How to Find And Dry Real Catnip

Catnip is added to so many cat toys but after a while it's "potency" fizzzzzles out and your cat isn't interested in the toy any more. Or you have heard catnip tea is good for you and you would like to try it. Here is how to find it, identify it and dry it for yourself! It grows wild and natural virtually all over North America and Europe - but can be grown almost anywhere in the world. It is a perennial and a part of the mint family.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Good clean outdoors and living where catnip grows!
• Patience
• Paper bag, possibly
• Some low humidity place to store it while it dries

1. 
   Panther as a Sassy Kitten

   I found out about catnip a while ago - by accident. I was weeding my garden, kneeling at the edge of it and getting my knees good and dirty. When I went into the house, I thought my cat, Panther, was going to bite and claw my knee off! Actually, I thought he had gone insane! Since I knew him better than that, I examined the spot on my knee that he was rubbing and licking like a fool and saw the dirt with some green stains.

2. 
   27 Pounds of Gimme Now!

   I went back out to the garden and checked what I had been kneeling in. I picked a bit of everything around the knee indention and went back in with samples for the Panther inspection. I showed him this and that and he went wild over a very odorific bit of greens. He wanted it and grabbed it out my hand!

3. 
   Ahhhhhha! Catnip!

   I snatched it away from him and went looking in the yard around my garden. I found a whole jungle of it! Catnip can get about 5 or 6 feet tall! Over the years, I've found that cats love either the new, small sproutlings or the dried catnip the best.

4. 
   This Is Fresh Catnip

   It's fairly easy to identify - all the leaves grow opposite on the stalk in pairs. It also has light purple flowers when it has gone into flower. The leaves are ruffled, too. Also, you can not miss the aroma when you rip a leaf - but, just to be sure, sniff a brand new cat toy or one of those boxes of dried catnip that you can buy so you can compare.

5. 
   Spank says - Yup! That's it!!!!!

   If you still aren't sure, let your cat help you! Your cat will soon do cartwheels and back flips, giving you a positive tails up that you have the good stuff! Be sure to pick some extra for your cat to enjoy fresh from the great outdoors while you prepare and dry his or her future fun snuff.

6. 
   Dried and Ready

   There are a few easy ways to dry catnip without any special machines. People used to dry pounds and pounds of herbs without a dehydrator. In fact, when my friend did her herbs in a dehydrator, those didn't even compare to the freshness, color, and aroma of my air dried. But I basically found this out by accident as well! I picked a few stalks for Panther the first time I found it. After he exhausted himself with one, he zonked out and I put the others aside for a couple of days and he kept playing around with his first one. I noticed the leaves on the floor that he didn't eat were very nicely dried - like herbs from the store! So I let the other stalks dry and I easily stripped off the leaves with my hand because they crumbled as I ran my hand up the stalk - go with the "grain" of the plant or you will get a lot of little sticks in the leaves. With catnip, I keep some of the medium sized sticks. Cats love those, too. Note how green the leaves are. These are completely dry!

7. 
   Easy to Store!

   If you have a humidity problem, simply strip off the fresh leaves and put into a paper bag. Label and date it for reference. Put it into the refrigerator - place in the back somewhere out of the way. Every couple of days, put your hand into the bag and scrunch them around to "turn" them. Soon, they will be old-bone dry. (New bones are not dry - raised eyebrow.) Then just put the dried leaves in a zip bag, an old spice jar, or a clean and dried 16oz cottage cheese container. (Recycle everything!)

8. 
   Freshen Your Nip, Sir?

   Sprinkle or "steep" your cat's favorite toys in the dried catnip...

9. 
   Wow! Want Mousie!

   It makes it seem like a brand new toy to your cat!

Tips & Warnings

• Keep the long sticks to play with your cat if you want. Tie something at the end and go cat fishing with it. The stick will not stay straight for long but it will be fun for your cat!
• I have only inside cats that are spayed or neutered, but if I wanted to grow catnip in the house, I'd have to be sure to put it somewhere they couldn't get at it while it grows!
• Outside or feral cats don't notice the catnip unless it's been cut or crushed to let the aroma loose.
• Throw out any dried herbs that show the slightest sign of mold or have have an odd odor.
• Even store bought can go moldy - so check any herbs before pouring into your food or giving it to your pets.
• If you find catnip in someone else's yard, either be sure they don't use herbicides or pesticide OR DON'T USE IT!
• I suggest that you keep cats inside all the time - I've patched up many a "friend" cat after some horrible fight and it is stomach twisting when you see what can happen to a cat out there! So if your cat never comes home, don't assume someone else took it home. It's probably suffering or...... !!!!!!!
• Do NOT declaw your house cat - if it gets away from you and outside, it will be defenseless! Trim their nails like you would do your dog's nails! I will do an article on that as soon as my cats need their nails trimmed again. (Yes - I wish I would have taken pics when I did them last week .......sigh!)

[xtraordinary]

on 3/3/2009 What a thorough and well-written article! It's fun to see a cat go crazy for catnip :) 5 stars!

[prism]

on 11/15/2008 We have a very small patch of catnip that is not enough to dry for the winter. I discovered it is VERY easy to grow indoors as long as there is a private place for it that the cats can't get to.

[delorean88]

on 9/24/2008 Cool. I didn't know that it grows everywhere!

[brantsbabe]

on 9/23/2008 My cats will love you for this:) 5 stars

[adrugay]

on 8/7/2008 Sounds fun! Great article - thanks!