Entangling earth and live matter with water, peatlands are less a landscape than a process, where water slows decomposition to build up carbon stores within ground.  Few places are entwined with peat futures as Scotland, where peatlands cover nearly 20% of the country, and rural lands are transforming into ‘nature-based solutions’ to mitigate climate change. Peatlands were ‘reclaimed’ through extensive ditching, conversion to sheep pasture and non-native forests for timber, resulting in the degradation of 80% of Scotland’s peatland, and turning carbon sinks into sources. With increasing urgency to reduce emissions, Scotland has become the focus of government efforts to embrace terraqueous lands, both by preserving intact peatlands, and through unmaking those that have been drained or planted. Slow Growth: Unmaking Rural Lands in the Flow Country examines current peatland restoration efforts in the Flow Country of northern Scotland through the lens of unmaking, unpacking the ecological and cultural complexities of rewetting to slowly regrow rural lands.