BLADDER WRACK—
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Bladderwrack was gathered from the tidal edge, taken at low water where it clung to rock and timber. It was cut rather than pulled, leaving the holdfast intact. Harvest followed the tide and weather. Storm-cast material was used when clean.
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The fronds were rinsed in seawater, then spread thin to dry in wind and shade. Sun bleached it. Damp spoiled it. Once dried, it was kept whole and broken only when needed. Heat altered it. Iron darkened it. Wood and stone were preferred.
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Bladderwrack does not keep indefinitely. Salt draws moisture back into it. Improperly dried material spoiled. It was stored away from ground and damp air, often rehung to finish drying.

It was associated with tidal ground, exposed coast, and winter stores.
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Bladderwrack was familiar to sailors along rocky coasts. The air-filled bladders kept the weed afloat, marking submerged rock and shoals at low and rising tide. Heavy growth indicated shallow ground. After storms, cast wrack signaled recent weather and current. Dried fronds were kept aboard for salves, poultices, or used as packing material.
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Wrack cast high against stone was read. Men read it before they read the sky.
When the bladders lay burst and twisted above the tide line, weather had already turned beyond sight.
Some would not cut it after dark, saying the weed belonged then to the deep and should not be brought inland.
In winter it hung near the hearth to finish drying, smelling faintly of brine and rot.
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