Catnip, Not Just for Cats

Catnip, Not Just for Cats
By S. Marie Carlson

From The Essential Herbal Magazine, Jul/Aug 2019

I live on the edge of the Northwoods of Wisconsin, where our winters freeze you to the bone and our springs flood; the summers are hot & humid with mosquitos bigger than the birds, and the autumn brings tears to your eyes and a rich fullness to your heart with gorgeous rainbow colored foliage. It is peak summer right now, so those of us who make herbal products are in over our heads with the bounteous harvests waiting to be tinctured, infused, dried, cured and made into fabulous concoctions to better our health.

The land I inhabit is lush with allies like nettle, dandelion, cleavers, plantain, burdock, sumac, and motherwort, to name just a few, and they are all at a climax in their growth right now before they begin to die back and focus their energy to their roots for the cold winter ahead.

Today, I would like to share with you an ally that is often underutilized and perhaps a hidden treasure in your backyard. This ally is catnip (Nepeta cataria), she has been a part of my herbal journey for quite some time now, and I hope you will learn something about her and find her as useful as I have.

Catnip, known for causing a reaction that drives our feline friends crazy, is a member of the mint family and has been used for hundreds of years to help calm those with anxious nerves, ease indigestion, stomach aches, and diarrhea and combat nighttime restlessness and even hyperactivity.  She is safe for children and is an excellent remedy for colic, sore throats, teething and more. Matthew Wood, in his book The Earthwise Herbal, remarks that catnip has been used to treat external skin conditions such as "hives, measles, fever, acne, and scarlatina; brings rashes to the surface." Some consider her to be an emmenagogue (brings on menstruation) so it is best not to use her during pregnancy if this is worrisome to you. Topical use shouldn’t be a problem, but ask your health care provider and do your own research to make the right decision for you.

Native to Europe, catnip is a perennial that grows pretty much anywhere she feels like setting down roots. She can grow in a rocky cliff in very little poor soil, along old farm buildings or in the most enriched compost available. She loves the sun, and can often be found on the southward side of a hill or building or in any spot that gets more than six hours of sun. That said, catnip also occasionally can be found in places with spotty light and damp conditions.  

To prepare catnip for tincture, teas, and oil infusions, I believe that it is best to harvest her fresh when in full bloom and peak potency for a strong tincture. If you are looking for a milder tincture, collect only the leaves before blooming. I have tried both versions of the tincture, and I have noticed better results on severe anxiety attacks with a fresh bloom tincture. My anxiety settles in my gut and tends to make me head to the bathroom when I have an acute attack. Catnip calms my nerves and takes the flight or fight response away. Often, after a dose or two of tincture sublingually (under the tongue), my bowels will be calmed, and a rush to the bathroom isn’t as imminent.

Oil infusions require most herbs including catnip to be dry or very well wilted as any water can increase the risk of rancidity and spoilage. If you ever find mold, it is best to compost.

Catnip is said to lose much of its volatile oil content upon drying, especially if dried with heat. Susun Weed stated on the Susun Weed Show episode titled "Marvelous Mints: Catnip" that 80% of the volatile oils are lost when a dehydrator with heat is used to dry catnip. If catnip were air dried by hanging in bunches this ally would still lose up to 30%. Curing the herb has not been tested, but I would assume it would be similar to the results of hang drying, but I could be wrong.   

Speaking of that volatile oil, a combination of catnip and yarrow (Achillea millefolium) used topically either as a tincture or essential oil blend sprayed on the body has been tested to be better than DEET when it comes to insect repellant. (Please note: It takes many pounds to create a single drop of essential oil, please be mindful of their use.)

Bug repellent is easy to make. Just fill a jar to the top with equal parts fresh catnip bloom and the aerial parts of yarrow then fill with either 80 or 100 proof vodka and let sit 4-12 weeks depending on the strength of your vodka. After the herbs have infused, strain and filter into a spray bottle. It is suggested to spray every 20-30 minutes for the best repellant action, but I only use it as needed.

I hope this gives you a little enticement to explore the world of catnip and all her uses. If she is not already growing in your garden, maybe you can find a place for her and if nothing else provide an additional food source for our essential pollinators. Honeybees love catnip! 

Remember to get out in nature every day and let this land heal you!

July/August '26 - The Essential Herbal Magazine

 Things are heating up and herbs are growing.
Lots of things to do and learn - and we can help! 

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Crossword Puzzle
Hot Fun in the Summertime!
Field Notes from the Editor, Tina Sams  
Is “getting caught up” a real thing, or a human illusion?
Late Bloomers-Herbs that Shine at Summer’s End, Marcy Lautanen-Raleigh
Just when the bright blooms start to fade, here come the late stars.
Soon We’ll Be Drying & Blending, Barbara Steele
Tips for perfect drying and some great herb blends
Anise Hyssop, Jackie Johnson, BS ND  
Although I’ve grown this plant for years, I learned new things!
Cooling Herbs for Hot Sticky Days, Amy Jeanroy  
Some lovely refrigerant herbs with instructions for ways to enjoy them.
The Many Uses of Mulberry, Kristine Brown, RH(AHG)  
This unassuming wayside tree gives us an abundance of berries and there’s lots to learn about them. 
Word Find 
Midsummer at TEH
Perennial Gardens for Food & Medicine, Tina Sams  
Plants that can stand, or even prefer, a preoccupied gardener but still provide us with food or medicine
Fairies in the Garden, Susanna Reppert Brill  
When lore of the fae collides with 21^st Century humor
Black Raspberry Muffins, Kathy Musser  
Simply delicious!  Almost any berry can be substituted.
Squash the Extra, Alicia Allen  
7 spectacular recipes that feature Zucchini as a star! 
Beyond the Hero Herb, The Art of Herbal Synergy, Kendra Bean  
We don’t always need to depend on a particular herb.   There are many options!
Meet Our Contributors  
Learn a little about our wonderful writers.
Puzzle Solutions 

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May/June '26 TEH EXTRA

 Another EXTRA went out right on time.  

 I think a new 2 year compilation will be coming together soon.  And then we'll start on the next one...
We put a good amount of work into the Extras, but since they are exclusive subscriber content, it is a good thing to pull them out a few years later as a nice combination.

In this issue, we started a series looking at wild plant foods one at a time, thinking about what they each have to offer and how they can become an important new source of nutrition for you and your family.  We started with Jerusalem Artichokes.  

Next we wrote about our summer of wild creativity that resulted in "Road Apple Soaps" and how they were received.  

Of course the word puzzles were included as well.  

To get Extras, you need to be a subscriber.  
Visit EssentialHerbal.com for more info! 

A Difficult Time for Small Businesses

Screaming into the void.

Things are changing, and not in a good way.
 
A very bad and honestly crippling way has to do with the newer restrictions from search engines.  This doesn't benefit the reader OR the creator.  Only the billionaires who control the information.  All of our good intentions (and in fairness, marketing efforts) have been swallowed up by the tech companies, and will be resold to us. In the meantime, their massive data centers will suck up the electricity, foul the air, and destroy fresh water for an eternity.

For over 20 years I've posted on this blog, sharing information, feelings, and observations.  At one time, you could educate yourself about anything online.  Enter it into the search bar and up will come hundreds of blogs and websites offering the information/recipe freely.  From there, it was up to the reader to ascertain what information was reliable, and what other methods of information gathering would be beneficial.

Now, the search default is "AI mode" which will obscure all original sources of information, giving only the AI generated conglomeration of words that have been compiled without the aid of a human being.   We are out of the equation.  Some of us remember fighting for net neutrality in the last decade.  The joke's on us because there was never any intention of allowing us to have any say over our own work.

It took centuries for the Library of Alexandria in Egypt to be destroyed, eventually burned to rubble.

  

The vast and valuable repository of information that is the internet has been destroyed and made inaccessible in just the blink of an eye.

I won't stop, although my sharing of information has been cut back pretty much.  This old dog isn't going to try to learn new tricks.  Game, set, match.

A second real problem has to do with shipping.  
The other day I was reading comments on a product advertised on Facebook.  One comment talked about how high the shipping was, and how the company was using shipping to make money.  
They couldn't be more wrong.
This morning I shipped two packages and lost about $3 on each of them.  I can't bring myself to increase the shipping (yet), and the prices of the articles are fair, and it feels wrong to increase them to try to recoup some of the losses.
And this has been the problem for years.  All of the prices go up, and the small business is squeezed between the big businesses and the customer.  This was one of the biggest reasons my sister closed her soap company.  Every single ingredient has increased, some by as much as 600%, yet the price of a bar of soap can't go to $30.  In fact, we first sold soap for $2 a bar in 1993, and in the end, over 30 years later, it was $5.50 a bar with the margin getting smaller and smaller.  
Amazon trained people to expect free shipping.  Now they don't give it unless you're Prime, but the mindset has already been put into play.

I just want people to know that we aren't using shipping as a profit stream.  We aren't gouging.  Go onto USPS and look up some prices.  You'll be shocked.  Most of us are eating some of the shipping while using the least expensive options we can find.   

Small businesses really are here to share the things they love.  I can't speak for everyone, but the business owners I know are not ever expecting to purchase a yacht.  Maybe braces for the kid, or a new car in 5 or 10 years, but never rich.  I wish people knew how hard we try to make it work for everyone involved. 

A Sweet Gift!

 A couple of weeks ago, my friend Jamie Jackson of Missouri Herbs was attending the Flower Festival at Baker Creek Seeds and shared some pictures of some of the wares of the vendors around her.  
Her friend Dez Dino, who is also the founder and editor of The Ozark Agrarian News had a table full of gorgeous pottery that made me literally gasp.  
If you've been following along for any length of time, you know I spend an inordinate amount of time finding different ways to make plant prints on fabric and paper, so this pottery was speaking to me... and let's face it, another independent magazine publisher is dear to my heart as well...

I commented on Jamie's photo, and before I knew it, there was a box on my porch filled with beauty.

Now I think I need to have a gathering when it warms up a little bit, so these plates can show off!

It's a funny thing.  A handful of years ago, one of my daughter's friends was sitting in the living room with me, looking around at the different art on the walls and shelves.  As I started explaining them to him, I suddenly realized that most of them were made or given by friends and that made them all the more special.  

Now that the years are starting to pile up, there are more things going out the door as donations than there are coming in.  Now I want to be surrounded by things that are made by hand with care.  My sister's house is the same way.  We have come to shun the mass produced stuff.  

It's nice to have a lot of creative friends!  
Be sure to check out the Facial Bliss Face Butter at Jamie's site, and if handmade, hand forged garden tools are more your thing, check out her husband Will's site Homestead Iron!

May/June 2026 Essential Herbal Magazine

The newest issue is out, and it is filled to the brim!

I always love this issue because we're all excited to get into the next growing season.  We have plans and dreams of medicines, meals, and gardens that were floating in our heads over the winter.  Tiny plants are sprouting and bravely taking on the unpredictable weather of spring.  That excitement turns into wonderful submissions of articles.

Check out the Table of Contents below!

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Crossword Puzzle 
Here Comes the Sun – where the mind wanders in early summer.

Field Notes from the Editor, Tina Sams 
Doin’s on the farm, and what’s happening with the magazine, books, and AI.

About the Cover
How does your garden grow?  Ours does what it wants.

Calendula, First Choice for Wound Healing, Susan Hess
Learn Calendula’s talent, especially with burns,  and how to make tea, compress, powder and salve.

Excerpt on Garlic Mustard from his new book, Brandon Ruiz
Garlic Mustard identification, usage, and interesting information so you can forage without dying.

Building a Pantry Garden Apothecary, Amy Jeanroy
Growing food and medicine side by side without over-thinking it!

Growing Herbs for Summer Success, Marcy Lautanen-Raleigh
You’ll find tons of ideas for creating and enjoying the bounty from the summer garden.

Word Search
Taken from the contents of the magazine

Excerpt, The Nature Embedded Mind, Julie Brams
A Tea Ceremony post Forest Immersion is described.  What plants might we find to incorporate?

Marvelous Mugwort, Kristine Brown RH(AHG)
Appreciating mugwort, handy while I’m trying to reclaim a garden.  There’s a poem, salve and oil to make in addition to the full offerings of mugwort.

Researching Flower Essences, David Dalton
How do we find the benefit and value of a particular flower essence after we’ve made or acquired it?

South of the Border Herbs, Barbara Steele
Tender perennials for the herb garden.

Untangling the Cosmos, Todd Eliot
“Could there be more to our world than meets the eye?”  How will we learn to adapt to a changing world?|

Much Ado About Ginger, Alicia Allen
Alicia was loose in the kitchen with a big batch of fresh ginger, and we get to enjoy the recipes!

Jasmine Lavender Lemonade Tea Punch, Maia Wisher-Warren
A bright and delicious cup of tea to welcome the day!

Meet Our Contributors
Puzzle Answers

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EXTRA - Essential Herbal Mar/Apr 2026

 The EXTRA is full of good stuff, even though we are trying to pull back.  It's not working out so well yet!  I'm beginning to think we won't be able to do it!
The thing about the Extra is that it is only available to subscribers.  It will disappear (until we do a compilation) and be unavailable if you aren't a subscriber 

 
In this issue, of course we had the regular herbal word puzzles - word search and crossword.

From Robert Dale Rogers, the author of the new book "Moss Medicine" we had an article entitled, Evolving From the Ancients.

Marci Lautanen Raleigh sent some Simple Spring Awakening Tea Blends that followed up her article from the main Mar/Apr magazine. 

I wrote all about violets and the article included recipes and instructions for candied violets, syrup, and violet leaf salve.

Maryanne puts almost as much effort into the Extra as she does the regular magazine.  She makes sure it is attractive and easy to read.  

The Extra is exclusive content that we've come to love, as do our subscribers! 

 

Essential Herbal Magazine - March/April 2026

It was a surprise to notice that the Mar/Apr issue hadn't been posted.  NOR the Extra!  Not sure where I've been.  Better late than never, though.  This was a particularly informative issue, and since we're in the middle of working on May/June right now, I can tell you that it will also be amazing!

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Crossword, Waiting for Spring  
Field Notes from the Editor 
About the Cover – Violets  

Some Plants and Their Pollinators, Barbara Steele
Suggestions for adding life to your garden.  

Back in Time, Alicia Foster Allen 
Updating some good 70’s recipes with herbs! (no aspic!)

When the Carrier Becomes the Medicine, Plant Oils and Butters as Herbal Allies, Connie Byers 
Choosing carrier oils and butters with intention.

Herbal Allies for a Hard-Hitting Flu Season, Amy Jeanroy 
Herbs that will make a difference, with teas and honey to try.

Herbal Helpers for These Days, Tina Sams
We are living in some overwhelming times, but herbs are good allies.

The Healthier Herbal Charcuterie Board, Jackie Johnson ND 
No need to give anything up.  Herbs make everything better.

Word Find, Random Herbal Stuff

Ask The Aromatherapist – Chemistry, Janet Gutierrez MS   
What is it that makes each essential oil different, and have the properties they have?

Spring Awakening: Herbal Ways to Gently Step Into the Light, Marcy Lautanen-Raleigh   
Spring awakening isn’t a checklist. It’s a conversation between you and the season.

Nettles! Gathering, Preserving, and Sharing, Lily Arati Michaud    
Learn about nettles, and make some delicious soup.

Splendid Speedwell, Kristine Brown, RH (AHG) 
We’ve been walking over this sweet herb, time to learn about little Veronica.

Meet Our Contributors
Puzzle Answers 

SINGLE ISSUE 

 

 

Wild Salad in Spring

 At this time of year especially, I try to take advantage of the nutritious foods growing freely in the area around my house.  This can include the yard, fields, woods, or even the trees across the road in my neighbor's yard.

 When my sister an I first started working with herbs, we went to an herbal potluck.  A salad filled with violets and pansies stole the show for us, and it started me on my way.  That fall I found Billy Joe Tatum's wild food cookbook - and foraging became a part of life.  Maryanne isn't as keen on wild plant foods as I am, but she tries some of them.

Today I took the mail out to the mailbox, and got a handful of redbuds from the tree nearby.  Then I swerved over for some violets, a grape hyacinth spike, and a dandelion.  Although I had a "normal" salad all mixed up in the fridge, there were still lots of wild greens waiting.   

Then there were the 2 spears of asparagus that broke ground over the weekend, and they deserved to be celebrated in just such a beautiful salad.  Nearby a bunch of wild onions grew along with small dandelion leaves.  There are also some small horseradish leaves up, and they are delicious, but they were left behind for something requiring that heat.  Raspberry leaves called to be included.

I added some chicken (use your protein of choice) and made it a complete meal. 

If there was no salad waiting for embellishment inside, other greens could easily have been added.  More chickweed, garlic mustard, and dandy leaves for starters, and then things like wild mustard, dead nettle, and plantain - among many others.  Depending on where you live, there are other good greens to try.  We don't have miner's lettuce here, but I'd love to try it, and as the summer rolls in there will be others.  In fall, we can add some roots, too.

Give it a try.  Just one or two at a time will give you the idea!