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A curious form of agricultural use of coastal sands. The sands of the Minho coast were colonized thanks to seaweed and pestle harvested in sea waters and used as fertilizer. The "masseira fields" or "gamela" emerged in the last quarter of the 19th century, allowing agricultural use, based on intensive cultures of the dunes that had hitherto been unproductive. These are crops carried out in depressions dug in order to bring the cultivation surface closer to the water table and to protect crops from the wind, thus creating conditions closer to greenhouses and more favorable in terms of water and heat for horticultural production. Sometimes the slopes are used for the culture of the vine.
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