Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Homegrown Dried Herbs aka Kitty Drugs


Kitty Drug Stash ~ Catnip

Just a short post to show off the great "kitty drug" stash that I was gifted with from Hardware Bob a few days ago. No, it's not pot/marijuana, (although I have heard that some folks do smoke it). It is beautiful organically grown catnip that Bob grew in his garden and then harvested, bunched and hung it to dry. He then sifted it through a collander to filter out the big stems and crush the leaves. He has no kitties of his own, so he grows the majority of his catnip for me and for Joggin Jack. Between us we have 5 cats.

I keep it up high in a closed cabinet and the whole cabinet smells like catnip now. My kitties love it. I rub it on their scratching post and toys. It stimulates their nervous system and makes them a little "high". Perks them up a bit.

Oddly, it has the opposite affect on humans. Catnip tea is a mild sedative safe enough for children to drink. Calms them down and helps them sleep. Much like chamomile tea. In the cold winter months drink catnip tea as hot as you can tolerate it to help break up and clear chest congestion. Tastes pretty good, especially with a bit of honey added to it. We save the really "good stuff" for our own consumption as tea.


Jessie ~ my precious baby

My Jessie loves her scratching post, especially after I rub it down with dried catnip! Thank you Bob for the great herb stash. My own catnip crop was rather slim this year.

© Copyright 2008 Mountain Harvest Basket

5 comments:

Hardware Bob said...

I am glad that the kitties enjoyed my shared stash.

There's more drying catnip almost ready for processing. It's really good stuff to.

CaliforniaGrammy said...

What a cool guy your "hardware bob" is. I'm sure your kitties love Uncle Bob too!

Urban Hayseed said...

Hiya Jen,

I'd love to score a dime bag of that stuff for my old kat. Actually, your post reminded me that I discovered a catnip plant growing out in the yard. I'll have to go see if I can find it.

Anyway, thanks for visiting. Nice to have new people show up sometimes!

Rian

Danni said...

Ha ha ha, that blurry top photo kind of looks like you'd been smoking *something* prior to your picture taking session. :-)
That was awful nice of HW Bob to give you his good stuff - you must be one of his favorites. :-)
Love the bottom photo - I remember that intense catnip-look that my kitty used to get from that stuff. Very cute.

Farmer Jen said...

Hi Bob,
Yes, thanks again for the catnip stash!

Hi CA Grammy,
He's cool. The kitties love him. Not so sure about calling him "uncle" though.

Hi Rian,
Thank you for visiting my blog and commenting. I like "meeting" new visitors too. I enjoy your blog and especially your wit!

Hi Danni,
No, I have never smoked anything legal or illegal. I did try to smoke a cigarette once just to see what all the fuss was about. I only did that once. My chest hurt for 2 hours after I did that. Never again. (My Mom smoked cigarettes when I was a kid, so that turned me off of all smoking.)I drink wine instead.

I love all of my photos of my sweet Jessie cat. She is my baby, my confidant and best friend. Thank you for the compliment. They do love their catnip. The homegrown organic kind, of course.