Sandy Forrest

Thekla McDaniels wrote:
Be aware that castor beans are toxic as is the oil…

Castor oil does not contain ricin and is nontoxic.  It is a valuable addition to your natural remedies medicine cabinet.  Castor oil packs can relieve and/or heal many problems.  If taken by mouth, castor oil will relieve constipation or totally clean you out, depending on how stopped up you are and how much you take.  Castor oil on hands helps relieve that scaly winter dryness and castor oil on your lips (don't overdo to avoid doo-do) will keep them soft and avoid chapping even in severe weather.

Keeping organic castor oil on hand is as wise and worthy as growing comfrey.  Both have myriad uses towards health and good harvests.

Hi Patricia,

Did you start a local permies group?  I didn't see any responses in this thread, but a quick search revealed 16 people who identified as living in this area.
I don't know how to send information privately and prefer not to disclose too much personally-identifying information herein, yet I am very interested in building a local permies community.  RSVP

Lindsey Latham wrote, "you cannot drink the water from faucets in Phoenix, it's toxic and dehydrates the body. You have to buy drinking water in these huge dispensers spread around the city. "

This is disinformation.  Phoenix public water supply meets all regulations and the "huge dispensers spread around the city" are mythological.  

Phoenix does add fluoride to their water and for that reason, many people avoid drinking it.  While I disagree with fluoridating the public water supply and thereby medicating people without any dosage control and without most people's consent, it is nevertheless a very common practice in municipal water systems and does not qualify for the commonly understood definition if "toxic."