Field journal

Green grass under last summer's thatch

San Domingo

  • Bright green new grass grows through flattened, pale dry grass in a sloping meadow with leafless trees, below an oak and pine covered hill under heavy winter cloud.

    New grass coming up through last summer's dry thatch in a meadow, under winter cloud.

Late in the afternoon of December 23, 2025, new green grass was coming up through the flattened, bleached thatch of last summer’s growth in a meadow at San Domingo Arbory. Leafless trees stood out in the open, one tree at the woodland edge still held gold leaves, and heavy cloud sat over the oak and pine hills.

The foothills here have wet winters and long, dry summers, and the large grazing meadows follow that rhythm: dry and golden through summer and fall, green again once the winter rains take hold.

Themes Monitoring biodiversity Water management & soil restoration

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