Catnip.

[MsPony]

I love the smell. I work at a pet store, and I seriously always take the chance to go smell the catnip. So now that you know I am a freak, is it beneficial to humans? Do you drink it? Just smell it? What can I do with is?

Btw, for anyone that doesnt grow their own, I am definentely a Karen Johnson and Yeow! snob. My cats get it for presents, because I think they are the strongest/best smelling

 

[FarmerDenise]

Catnip is a nice calming tea. It is part of the mint family.

 

[Blackbird]

Yup, a good calming herb, good for insomnia, colds, and it's good for preventing gas and bloat.

 

[miss_thenorth]

I didn't know about the gas and bloat, who knew? I harvested a bunch of wild catnip here that the cats and I share. It does make a calming tea , and yes, it does smell nice.

 

[Javamama]

I have it growing all over the place - it takes over just like any mint. It's pretty and smells good and fills in the spots where nothing else grows, so I let it go My kittens haven't discovered it yet. That'll be an interesting day

 

[Wifezilla]

Someone is apparently part kitty

LOL

I often suspect this is my son's first round as a human having previously been feline...

 

[Wildsky]

Catnip is also very good (or so I've heard) at preventing mosquito bites, the oils in the leaves - the pure oil is SUPER expensive, folks have been known to crush the leaves and rub that on themselves.
I tried to grow some but the seeds never sprouted.

 

[MsPony]

Oh thank you guys!! I grew up with 10 cats, from birth. I got a sibling 5 years later, so for about 7 years, the cats were my friends. I think I'm half cat sometimes lol.

Now, I can't grow anything, total black thumb. So do they sell it for humans in stores or can I just get some Karen Johnson (all organic) at my store and use a tea steeper?

 

[Wifezilla]

I have seen it in bulk at our local health food store.

 

[ORChick]

Catnip also makes a nice hair rinse, which is supposed to help keep hair ends from splitting. I've only used it once that way, so can't say about the split ends, but it smelled nice, and my hair felt good after. Just make a strong tea, and pour that through your hair after shampooing.
If growing it in the garden, and cats are rubbing and chewing it down to the root, get one of those wire baskets (the kind that you line with spaghnum moss, and then plant, and hang), turn it upside down over the catnip plant, and figure out a way to secure it somehow (I use heavy metel hooks pushed into the ground). The cats can chew on whatever grows through, but they can't actually kill the plant. Eventually it grows enough that the basket can't be seen anymore.