Growing Catnip with Cats

Catnip is a fun plant to grow indoors or out, and isn’t just for the cats. It’s actually an herb in the mint family and can be made into a tea. Catnip can also be a sleep aid for younger children, while providing relief from menstrual cramps in women and teens.

Growing catnip from seed, for whatever purpose, isn’t too terribly hard, but does have some challenges. Germination is low and can take near a month, so it’s usually better to start with a propagated plant. Personally, I like a challenge, so I purchased Organic Catnip Herb Seeds from Ohio Heirloom Seeds on Amazon.

After several sprouts germinated and I had gotten past the hardest part of growing catnip, I ran into another challenge: My cats. Obviously this was not a plant I could have in areas the cats could reach or even smell, which isn’t really anywhere in the house. My only option was upstairs on a high shelf, behind a closed door, where the cats only go when supervised. It really was the only option, sad to say, as anywhere else the cats will destroy it or destroy half the house trying.

Catnip in a shallow container.

While there have been a few accidents when a cat found the magic plant and chowed what he could before getting caught, the two containers we planted last winter are still thriving. They get trimmed about once a month for tea, with the cats getting stems and occasional leaves here and there. We’ve also dried some catnip in case these plants meet and untimely demise.

If you have a proper location and patience, starting catnip from seed can be a fun experience and great reward.

Slow Growing Roman Chamomile

In the fall, I start to realize that summer is fleeting and I will soon be forced out of my garden and back inside. In order to fend off the winter blues, I decided to seek out container-friendly plants last fall that wouldn’t get too big, as we already had some large veggies planned for inside.

We purchased Organic Roman Chamomile Seeds from Amazon, from a seller I’ve had good experiences with before. The seeds were planted in a recycled plastic container in potting soil (my first choice is regular dirt, but since it was accidentally acquired, I had to use it). We did nothing real special with the seeds, just put the container under plant lights (full spectrum daylight bulbs, not partial spectrum plant bulbs).

Starting some herbs from seed poses a special challenge: patience. Unlike purchasing a plant, there is a maturity period from some seeds that discourage gardeners or would-be home herbalists. Indoor container gardening can somewhat slow down the process as well, since fluorescent can’t quite compete with the power of real sun.

Roman Chamomile from seed, about 4 months old.

So even though the seeds were planted at the beginning of February, it’s taken nearly 4 months to grow to an almost flowering point. Might it have been faster outside? Maybe, maybe not. Regardless, I would have not have gotten to watch it grow from seed in the middle of winter had I not started it inside.

I feel like the chamomile will be blooming any day now, as I can catch small whiffs of it’s sweet apple scent. I’ll also be looking to purchase more seeds from The Dirty Gardener since these germinated so nicely. Past the point of germination, though, it’s on me to maintain.

Happy gardening!

My Favorite Kitchen Herb: Purple Basil

It occurred to me one spring day, as I trimmed the remaining basil leaves off the dying plants, that I had been plucking from it for a full year. A year! As a Midwest gardener, an entire year’s growing season is unheard of, unless we are talking about pine trees or growing indoors. In this case, it was grown indoors.

Basil from seed

We started with Purple Basil Seeds. I have a habit of letting all new seeds fully produce and bloom, mostly so I can watch the process and hope I can collect the seeds. Basil flowers fairly quickly, but if trimmed properly, can keep blooming and producing leaves for a long time (be sure not to cut too short, though, as it may not grow back).

Basil flower

After replanting them from the first round of blooming and self-pollinated seeds, we ended up with all green. While the purple was a fun novelty item, I’m much more interested in it’s ability to reseed (which we accomplished, just minus the purple). Now I could get another package of seeds, pulling every green basil that comes up to ensure it stays purple, but like I mentioned, we’re more interested in the herb and not the novelty.

Growing basil is quiet simple. The seeds just need a light dusting of dirt over top of them, and a sunny place to germinate. I have found that keeping them under grow lights produces bigger leaves than in a semi-sunny kitchen window sill. However, the window sill plant still produces a ton of leaves, blooms, and reseeds with little effort. In fact, our last reseeding was done merely by shaking seeds of a few plants in a pot into another pot with very little top soil added.

Not the prettiest basil anymore, this guy is well over a year old.

Basil can be used in all kinds of dishes, and is one of my favorite pairings with tomatoes. Another interesting use of basic is for sore muscles. You’ll find all kinds of stores selling essential oils, but it is much more cost effective to just make your own. Personally I like to use the basil leaves right off the plant to ease sore muscles. I have seen that Holy Basil (ocimum sanctum) works best for medicinal purposes, although my personal successful experience has only been with the “regular” variety (ocimum basilicum).

If you are interested in growing basil, I recommend checking out Purple Petra Basil Seeds by Botanical Interests or a Organic Basil Seeds Blend. There are so many varieties of basil, I encourage you to read about each type before growing your own.

 

A Challenge: Container Strawberries

I’ve always thought growing strawberries was difficult. Now that I’ve started some from seed, my opinion hasn’t changed. These little buggers actually require a bit more attention than your average plant. The reward, on the other hand, can be quite delicious.

Over the winter, I spent a lot of time gathering up seeds on Amazon, trying different sellers and brands to see what grew the best. I also wanted to make sure I was constantly improving my family’s diet by offering healthy snacks I’d know they would eat. Strawberries was at the top of my family’s want list and mine too, so we gave it a shot.

I had already been successful with the cat grass from Renee’s Garden, so I ordered a pack of Alpine Mignonette Strawberries. We planted them in a medium sized clay pot in regular dirt, placing it upstairs under florescent lights. I am happy with the choice and the unique aspect of being a container hybrid, yet it was a little difficult in the beginning getting them to grow properly with not all that much troubleshooting information available.

My biggest issue was not the germination, even though it does take nearly a month for the strawberries to sprout. Just about every seed sprouted… and then immediately died. After reading the articles and information Renee’s Garden a few times over, I realized I couldn’t ignore the “fertilize every 2 weeks” instruction as I usually do. Being an organic gardener, I use NOTHING inorganic or synthetic in my plants (and I’m pretty strict about it, too). But this time I knew I’d have to at least use organic compost, so I used it as directed on the two remaining plants still alive.

Alpine Mignonette Strawberries, 6 months old from seed

Six months after planting the seed, these little beauties are still a ways away from producing fruit. However, it’s alive and growing. That’s the most important part, right? There are actually two of them, although they look to be growing harmoniously in the pot. There have been some struggles and it is a bit difficult to properly water (or not water), but it’s still going. This plant is a HUGE attention seeker. I love it!

I plan to leave our original plant inside, but I’ll probably plant more seeds later in the summer to transplant next spring. Since they are small, I’m sure we’ll find a nice border for them somewhere in the backyard.

Indoor Gardening With Cats: Growing Cat Grass

Not many gardeners talk about cats in regards to pets, but instead neighborhood pests. While I never wrapped my brain around why a cat in a yard was bad (I could use about 10 as the rabbits are overpopulated), I do know the struggle of keeping them out of indoor plants.

I have found that the easiest way to keep cats away from your container plants is to give them plants they can eat. Mainly, cat grass. While you can try to grow catnip (or sometimes called cat mint) as a deterrent, know they will destroy any bit of catnip you might try to grow without fail. Instead, plant catnip out of a cat’s area (preferably in a room they don’t enter) and cat grass as your “bait” for other edible household plants such as herbs and peppers.

Before we planted cat grass, my beautiful calico was doing not so beautiful things to my green peppers. It was quite the horrifying experience to see my very first green pepper – in the middle of November – almost meet it’s demise before it was fully grown. The branch had to be taped, but luckily it survived.

Serenity with her prey (my green pepper plant) in the background.

It was then we put up the “cat grass wall” with cat grass seeds from Renee’s Garden. It isn’t really the ”wall” we had hoped for, but does the trick. Basically they are more interested in the cat grass than they are my other plants, which is exactly what I wanted. Now me and the cats are both happy.

Just a few blades of cat grass in a simple pot with dirt.

It’s a bit of a mystery as to why the cats are attracted to the grass in the first place, but in all our research there has never been any indications as to it being a bad thing. In fact, it would be a bad thing if they ate anything other than their grass and/or catnip, as it may be toxic. Morning glories, for example, will give them a stomach ache and the seeds will cause them to hallucinate (we’ve seen it happen and it wasn’t pretty).

Warning: Do not intentionally plant poison plants within reach of your cats, as the cat grass is not guaranteed to keep your cats out of the toxic plants.

For more than 6 months we have been intermittently planting cat grass. I’ve noticed only small amounts need to be planted at a time, as the grass will eventually turn brown and begin to turn to seed. They become disinterested when it gets to this stage and turn their attention back to your plants. Luckily, cat grass does not take long to grow (in about a week you start to see little sprouts, and another week it is snack-able). Plant a few seeds in a container, and more as needed every few weeks.

Sprinkle seeds, push in, water. Repeat every few weeks.

 

The only seeds we’ve tried so far were the ones from Renee’s Garden, but I don’t think we’ll be switching to another brand any time soon. The seeds grow without fail, in any light and dirt, and even do just fine if one of the cats knocks it over. Also, I know these seeds are specifically for cats and not someone’s chemical lawn.

Do you have a special trick for keeping the cats out of your indoor garden? I’d love to hear it!