Wild catnip

"oldhickory" wrote in message
...
Ours are stoners too--here's what's left after they took turns rolling and
laying in their catnip garden:

http://www.davidandmollie.com/kitties/crossing/



Love it!

Jo

oldhickory wrote:

Ours are stoners too--here's what's left after they took turns rolling and
laying in their catnip garden:

http://www.davidandmollie.com/kitties/crossing/

Well, the tortie cat certainly seems to have taken ownership of the
"garden", but the stripey one looks more maniacal. Is that one a boy?
Males seem to get more affected by the stuff. All three of my cats love
nip, but Licky is the one who gets particularly deranged by it. He
could lie around all day on the patch of carpet where I had put it down,
licking the rug.

Joyce

On Wed, 18 Jul 2007 20:22:30 -0700, jofirey wrote:


"Ted Davis" wrote in message
news
On Wed, 18 Jul 2007 08:33:50 -0700, jofirey wrote:

In our house there would have been nothing left but stoned cats. They
eat
fresh catnip. If we bring in a plant the demolish it and then devour it
and
they roll in the spilled dirt. If I ever get another camera I'll post a
picture of my latest attempt at growing catnip. I found a nice plant and
repotted it. Then I got some florist stakes and some wire at Michaels
and
built a cage around the plant. The pot is in a wrought iron plant stand
and
the plant is in the cage so it should be safe provided I keep it watered.
The tops budded a few days ago and I pinched the buds off and dropped
them.
Jake appeared out of nowhere and scarffed them down.

I've had good success with hanging planters, provided they are high enough
and unstable enough not to be jumping targets.


Both my cats routinely jump higher than I could hang anything and still be
able to water it. It could however provide a great deal of entertainment
for a while. I may have to try it in one of the hanging baskets we do have
when I'm changing out plantings again.

I found a special waterer for high plants: a bottle with a *long* rigid
plastic tube bent over at the end. Squeezing the bottle sent a stream of
water out the end of the tube. Still, since the catnip was hanging near
the kitchen light fixture over the kitchen table, I still had to climb a
ladder and take it down for watering and draining afterward.

On Wed, 18 Jul 2007 08:22:22 -0500, Ted Davis wrote:

There are several catnip plants growing along the edge of my driveway and
in the crack between the driveway and the patio. Yesterday afternoon I
was trimming the grass and weeds around the patio and accidentally cut
down one of the catnip plants. No biggie, I thought: the cats don't think

You can harvest and dry the catnip. Just cut the stalk off at the
bottom of the plant, tie several stalks together with string, then
hang it somewhere like an out-building or shed until it is dry. After
drying, crumble the leaves into a baggie and discard the stem. You
could even save some of the seeds and plant it somewhere you want it
to grow--preferably in a large container because it does spread
quickly by dropping it's own seeds.

I had a plant that was three feet tall by three feet wide. Bees love
it so it will help the bee population by feeding them, and help your
other plants by drawing the bees to your yard.
Debra in VA
See my quilts at
http://community.webshots.com/user/debplayshere

Actually, all three are girls but the tabby is definitely a different
personality. She's younger and much more territorial--she growls at the
garbage man and the UPS man. Too funny. That was her first catnip session.

Here's the tortie as a kitten--one of her early binges:
http://www.davidandmollie.com/kitties/buffynip.htm

--
ie
ride fast, take chances.


wrote in message
...
oldhickory wrote:

Ours are stoners too--here's what's left after they took turns rolling
and
laying in their catnip garden:

http://www.davidandmollie.com/kitties/crossing/

Well, the tortie cat certainly seems to have taken ownership of the
"garden", but the stripey one looks more maniacal. Is that one a boy?
Males seem to get more affected by the stuff. All three of my cats love
nip, but Licky is the one who gets particularly deranged by it. He
could lie around all day on the patch of carpet where I had put it down,
licking the rug.

Joyce

oldhickory wrote:

Actually, all three are girls but the tabby is definitely a different
personality. She's younger and much more territorial--she growls at the
garbage man and the UPS man. Too funny. That was her first catnip session.

Here's the tortie as a kitten--one of her early binges:
http://www.davidandmollie.com/kitties/buffynip.htm

Cute!

Joyce

You can harvest and dry the catnip. Just cut the stalk off at the
bottom of the plant, tie several stalks together with string, then
hang it somewhere like an out-building or shed until it is dry. After
drying, crumble the leaves into a baggie and discard the stem. You
could even save some of the seeds and plant it somewhere you want it
to grow--preferably in a large container because it does spread
quickly by dropping it's own seeds.

Actually my furbabies love it green also!!

Debra wrote:

You can harvest and dry the catnip. Just cut the stalk off at the
bottom of the plant, tie several stalks together with string, then
hang it somewhere like an out-building or shed until it is dry. After
drying, crumble the leaves into a baggie and discard the stem.

I used to do this, but it would take 2-3 weeks to completely dry out
enough to be crushed into a powder. Then I discovered that I could
accomplish the same thing by microwaving the leaves for 10 minutes!
Presto - instant Catnip Concentrate. My kitties like the fresh leaves,
but pulverized dead leaves are apparently a lot more potent.

Joyce

"Ted Davis" wrote in message
news
On Wed, 18 Jul 2007 20:22:30 -0700, jofirey wrote:


"Ted Davis" wrote in message
news
On Wed, 18 Jul 2007 08:33:50 -0700, jofirey wrote:

In our house there would have been nothing left but stoned cats. They
eat
fresh catnip. If we bring in a plant the demolish it and then devour
it
and
they roll in the spilled dirt. If I ever get another camera I'll post
a
picture of my latest attempt at growing catnip. I found a nice plant
and
repotted it. Then I got some florist stakes and some wire at Michaels
and
built a cage around the plant. The pot is in a wrought iron plant
stand
and
the plant is in the cage so it should be safe provided I keep it
watered.
The tops budded a few days ago and I pinched the buds off and dropped
them.
Jake appeared out of nowhere and scarffed them down.

I've had good success with hanging planters, provided they are high
enough
and unstable enough not to be jumping targets.


Both my cats routinely jump higher than I could hang anything and still
be
able to water it. It could however provide a great deal of entertainment
for a while. I may have to try it in one of the hanging baskets we do
have
when I'm changing out plantings again.

I found a special waterer for high plants: a bottle with a *long* rigid
plastic tube bent over at the end. Squeezing the bottle sent a stream of
water out the end of the tube. Still, since the catnip was hanging near
the kitchen light fixture over the kitchen table, I still had to climb a
ladder and take it down for watering and draining afterward.


There's the catch. You are better equipped than we are. Functioning knees
are a gift not appreciated as much as they should be while they last.

Charlie and I routinely sit around a scheme how to get jobs that require
climbing or kneeling of any sort done.

Latest is a garden bed I had a big flowering quince taken out of. It was
pushing the fence down and I was afraid the thorns were going to nail Kayla
or the cats. Now I have a space with three sorts of potting mix dumped in
and a new bush sitting nearby. All it needs is someone who can actually
push a shovel into the dirt with their foot to mix them together.

So its bribe the 18 year old, who is seldom home anymore, convince the 9
year old its fun, or wait two weeks (or more) for the touring garden guy to
show up.

Jo

Jo