• Plant identification
  
• Cloud spotting
• Stream dynamics
• Bee line hunting
• Mapmaking
• Listen to the dawn chorus

Helping:

• Trail maintenance
• Human first aid
• Dog first aid
• Dog training
• Wildlife rescue
• Search and Rescue
  

Growing:

• Grafting fruit trees
• Tree planting
• Fruit tree pruning
• No-dig growing
  
• Composting

Community Organizing:

• Event planning
• Newsletter publishing
• Clean-up / Maintenance

Recreating:

• Tramping
• Solo canoeing
• Canoe tripping
• Tenkara fishing
• Orienteering without maps
• Shelter construction

Communicating:

• Speech writing
• Sign language
• Semaphore signaling
• Poetry memorization and recital

Cooking:

• Fermentation (kraut, kimchi, hot sauce)
• Foraging
• Baking with sourdough
• Making shrubs
• Cold smoking
• Preserving and canning
• Making vinegar
• Infusing oils and bitters

Being:

• Meditation
  
• Silent walking
  
• Journaling
• Tea ceremony
• Candlelit evenings

Misc:

• Cryptography
• Hand writing analysis
  
• Learn a card trick 
• Dowsing for water
  
• Fire starting by friction