This time of year I find myself out in the garden each day picking tomatoes and with the new garden plans this year, using raised rows, my plants are bigger and better than they have ever been.  After sharing what I can with the neighbors and saving plenty for bottling, I still have a mountain of tomatoes with several different varieties.  I will be dehydrating, mixing up some old recipes as well as some new and trying out more ways to preserve them in the form of pasta sauce, a new salsa recipe and some ketchup.  

2 1/2 cups fresh corn kernels (slice the kernels off about 5 ears of corn)
1 avocado, cut into cubes and sprinkled with real salt
handful or two of cherry tomatoes, cut in half
2 Tbsp. chopped chives
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1 Tbsp. lime juice
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1/4 tsp. garlic salt

Whisk the oil and lime juice together and pour over other ingredients in a bowl, stir well and serve as either a salad or dip with your favorite chips.

These are just a couple recipes I wanted to try from Old World Garden Farms blog this year, they have many more recipes using tomatoes if you wanted to browse around.

There is nothing quite like the taste of combining tomatoes and basil, they were just meant for each other, like peanut butter and chocolate.  This year I may have gone a little crazy with the basil and planted twelve plants with 6 different varieties - I just love basil!  Not only is this combo delicious it is also healthy and healing.  Check out the nutrition facts on tomatoes here and the healing benefits of basil here.

This is a well known recipe of simply combining tomatoes, basil and mozzarella cheese, because it has all the Christmas colors mixed to make a very pretty dish, we call it Christmas in July Salad.

1 box penne pasta (or pasta of choice)
1 cup chopped tomatoes
1 cup mozzarella cheese cubes
1 cup chopped basil
2 cloves minced garlic
1 teaspoon sea salt
¼ cup olive oil (I use my garlic scape infused olive oil)
¼ cup Balsamic vinegar

Prepare the pasta then strain.  Add the remaining ingredients and stir well to combine.  This pairs well with some garlic bread and dipping sauce of 1 part olive oil and 1 part balsamic vinegar.

Not only are we combining tomatoes and basil in this one we are also spreading the bun with pesto! Yum!
Using a hoagie bun, roll or bread, spread with pesto sauce.  Fill the sandwich with chopped tomatoes, mozzarella chunks and chopped basil.  Serve with zucchini chips as a healthy alternative to potato chips.

pizza dough - I just use my bread dough recipe
olive oil
garlic salt
mozzarella cheese
garden veggies of choice, chopped

We made individual size pizzas so everyone could add what toppings they wanted but you could do a regular size pizza if you wanted.  Roll the pizza dough out and spread with olive oil and then sprinkle with garlic salt.  Sprinkle a layer of mozzarella cheese and then add whatever chopped garden veggies you want.  I used tomatoes, zucchini, onions, fresh garlic, chives and of course - basil.  Sprinkle with another layer of mozzarella cheese and top with some chopped basil.  Bake in the oven at 425 for 10 minutes or until the edges of the pizza are golden and the cheese is melted. I have also made this pizza with pesto for the sauce instead of the olive oil and garlic salt and it was fabulous, although I do love pesto - a lot!

Shared on: Nourishing Joy, From the Farm, Tuesday Garden Party, Home Acre Hop, Green Thumb Thursday.

I cannot believe that my Big Man is 12 this year!  Time sure does fly and he is my first to move beyond the Elementary Grades and into the Jr. High stage.  He will now be more involved in group settings, volunteer work, service, scouts and working towards Scholar Phase (as outlined in Leadership Education: The Phases of Learning).  Using Ambleside Online Year 7 as a rough outline for school this year, we went through together and chose what he wanted to learn and study this year.  In addition to all of these subjects he will continue using Math U See, working in Epsilon and doing their online math drills daily.

In addition to reading from these materials for scripture study time we also use journals and notebooking pages from both Discover the Scriptures and The Red Headed Hostess, although to be honest, Big Man is not a fan of journal pages so he mainly uses the online notebook and journal available at lds.org, under tools.  He will be teaching us devotional on Fridays and also has opportunities to teach at church on Sundays.

Family school takes place right after breakfast and starts with devotional.  Family school consists of subjects we do together as a family before we break out to do individual studies.  Family school was covered in detail in the 2015 school plans post, and includes:

• Devotional 
• Nature Study/Outdoor Hour
• Exploring Creation With... (science)
• Country Study
• Art and Composer Study
• Herb Fairies - Herb of the Month
• Patterns of Liberty/Family History
• Read Aloud Book

Big Man loves reading more than anything but when it comes to language arts, he struggles.  Because we work at his own pace he will be working out of the Level 5 All About Spelling program and if he is ready move onto Level 6.  We will be starting out with the basics of grammar using Simply Grammar and then follow up with Jensen's Grammar.  All of his readings will be accompanied with notebooking pages, an oral narration or book report and he has chosen to study German as his foreign language.

These are great living books on geography and we use the Old World Style Maps to chart the journey in these books. 

This is Big Man's favorite subject.  He started the Great Empires last year and only got through Greeks and Romans so he wanted to continue learning about ancient times.  We will continue with Proclaim Liberty we started last year and many of these books are on his book list for his Key of Liberty group.

Big Man wanted to finish The Secrets of the Universe series he started last year in addition to our family school, Exploring Creation with Science books.  I also have a couple of suggestions from Ambleside Online for him to study on his own.

Big Man will be starting a weekly group from LEMI (Leadership Education Mentoring Institute) called Key of Liberty, which is a commonwealth school.  In addition to learning about our founding fathers, the constitution and government he will also be studying Shakespeare and working on group service projects.  He is also involved with weekly scouts and church group meetings.  This fall will be Big Man's last year as a knight at the Mastering Knighthood Summit, but will continue to be involved by volunteering in future Summits.  He will also be a volunteer youth leader at Patriot Camp next summer and any other opportunities that may arise. 

Big Woman is definitely in the "Love of Learning" phase according to the phases of A Thomas Jefferson Education.  She is very creative and loves to make lapbooks, projects and other hands on activities as well as drawing, painting and journaling.  We went through the curriculum from Ambleside Online for Year 4 and decided to use many of recommended books for this year along with a few a my favorites.

In addition to reading from these materials for scripture study time we also use journals and notebooking pages from both Discover the Scriptures and The Red Headed Hostess.  Big Woman has been assigned devotional on Wednesdays and will teach us from her personal scripture study materials here.

Family school takes place right after breakfast and starts with devotional.  Family school consists of subjects we do together as a family before we break out to do individual studies.  Family school was covered in detail in the 2015 school plans post, and include:

• Devotional 
• Nature Study
• Exploring Creation With... (science)
• Country Study
• Art and Composer Study
• Herb Fairies - Herb of the Month
• Patterns of Liberty/Family History
• Read Aloud Book

Each child is encouraged to keep a personal journal.  A journal teaches the months and days of the week as they refer to the calender for the date.  After their journal entry we check them together for any spelling or grammar errors.  Any words that were mis-spelled goes on the spelling list that is reviewed at the end of the week.  Big Woman also likes to use All About Spelling and will have notebooking pages to go along with her other studies as well as learning German for her foreign language.

Books Should Be Free online listening or reading

Shakespeare is part of literature but I wanted him to have a section of his own so you can see the many resources available for inspiring children to love and be very familiar with the stories so when they start reading the actual plays they know the characters and stories and will be excited about reading them the way Shakespeare meant them to be. The children love to listen to the Tales from Shakespeare or Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare, both great retellings of his plays. Last year Big Woman made her own globe theater from the Renaissance & Reformation Project Passport, complete with characters from the plays.  After she reads or listens to the play she can then act it out in her "theater".  She also loves to draw and color so sometimes she will do that while listening to a story.  Fridays have become our game day and Shakespeare the Bard Game is so fun, even the Little's join us by teaming up and doing the "busking" which brings great laughs and lots of shillings.

Each of the children read a poem every day, I like to use the ambleside online schedule of poetry unless I have found something better in my own collection - I have found a lot of great poetry books at my local thrift store.  I encourage the children to pick a favorite poem to memorize each month and usually have them copy it into a poetry notebook.  Big Woman decided this year she wanted to make a poetry journal from an art sketch pad so she can make drawings to go along with poems. 

Book of Centuries
Each child keeps a Book of Centuries, which is pretty much a timeline.  They decorate the covers for these binders and will use them throughout their entire school experience.  Fridays they review what they studied all week and place time line figures in their book.  I use pages from Notebookingpages.com and the timeline figures from Homeschool in the Woods.  Both have been invaluable to my homeschool and worth every penny. 

Big Woman will be mapping the journey of a snapping turtle in Minn of the Mississippi as well as studying one of the fifty states each week.  I will be using the Old World Style Maps from Homeschool in the Woods, these are one of my favorite resources and you can find a map for just about everything in this set.  The United States set also has several notebooking pages, including a fact sheet that we use with each state and flags for every state.  I printed off the state map on one side of paper and print the fact sheet on the other side.  At the beginning of the year I fill a binder with all 50 states and then Big Woman chooses which one she wants to study that week and fills in the facts.  Notebookingpages.com also offers a state study set that can be included or used separately. 

In addition to the family school Exploring Creation series, Big Woman will also be reading The Story Book of Science with notebooking pages to track and chart what she is studying.

I will be the first to admit my children never make it through their entire reading list in a year, but I do like to have a wide variety of books for them to choose from.  Every book on these lists have become favorites of my children and they are all wonderful stories that teach living lessons.  Not all of these are read by the child, some we listen to in the car (book on cd borrowed from the library), some listened to online while working on a project and some Mom reads aloud.  I like to check my local thrift store, library and online before purchasing any, but those that must be purchased are well worth it. 

All of these books are found on Books Should Be Free where you can listen to or read them online:

Big Woman will be participating in a bi-monthly Liberty Girls Club meeting, where she reads the book of the month and then meets with other home school girls where they discuss the book and do activities.  The books are usually one of the American Girl Series but one year we did the Little House on the Prairie series.  She also meets with a church group bi-monthly where they complete experiences from the Faith in God book.  Once a week she has clogging lessons from Just For Clicks, which is a family friendly studio that wants a great experience for each child involved, whether it be recreation or competition clogging. The instructors bring a positive, uplifting atmosphere to the studio and I love the budget friendly pricing and commitment to modesty when it comes to costumes.  Didn't mean to go off there on the clogging studio but we have had such a great experience with this studio the last 4 years I think everyone should know how great they are!  

During the summer months Big Woman will also participate in Patriot Camp and Handmaidens of Virtue.  Both of these character building "camps" are for anyone that want to participate - not just homeschoolers.

After reading Leadership Education: The Phases of Learning by Oliver DeMille over the summer I got the impression I needed to change things with my school a little bit.  I realized the need for my younger children (under age 12) to lead out in what they wanted to study and learn about and that they needed to have fun and enjoy what they were learning.  Hubby and I sat down with each child and asked what they wanted to learn, what they have enjoyed and what wasn't so fun.  Little Man was so easy as he enjoys learning about everything and loves to read.  He has a great love for all things in creation, especially animals as well as experimenting.  Based on this, I referenced my favorite curriculum site, Ambleside Online Year 1 and went from there.  I put the following things on his list to study for the year but this is open to what he wants to do and learn.  If he decides he wants to study something more in depth or he doesn't like a particular book, than that is up for revision.  This is a hard concept for me because I am such a schedule and list person, but what I read about the phases of learning rang true and I will follow the spirit's guidance in the education of my children.  

These are Little Man's scripture study materials.  Both the Scripture Stories and the Friend magazine are available to listen to online (so Mom can still do her own personal study the same time as the other children), there are also activities, games and so much more and of course my favorite, Bible videos.  Little Man is encouraged to read one page of his scripture reader by himself before listening to more or doing any other activities.  He also uses these as resources along with Behold Your Little Ones for his turn to teach devotional on Mondays.

Scripture Stories Online
New Testament Stories PDF

Family school takes place right after breakfast and starts with devotional.  Family school consists of subjects we do together as a family before we break out to do individual studies.  Some subjects we cover I will have additional books or activities for the younger ones so they can still participate. Family school was covered in detail in the2015 school plans post, and include:

• Devotional 
• Nature Study/Outdoor Hour
• Exploring Creation With... (science)
• Art/Composer Study
• Herb Fairies - Herb of the Month
  
• Patterns of Liberty and Family History
• Read Aloud Book

Little Man will either listen to these books online while coloring or doing a project or I will sit down with him and read them to him.  It is whatever he decides to do and what my time looks like that day. 

Hard copy books 

Books Should Be Free online listening or reading

According to the phases of learning this age wouldn't have a structured language arts program, but my Little Man loves the All About Spelling program that we started last year.  He sees it as a game because it is multi-sensory and this was one thing he specifically ask for more of this year.  We will probably finish up with the Level 1 and move onto Level 2 during this year.   They also have a reading program called All About Reading that I think he would've loved!  Last year I used what I have used with all my other children, How to Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. Where the other children thrived with these lessons, this active/hands on learner did not enjoy the lessons and we ended up tossing the book half way through and just used the All About Spelling with his reader books.  In hind site I wish I would've just gotten the All About Reading Program.  

This child loves to write so I will also have copywork pages from scriptures, excerpts from the books we read and probably some patriotic things.  I love NotebookingPages.com for copywork and notebooking which are a huge part of our home school.  I purchased a lifetime membership a couple years ago and it has been worth every penny!  

As with language arts this is not a required subject at this time but Little Man loves math so he wants to continue on with the Math U See we did last year.  This year we will do Alpha and just take one day at a time to see how much he wants to do and what he wants to do.  I will have the manipulatives available to experiment and play with and also some other fun stuff I have picked up among the years.  These would include tangrams, some foam shapes, a clock face with the hands, and some play money with a cash register.  All of this is in a bin he can just pull out of the closet and explore at his own will.

Little Man's favorite subjects!  For family school we will be reading from the Apologia Exploring Creation Astrology and Anatomy.  I wanted Little Man to have his own little book to follow along with the anatomy since that will probably be a bit much for him.  I will be using Look Inside Your Body which is an Usborne flip book that has lots of flaps to open and discover all about our bodies.  I will also let him choose what he wants to do out of Mudpies to Magnets for some hands on experimenting for younger children.  After mapping Paddle's journey to the sea, we will watch the short film with the same name, I was able to find this at my local library. 

As I mentioned above, Little Man loves anything in creation.  Animals are one of his favorites and I have always loved any Thornton Burgess books, he has such a way a weaving a tale around animals that make them so exciting and fun to learn about.  I will be having him listen to stories from the Burgess Bird Book about birds in our area while coloring a page for his notebook, Notebookingpages.com has the best bird study pages!  I also found a great blog that has the birds from this book linked with their calls and more info. about that bird.  We will then try to identify that bird in the wild during our outdoor hour time.  He also keeps a little bin of bird figures that he can pull out if he chooses along with some dover coloring books for painting or more coloring.

I believe history and government are just as important to learn as reading, writing and arithmetic.  I incorporate them into every level of learning, which is why my Little Man already has the preamble to the constitution memorized.  Does he know what it means, maybe not, but he will.  This is what I have planned for him to learn this year along with what he has chosen (Knight's, oh yeah!)  I will also be using the music, coloring books and DVD's from the Kindergarten plans from last year.

A fun list of books no child should grow up without reading, all age appropriate for a six year old.  Because this child is a hands on/active learner I like to include notebooking pages, coloring pages, lapbook or activities to go along with the story after we have read it.  *Peter Pan has a naughty word that Tinkerbell likes to say so I make sure to read this one aloud myself so I can omit it.  He loves the Magic Tree House books so he reads those to me and after a book has been read we go to the official website and get a sticker for his passport.  He also gets to have 15 minutes of supervised time playing on the Magic Tree House website when he finishes a book.  I have been able to find these books at my local thrift store and library.

Books Should Be Free Listening or Reading Online

Pinocchio - Carlo Collodi
The Velveteen Rabbit - Margery Williams
The Red Fairy Book - Andrew Lang
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz - L. Frank Baum
Peter Pan - J. M. Barrie (watch out for that naughty word that Tinkerbell says a few times)

It is that time of year again when I put all of my school plans together and get ready for another great year of home school!  I always begin with a prayer for each individual child and what their needs my be.  I also review my home school education books or study something knew.  This past summer I read a great book called, Leadership Education: The Phases of Learning by Oliver Demille, a companion book to A Thomas Jefferson Education by Oliver Demille.  These phases rang true for me and I felt I needed to incorporate them into my family and I am excited to see what will happen this year.  I highly recommend this reading for everyone, homeschooler or not.  With that in mind here is the plan for our 2014/2015 school year

After morning chores each child and Mom sit around the table for personal scripture study.  Each child will have his/her list of age appropriate resources for scripture study.  Mom has the following:

We study by ourselves for about 15-20 minutes every morning before breakfast.  This is quiet time where no talking is allowed and then during breakfast, right after study time, we can discuss what we learned together. After breakfast we start what I call, Family School, which are subjects we learn about together as a family before separating into individual study.  Devotional and outdoor hour are the only ones we do every single day, the others we may do some one day and some another.  

Devotional consists of a song or hymn, prayer, pledge of allegiance, memorization scripture, article of faith and Family Proclamation.  We then have a short lesson given by either Mom or one of the children.  Each person is assigned a day of the week and they are in charge of putting together a thought or lesson.  These are some of the resources we use in addition to our personal scripture study materials.  The Little's teach from Behold Your Little Ones and use the activity folders or they teach us what they learned at church that week since they usually come home with handouts or activities. 

We love outdoor hour around here, even in the winter.  I like to print out the monthly challenge from the Handbook of Nature Study blog and we use that as a "guide".  The children are really free to explore and observe whatever their hearts desire.  We then come in and if they choose, draw or write about what they observed in their nature journals or nature notebooking pages.  Big Man is the only one that does not like to use his nature journal, but I do require him to have at least one entry during the month.  We also have a nature table that was Little Man's project last winter and everyone has enjoyed it, especially the Little's, they are always bringing in some treasure to display and continue to observe and play with.  We also have lots of nature books in this area and we use the Handbook of Nature Study as our resource and guidebook.

We set up a small bookshelf in a little part of our living room to house all of our nature study materials.  We post the outdoor hour challenge right above the shelf and have that wall for drawings the children may have, posters of what we may be studying and our weather chart.  The shelf itself has a book bin that keeps our garden journals, the outdoor hour monthly newsletter, our weather lapbooks, the Ranger Rick magazines and any seasonal books we are using a lot.  There are also baskets to house the "treasures" brought in by the children and this is changed from season to season as we retire old treasures and bring in the new.  All of our field guides and nature books are on the shelf as well as the nature journals, binoculars and magnifying glass.  Little Man helped put the shelf together and organize all of the contents in and on it, this is his love so he was the one in charge.  His prize possession is a snake skin given to him by a neighbor with a corral snake, he has to show this  to everyone that comes to the house and since the shelf is located right next to the front door, literally everyone gets a peek.

The children love science and we love the Exploring Creation Series by Jeannie Fulbright.  This year we are going to study the last two in the series we haven't yet covered, Astronomy and Anatomy.  We also use notebooking pages for each section in the book we cover.  The children still look back in their notebooks from past years as a reference guide.  Because we do this as a family I also use books on the same subject for the Little's but more for their level of learning and exploration.

We study an herb every month and because we love it so much, this usually happens everyday. This spring I came across Herb Fairies and it quickly became my children's favorite part of the day.  They love the stories (if you aren't into fairy tales though this is not for you) and it gets them so excited to learn more about the herb of the month.  We keep an herb journal, do some herbal crafting with the herb and observe it up close and personal for those that are in the yard or around the neighborhood.  I also love to use Herbal Roots Zine and of course my herbal library. 

I think it is important to study the arts but we keep it pretty loosey, goosey around here.  I usually have a piece of artwork displayed for a 2 week period in the main school area and we talk about it here and there.  I like to use the Ambleside Online schedule of artist and composer because they have done all the work for me, complete with a PDF picture to print and post.  We also just listen to classical music in the background rather than an actual period of listening.  If you want an actual program to follow Harmony Fine Arts has some great lesson plans and study materials.  Homeschool in the Woods also has a fun Activity-Pak for bothartists and composers that we have used and loved.

I mentioned before that Patterns of Liberty was the basis for Patriot Camp this year and I am excited to have it available to use in our school this year.  I will be reading a story and doing activities based around that story or person once a week.  I also will be telling stories from our family history and encouraging the older children to get involved in researching their ancestors and helping in uploading pictures and histories to FamilySearch.com, where this information can be viewed by others.  FamilySearch is a free resource available for everyone to use not just those of us that are LDS, I encourage everyone to utilize this amazing resource for bringing us closer to our family members and ancestors.

I like to have a book we are always listening to as a family.  This may be one we borrowed from the library on cd that we listen to in the car or while doing chores.  It may also be one I sit and read to the children while they work on quiet activities, needle work, quiet play for the Little's or whittling for Big Man.  I let this go last year because I allowed myself to get too busy but we all loved it and it is something I will put on my priority list this year. These are just a few of the books I have in mind for our read alouds this year.  I may also pick some off the first grade and fourth grade free reading lists.  

Once we finish our family school the children go off to do their personal studies and I get to read some more with my Littles and guide and help them where needed (and wanted).  They will mostly explore and play on their own both indoors and out and I will be available to all for guidance.

Just a quick note about notebooking.  As I post the plans for each child for the year you will notice many links to different notebooking pages from notebookingpages.com.  At first I would purchase one set here and one set there but realized I would be much better off joining the notebooking pages treasury.  That has been one of my best purchases!  With the treasury you have access to all of their notebooking pages, with more to be released each year.  You also have access to the notebooking web-app, which allows the child to design his own page online and then print it out for his notebook.  These have been a big part of our homeschool, something the children enjoy making and a way for them to write, narrate and be creative in expressing what they are learning.

Shared on: The Art of Homemaking, Mama Moments, Homestead Barn Hop, The Homemaking Party, Wise Woman Link Up.

Peppermint was the very first essential oil I was introduced to many years ago and like lavender can be used for a wide variety of ailments.   ​

• analgesic
• antibacterial
• anti-inflammatory
• antiseptic
• antispasmodic
• antiviral
• stimulating
• digestive
• decongestant
• antibiotic
• antifungal
• anti-depressant
• astringent
• calmative
• nervine
• purifying

• Apply topically with a carrier oil
• Inhale (diffuse)
• G.R.A.S - generally regarded as safe for human consumption, use as a dietary supplement, in beverages and cooking.

• purifies and disinfects
  
• spray along window sills and door to keep unwanted pests from entering

• asthma (apply one drop under the tongue)
• sinus, chest congestion, any respiratory problem or weakness (again apply a drop under the tongue for congestion relief)
• sore throat, laryngitis (I like to use my throat spray for these conditions)
• colds, flu and fever
• allergies and hay fever
• halitosis, breath freshener (one drop under the tongue or make a gargle with water and a drop or two of oil)
• toothaches, mouth sores, gum infection
• cold sores
• concentration, brain, memory, alertness, fatigue, energizing
• digestion: constipation, diarrhea, heartburn, indigestion, gas, IBS
• nausea, morning or motion sickness and vomiting (inhale)
• headache and migraines
• PMS, menstrual irregularity, cramps, aches, etc.
• muscle pain, inflamed joints and tissue, arthritis, rheumatism, carpal tunnel
• varicose veins
• skin fungus, candida, hives, scabies, rashes, itching, irritated skin
• cools the heat of sunburn and brings body temperature down on hot days (mix a drop of two in a spray bottle with water or as the essential oil in my burn soother spray)
• hot flashes (simply inhale or use the spray bottle method)
• depression, uplifts the spirit
• repels spiders and insects, 1 drop on a tick will detach it whole
• heals the pain and itch of spider and insect bites or stings

Caution should be taken when using this oil while pregnant, peppermint can stimulate the uterus, probably best to use a blend and in small amounts. Also use caution if dealing with high blood pressure.  Do not use repeatedly on the same area over and over as this can result in contact sensitization, use a carrier when applying topically. Probably not a good idea to use in the bathtub due to those sensitive areas.

I must say after getting rid of all the chemicals in my home and personal care products, I was a little panicked when I started getting those "gray" streaks in the front of my hair.  At first I just plucked them out and pretty soon, I had too many to pluck out.  I am not going gray at my age so I had to find a natural solution to cover those grays.  My favorite herbalist, Rosemary Gladstar, lives by henna for the hair but all I could think of was "I Love Lucy" red, after all she was the henna queen.  After weeks of studying about henna and reading over and over the henna section of Rosemary Gladstar's Herbal Recipes for Vibrant Health and even a couple phone calls to Mountain Rose Herbs.  I finally decided to take the plunge and just do it. 

Henna is made from the crushed leaves of the Henna shrub or Egyptian privet (Lawsonia inermis), native to the Middle East, Asia and Africa. Most people only think of red when they think of henna but by blending different parts of the plant that are harvested at different times a whole range of colors are created, from black to neutral and every where in between. 

Henna works very best on darker colored hair but can be used for dark blond and even gray (if applied correctly).  My hair is a medium brown so I can use any henna shade without precautions.  For dark blond, light brown or gray hair I would suggest reading the hair section of Rosemary Gladstar's Herbal Recipes for Vibrant Health for more details on choosing the correct shade.  Mountain Rose Herbs carries a variety of shades including neutral henna that is colorless but many use it for a conditioner once a month to add body and shine.

Just to be clear when using henna, this is not a typical hair coloring solution, it is an herb and therefore don't expect to mix up a batch of colorant and apply this creamy, nice smelly solution to your hair.  First of all, it is green and when mixed up, is anything but creamy or nice smelling (but add some hair care essential oil and this can be improved a bit).  The texture will be like mud and I personally think it smells like seaweed, but have come to appreciate the smell because I know how great my hair will feel afterwards.  Now you know what to expect lets go through the steps for some fabulous hair:

STEP ONE - Mix Your Henna

Long Hair - 1 1/4 cup henna (you can mix shades for the perfect color - I blend brown and red for auburn)
Shoulder Length to Short Hair - 3/4 cup henna
Boiling water
2 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar
30 drops rosemary essential oil (or choose one from the hair care list)

​Mix together in a bowl or large measuring cup and pour in boiling water until the henna is the consistency of oatmeal. 

STEP TWO - Prepare Your Hair

Your hair does not need to be clean and washed, in fact Rosemary Gladstar discourages it.  Just dampen your hair and towel dry.  Massage a small amount of coconut or olive oil into your hair - especially the ends.

STEP THREE: Gather Your Supplies

• Plastic gloves
• Brush for "painting" on your henna - you can use an actual dye brush or I just used an actual paint brush 
• An old towel you don't care to get stained
• Plastic wrap or shower cap

STEP FOUR: Applying the Henna

Separate your hair into 1" sections and "paint" the henna on beginning at the root and moving to the ends. Apply it thickly all over and continue until all your hair is completely covered.  "Grease" it thickly over all the hair and then cover with plastic wrap or a shower cap and then cover with a towel.  Leave on 90 minutes up to 2 hours, I just watch a movie while I wait and know I am finished when the movie is over.  If you have lots of gray though you only want to leave it on for 30 minutes.

STEP FIVE: Rinse and Wash

Wash out the best you can knowing that you are not going to get it all out.  Let your hair dry and then brush through it real well, outside, believe me lots of henna that was left will now come out in your brush and on the ground.  It will usually take a couple of washes to get it completely out.  

Here is my hair two days later, after drying and combing well to get all the henna out.  This shows the color in both indoor lighting and outdoor shade.  Best of all, no gray streaks, just "highlights".  Your hair is going to feel thick, strong, healthy and look great!   Henna not only colors your hair but it thickens it, protects against damage and split ends and nourishes the hair follicles.  It will naturally fade out within 8-10 weeks so plan on re-applying about every 10 weeks or so.

Mountain Rose Herbs carries organic, good quality henna.  Rosemary Gladstar warns about getting a low quality henna because the colors can fluctuate and you never know what you will get.

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