How to Dry Catnip

Shirley Honey volunteers to quality check the latest fresh catnip batch. (Charlotte Ekker Wiggins phtoto)

How to Dry Catnip

It seems early to think about Christmas but if you make gifts for cats, this is the time to get that homegrown catnip dried.

Catnip is a perennial herb that, when dried, most cats love. Catnip also makes a nice winter tea.

To pick the catnip at the best time, you want it before it starts generating flowers, that’s when the catnip will be strongest.

It’s time to dry catnip for winter tea and handmade cat gifts. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

You can dry just the catnip leaves or leave the stems on to dry.

I also leave a separate patch of catnip to flower since bees love it. See the tiny flower heads on the top?

Cut catnip before it blooms to retain its strongest flavor. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

How to Dry Catnip

Cut the catnip stalks about 4 inches from the bottom. Catnip stalks, like most mints, will have square hollow stalks.

Carefully remove leaves. Only use leaves from plants that haven’t been treated with pesticides or other chemicals.

Place catnip leaves in an open weave basket lined with a paper towel or a cotton napkin. You want a container where air can travel through it. Glass and porcelain containers retain moisture.

If you have saved those little silica gel packets that come with shoes and other items, this is the time to use them. Tuck them under the paper towel to help speed up the catnip drying process.

Silica gel packets will help speed up the catnip-drying time. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

You want the catnip leaves sitting on top of the paper towels. The paper towels will help absorb moisture as the leaves dry out.

Place the basket in a warm spot. I place my drying baskets on top of my refrigerator.

Turn them every day or so until they are dry.

You can wait to remove plant stalks until after they are dry. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

If you use cotton napkins, those also make good reusable drying surfaces for catnip.

You can also dry catnip on cloth napkins placed over silica gel packs. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

Once dry, you can easily remove the dried stalks.

Store in an airtight container for later use.

I also sprinkle cat toy storage containers with the freshly dried catnip to refresh catnip toys.

And those catnip-infused baskets?

I let my cats enjoy playing in them, that helps me to ensure the quality of the dried catnip.

Boo Boo Bartholomew, left, trying to curl up in a small catnip-infused basket. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

You can also buy dried catnip for homemade toys. Over the years, though, friends and family have told me their cats didn’t like catnip until they tried my toys. I am convinced it is because my toys are made with homegrown fresh catnip.

Christmas is only three months away!

Charlotte

Dry Catnip

It’s time to dry catnip for winter tea and handmade cat gifts. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

Dry Catnip

It seems early to think about Christmas but if you make gifts for cats, this is the time to get that homegrown catnip dried.

Catnip is a perennial herb that, when dried, most cats love. Catnip also makes a nice winter tea.

To pick the catnip at the best time, you want it before it starts generating flowers, that’s when the catnip will be strongest. That’s about this time of year where I live in USDA Hardiness zone 5.

I also leave a separate patch of catnip to flower since bees love it. See the tiny flower heads on the top?

Cut catnip before it blooms to retain its strongest flavor. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

How to Dry Catnip

Cut the catnip stalks about 4 inches from the bottom. Catnip stalks, like most mints, will have square hollow stalks.

Carefully remove leaves. Only use leaves from plants that haven’t been treated with pesticides or other chemicals.

Place catnip leaves in an open weave basket lined with a paper towel or a cotton napkin. You want a container where air can travel through it. Glass and porcelain containers retain moisture.

If you have saved those little silica gel packets that come with shoes and other items, this is the time to use them. Tuck them under the paper towel to help speed up the catnip drying process.

Silica gel packets will help speed up the catnip-drying time. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

You want the catnip leaves sitting on top of the paper towels. The paper towels will help absorb moisture as the leaves dry out.

Place the basket in a warm spot. I place my drying baskets on top of my refrigerator.

Turn them every day or so until they are dry.

You can wait to remove plant stalks until after they are dry. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

If you use cotton napkins, those also make good reusable drying surfaces for catnip.

You can also dry catnip on cloth napkins placed over silica gel packs. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

Once dry, you can easily remove the dried stalks. Store in an airtight container for later use. I also sprinkle cat toy storage containers with the freshly dried catnip to refresh catnip toys.

And those catnip-infused baskets?

I let my cats enjoy playing in them, that helps me to ensure the quality of the dried catnip.

Boo Boo Bartholomew, left, trying to curl up in a small catnip-infused basket. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

You can also buy dried catnip for homemade toys. Over the years, though, friends and family have told me their cats didn’t like catnip until they tried my toys. I am convinced it is because my toys are made with homegrown fresh catnip.

Christmas is only six months away!

Charlotte

Dry Catnip

Baskets to capture the refrigerator heat are an excellent option to dry herbs. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

Dry Catnip

I have been drying catnip for my cats, and for cat gifts, for as long as I can remember. Fresh dried catnip is much stronger, and more appreciated, than anything you can buy in the store. Although some cats do not respond to the enticement of catnip, all of my cats, and those of my family, have had a run of the sillies when enjoying homemade catnip toys.

The catnip I grow is a perennial so it comes up every year. I also don’t use chemicals in my garden so I know when I harvest it to dry, it will be safe for kitty consumption. My cats actually enjoy both fresh catnip during the growing season as well as the dried option.

To dry catnip, break up the stalks into sizes that will fit your drying baskets and make sure they are free of unwanted hitch hiking bugs. The baskets are nothing fancy, I found these baskets at a thrift store. I picked something I enjoy looking at because I dry the catnip on the top of my refrigerator, where the refrigerator heat helps to speed up the process.

It also keeps the catnip away from wondering paws.

I also save those silica gel packets that come in shoes and other shipments and use them in the baskets under either paper towels or cotton napkins. You can keep re-using the packs to help dry out a variety of herbs including catnip.

Save those silica gel packets to place under paper towels. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

If you don’t have silica gel packs, not a problem. You can place the catnip on cotton napkins, which will help wick away moisture.

Fabric napkins can also help dry out herbs such as catnip. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

Once dry, you can store the herb in containers for use later. I label mine so I know when I placed the dried catnip in the containers; the fresher the herb-drying the better.

On a cold winter’s night, I bring out the drying baskets to let my resident experts sample the goods.

Catnip customers enjoying a supply during a cold winter night. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

To refresh old cat toys, you can also store the toys in a container with freshly-dried catnip for a couple of days. That will easily re-invigorate the toys.

I also use dry catnip to make yearly toys for our families cats including a couple of resident ones.

i would say we have at least one happy customer, wouldn’t you?

Charlotte