Closeup of catnip growing in the garden. This is ready to harvest and dry.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nBecause catnip is a perennial, make sure it’s planted in your garden in a place that won’t be disturbed. Here in zone 6B, it needs no special winter protection. Last year was one of the coldest winters on record in our part of the world and my catnip survive -1 F temperatures overnight. I’m convinced that catnip can withstand anything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It may seed itself around the parent plant, and you can transfer the seedlings to other parts of your garden if you like or give them away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If your cats constantly chomp on the growing plant, place bamboo stakes around the plant to keep them away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Harvesting Catnip<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Harvest catnip when the plant is full of leaves and about 8 to 12 inches tall. It’s best to harvest the leaves before the plant flowers; it’s easier to dry it. Gather bunches of stems in your hand and using sharp kitchen scissors, snip off springs with 6 to 8 inches of twig left on them. Snip off as much as you like from mature plants. From younger plants, I suggest pinching off a few leaves only so as to leave enough on the plant so that it can make its food and set down deep roots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Drying Catnip<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
It can be tricky to dry catnip without your felines raiding the stash prematurely. There are several quick ways to dry nip, but be warned; your house is going to smell like catnip. If you hate the smell, skip ahead to the solar drying information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n- Oven drying<\/strong>: Use your kitchen oven to dry catnip. Set the oven to 150 degrees F. If you have a convection oven, it will dry the catnip even faster. Place catnip stems and leaves in a single layer on the bottom of metal roasting pans. Slide them into the oven, and leave the oven door open a crack to vent steam. Dry for 10 minutes or more, checking and stirring the leaves and stems frequently to make sure they don’t stick to the pan. When it’s completely dried out and crunchy, remove from the oven, shut the oven off, let it cool, and smush it up in your hands into flakes. Place in a clean glass bottle with lid and dole out to your kitties as you see fit.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Solar drying<\/strong>: I prefer to solar dry my catnip. I have an old iron skillet that dries catnip in the summer sunshine quickly and easily. I also place it in single layers in roasting pans and set these out on a slate walkway by my house; the sun beats down on it and dries it quickly I take it into the garage at night to keep it dry, and set it out again by day. Depending on the humidity level and air temperature, it can take 1-3 days to dry it thoroughly.\u00a0I don’t mind if my fur kids roll around in it while it’s drying. I let them steal a bit. I do struggle with the wind; a good breeze will scatter drying catnip everywhere. To prevent that, I place an old window screen weighted by stones over the pan of nip. This also keeps the cats out.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Air Drying:\u00a0<\/strong> You can also\u00a0air dry catnip by trying the stalks together at the cut end of the stem with a rubber band or twine. Make sure that you don’t bundle together too many stalks at once, or you’ll prevent air from flowing through the branches. Good airflow hastens the drying process. Hand these in a dry, dark, warm place. I hang mine up in the garage. When dried out completely, remove the dried leaves from the stems with your hands, discard the stems, and crush up the leaves for your cats.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n
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