It can be brewed into a tea that has some health benefits like reduces chronic anxiety and strengthen the immune system.

Knowing how to use catnip means you can put this plentiful herb to good use for both you and your feline friends.

Catnip, also known as catmint, is a member of the mint family and has long been used in cooking and as an herbal tea. Although its use has diminished in recent history, catnip is still used in Italy in salads, soups, egg dishes, and stuffings for vegtables.

Leave one seedling to grow per plant pod and these will sprout within 7-14 days and will be ready to harvest in 5-12 weeks. catnip grows best at temperatures of 17°-30°.

For tea: Single leaves or stems can be harvested as soon as the plant reaches a height of 20 cm.
For best flavor, harvest in the morning after the dew has dried. Use fresh or dried; for best results, dry in an oven or dehydrator. Keep dried leaves in an airtight container

Water catnip just as the soil dries out. Catnip can tolerate dry soil.

• Care: Cut catnip back to 100 to 150 mm above the ground after flowering; it will grow back within a couple of weeks and begin a new flowering cycle. Plants can become scraggly if not trimmed back.
• Pruning: Cut catnip back to the ground in spring to improve its growth and appearance.
• Cats ignore catnip unless the leaves are crushed. Once the leaves are bruised or crushed and the essential oils exposed to the air, cats will roll on catnip plants. Keep catnip safe from cats by enclosing plants in a sturdy chicken-wire cage until well established.
• Catnip spreads by underground roots; keep roots and plants by surrounding the roots with metal edging.