Wonderful Weeds: Catnip
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As we continue our journey through some garden weeds, let’s look at catnip. Don’t tell Dora Kitty, but in Colorado catnip is an adventive European weed, introduced by settlers, who used it as food and medicine. Known as Nepeta cataria L, catnip is a member of the mint family. You can recognize mints by their square stems, opposite leaves and aromatic qualities. Like all the mints, catnip can become invasive and is best planted in a container—not that we’ve ever needed to plant any, because it just pops up as a weed. Its close relative, catmint, Nepeta mussinii, also pops up in our garden. It doesn’t have the same attractiveness for cats but is more ornamental and is beloved by bees.
We tend to let our catnip plants grow freely unless they’re really in the way. Dora Kitty loves catnip, she rolls around in it, plays with the plant and generally has a good time. However, not all cats are catnip responders. About a third of cats lack the gene to respond to catnip. The nepetalactones catnip produces for its own protection cause euphoria in cats that are catnip responders, while having a sedative effect on babies and children.
Also, catnip is a good companion plant, because its nepetalactones repel pests such as flea beetles and Japanese beetles, a good reason to have some around even if you don’t have a cat. I’m thinking of spraying the roses with catnip tea this year when the Japanese beetles arrive.
Nowadays, we don’t tend to use catnip as a food, although you could try catnip pesto and see if you like it. You can also use some of the tender leaves in a garden forage salad.
Like many mints, catnip is a cooling pungent, possessed of bitter and pungent tastes and cooling energy. It is sedative, digestive, carminative and analgaesic, making catnip tea a wonderful remedy for a child with a belly ache or teething pain. It can also bring down a fever. A great nervine, catnip can be used for insomnia, nervous tension, restlessness and headache. It is also used as an emmenogue. In addition to taking it internally as a tea, you can also relax in a catnip bath, or use it as a hair rinse or eyewash.
As with all your herbs, trim the flowers back to keep a supply of leaves to use fresh or dried.
Alakananda Ma M.B., B.S. (Lond.) is an Ayurvedic Doctor (NAMA) and graduate of a top London medical school. She is co-founder of Alandi Ayurveda Clinic and Alandi Ayurveda Gurukula in Boulder Colorado, as well as a spiritual mother, teacher, flower essence maker and storyteller. Alakananda is a well known and highly respected practitioner in the Ayurveda community both nationally and internationally.
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