Homegrown Catnip

Dear Liza,

We don’t really have a garden where we live. That’s why I love having our plot in the allotment. But we do have one sunny window.

And in that sunny window, a few months ago, we put a tiny catnip plant from the Portland Nursery. As winter faded and spring shone, it grew and grew, until it got tall enough that we needed to give it a trim.

So we trimmed it and got it ready for our kitty, Mouse. I cut the leaves off the stems and put them on some paper towels laid out on a cookie sheet.


This is where it got tricky, because I wanted to dehydrate the leaves but not cook them. I set the oven at its lowest, which is 170 degrees, and as soon as it got to that temperature, I turned it off for half an hour. I did this a few times, coasting the temperature up and down.

When the leaves were nice and crispy, I knew they were done. I put a spoonful into a little stuffed toy I had made for Mouse a while back. She loved it! She pounced and kicked and then got totally blissed out and fell asleep on Grandpa Nelson.

I let the rest cool down and put it into an old spice jar to save for later.

It’s nice to be able to grow something fun for Mouse for just about free.

Love,

Grandma Judy