Canadian catnip?

[Barbara]

Randi, mint won't work!
And with catnip it is different. Some cats like it and some are not interested. I have read in one of the thousands of PT threads that Australian kitties are genetically not prone to catnip.

Filou and Tigris didn't like real life fresh catnip I brought to them from a botanical garden- they prefer valeriane.

BUT- big BUT!!! they went crazy about the crocheted ball from catmandu and from the mousie I bought one time in Vancouver- so I am wondering whether Canadian catnip might be a different species from what they sell here.

[Freedom]

I grow my own catnip in the back garden. It spreads FAST and uncontrollably. The cats love it fresh. When we take them out in the back while we are gardening, Chestnut just goes and sits in the middle of the catnip, nibbles a bit from the right, a bit from the left, and doesn't move until he lies down to sleep it off. The others nibble that along with grass. Often we look out the window and see the neighborhood cats taking a nibble. I think every cat in a one mile radius has my back yard on its route!

Last Autumn I picked a lot and dried it in the microwave. I pulled the leaves off the branches and stems, set them on a paper towel, put another paper towel on top, and put it in. It only takes about 1.5 minutes. I had a great crop last year, and I was drying for almost an hour. The house smelled wonderful! During the drying, first the cats all came to gather in the kitchen; then they started dashing about; then they all disappearred to sleep it off.

It was much more potent than the Cosmic Catnip I normally buy, but I think that is just because it was fresher. Over time, I needed to put out more to get the kitties to respond to it. Ruffles just rolls and rolls and rolls, rocking the cat perch she is in!

There is also something called catmint. Cats do NOT respond to that It is sold here in the Spring as a flower, for people who don't want all the neighborhood cats visitng.

I have other herbs growing including mint, the cats ignore everything else.

We have been traveling so much this year the garden didn't get any attention and didn't do well. We are away just now and won't be home until after Nov 1. I think that may be too late for drying any catnip this year.

[Edwina's Secretary]

I am growing it too and have been wonder how to dry it. Thank you Freedom....I am off to pick some nip....

p.s. I grow it in a pot (now a different one from this) as I do with all mint so it won't take over...

[moosmom]

My friend Kathy has it growing in her back yard EVERYWHERE!! To dry it, she hangs it upside down in the garage.

I can have her send me some if you like. It's not from Canada, just over the border in Michigan, though. Let me know.

[Freedom]

Several things.

I didn't mean to dis Cosmic; that is the brand I buy when I need to buy it. It is great, and I use the containers for the one I dry.

Second, I have regular mint - for ice tea and such - in a pot. I have been 3 years - yeah, YEARS -trying to get the rest of it out of the garden! With seven cats, I would need quite a few pots for the catnip. We also put some chicken wire around the base of some of it. With my cats and the neighborhood cats all partaking, they could potentially eat it right down the to roots and it would die off.

Edwina's Secretary: BEWARE. I had the paper towels catch fire on one batch last year in the microwave! I had been at it a long time, I was tired, I wasn't paying attention. Turn the microwave off, but don't open the door; that just gives the fire air to consume. With the door closed, it dies out fast. I tried, but the cats disapproved of that batch, and I had to throw it out. Charcoal taste, I guess.

I dry many of my herbs this way. Some take a little longer than others, depends how much moisture is in it. Basil, oregano, lemon balm, mint, parsley, and so forth.

[Edwina's Secretary]

Worked perfectly! Here is Eddie smpling the first batch....


and here he is encouraging me to cook some more!!!

(see the Ladylike Edwina waiting on the table in the background...no kitchen for her!)

I also quickly learned to look on the bottom of the leaves....for bugs....

[Freedom]

Eddie, is it yummy in the tummy?!

I am so glad you got this for them!

[Killearn Kitties]

Our cats love the Cosmic Catnip. That seems to be the brand sold here that they like most. Of course, Uncle Gary's catnip toys are just the best!

[iamgobsmacked]

Cut some long stalks and bunch together and tie or secure with a piece of string or elastic. Place in a large paper bag with stems out. Just put away for a couple of weeks until the plants are dry and crispy and remove the green from the stems and store in a bottle. You will find the catnip keeps much better in a glass jar than in plastic.

The best catnip I have every found that grows into beautiful shrubs quickly comes from Richters.

http://www.richters.com/

[Randi]

Oh yes, Canadian catnip - what is in it that are not in the others.

These are the presents Fister got when we visited Munich a few years ago. As you will notice, the doll was and still is his favourite.







Thanks Barbara, I’m glad I didn’t clear the mint for no reason.

And thanks to you who offered to send some, even seeds from it would be great - but what will the customs think it is! LOL! I could plant some on John's grave, I'm sure he's approve. Only, I can't take Fister over there on a leash, and I don't think he'd follow me.

[catmandu]

I Get The Loose Catnip From Cat Family And The Ladies From Animal Welfare Add It To The Wild Cat Nip That They Gather On Abandoned Farms . And From Places In The Farmlands Where It Grows Naturally.
We Are In A City Yet We Are Only A Stones Throw From What Used To Be Some Very Productive Farms.
Sadly Farming Is Too Chancy And Is Too Hard Work And A Lot Of These Farms Are Simply Sitting There Going To Waste, Or Slowly Being Covered In Suburbs.