Re: cajeput oil, tea tree oil now catnip

[Guest guest]

Suzi, i just made a strong infusion and it worked; used a spray bottle and the mosquitoes did mot bother me. The first time i just rubbedd it on arms, neck and legs where bare.

lee

oh and the plant...mine always comes back and also comes back all over the garden, too. Louise, the person who wrote the clip, may live in a colder zone than i do.. i live in zone 7....at least i think they come back! get so many can't really tell if last years plant or brad new.. or at least didn't thik about it and assued they were from old stock... duh!.

----- Original Message -----

From: Suzanne

health

Lee,

mine always comes back.... of course this year the cats decided it was great and tore my catnip up....lol..but it is coming back..

So I guess we've discovered so far that catnip works as tea and in oil.... now we have to tincture some and add to water as a spray and see what that does.

Suzileo <leo@...> wrote:

Great! i used the biti had left from theother day yeserday after the rain and it held up good, too. hee is a clipi got from another herb person thought you might be itrested..." snip...I am watching my catnip grow and it is always with a bit of frustration. I like to harvest large amounts to steam for essentialoil- I use it in bug repellant- and of ocurse if you wait til late in the season- or een mid-season- the stems are hollow and the plants die back. They don't *seem* to come back from the roots. Sop my tactic has been to leave a few tops to mature and scatter their seeds. (2004-06-19 09:50:04 PST )"

granny lee

[Guest guest]

It has a slight smell... do a search in the message archives on catnip... some of the members have been experimenting.. making a tea, i made mine with olive oil like a salve, letting it slow cook but did not add the beeswax.

Suzi

I have to go or would elaborate more. Pugh <gramlin@...> wrote:

Suzi,

Does the catnip oil stink? How do you make it? I have some catnip plants here......

and the K9's getting bitten by horse flies!

by the way gang... I went out after we had a good rain and used the catnip/olive oil... no bites, not even the flies liked it... pretty cool.

Suzi

[Guest guest]

I checked the archives,and discovered how to make teas and tinctures. I need something right now to stop whatever is biting us on our torso's and leaving huge red welts that itch for a week (these are not mosquitos, as we tolerate their bites pretty well). Has anyone had success making catnip tea. Do you just infuse the leaves, cool it and splash it on or do I need to add something else? The reason that I asked if it smelled, is because there is a Company here doing some research into catnip as a natural repellant. They made a "lotion" using mostly Catnip, with some Evening Primrose oil added. They gave me some to try out and, unfortunately, I cannot bring myself to use it because it really stinks :-( and the K9's

[Guest guest]

wonder if the bites are from chiggers? if so, you might very lightly dust your yard with agricutural sulpher which will also take care of ticks. There used to be critters called bedbugs but we haven't seen them for 40 or 50.. mayb 60 years.

As for the scent of catnip... i don' find it bad.. it has a slight menthol scent along with a slight bitterness, but not really offensive... to me..LOL!

unless one is going to make it (repellant) commercially and needs to allow for a long shelf life, i see no point in putting any thing in it other than maybe a bit of rose water or such for a nicer scent. no use complicating it <G>

granny lee

----- Original Message -----

From: Pugh

health

Sent: Saturday, July 31, 2004 12:59 PM

Subject: Re: cajeput oil, tea tree oil now catnip

I checked the archives,and discovered how to make teas and tinctures. I need something right now to stop whatever is biting us on our torso's and leaving huge red welts that itch for a week (these are not mosquitos, as we tolerate their bites pretty well).

Has anyone had success making catnip tea. Do you just infuse the leaves, cool it and splash it on or do I need to add something else?

The reason that I asked if it smelled, is because there is a Company here doing some research into catnip as a natural repellant. They made a "lotion" using mostly Catnip, with some Evening Primrose oil added. They gave me some to try out and, unfortunately, I cannot bring myself to use it because it really stinks :-(

and the K9's

[Guest guest]

Hi Granny Lee, No, we don't get chiggers up here in the north. I thought about bed bugs too - especially since we had a disagreement with the moving company last year when we moved in and I wondered if they'd put some bed bugs in the mattress! We had the bites last summer too, and so did a neighbour across the road. I've heard everything from spiders to black fly to horse flies, but don't understand how they can get UNDER our clothes and bite us in some very nasty places! I'm definitely going to try the catnip tea, and will report back. It doesn't smell bad at all (when it's fresh!) Thanks, and the K9's wonder if the bites are from chiggers? if so, you might very lightly dust your yard with agricutural sulpher which will also take care of ticks. There used to be critters called bedbugs but we haven't seen them for 40 or 50.. mayb 60 years.

[Guest guest]

hmm.... how about sand fleas? in some areas they get pretty nasty and don't mind who they go to bed with. One year in California, near Seaside up toward Richmond, they were pretty bad. I think we used sulphur but that's been 55 yrs ago, so not sure. They are tiny black things look just like any other flea and jump like any other flea but don't stay on you, just feed on your body at night. Diatomaceous Earth will kill regular flees so it might kill what ever it is that has taken over the area.

grany lee

----- Original Message -----

From: Pugh

health

Sent: Saturday, July 31, 2004 4:10 PM

Subject: Re: cajeput oil, tea tree oil now catnip

Hi Granny Lee,

No, we don't get chiggers up here in the north. I thought about bed bugs too - especially since we had a disagreement with the moving company last year when we moved in and I wondered if they'd put some bed bugs in the mattress! We had the bites last summer too, and so did a neighbour across the road. I've heard everything from spiders to black fly to horse flies, but don't understand how they can get UNDER our clothes and bite us in some very nasty places!

I'm definitely going to try the catnip tea, and will report back. It doesn't smell bad at all (when it's fresh!)

Thanks,

and the K9's

wonder if the bites are from chiggers? if so, you might very lightly dust your yard with agricutural sulpher which will also take care of ticks. There used to be critters called bedbugs but we haven't seen them for 40 or 50.. mayb 60 years.

[Guest guest]

Suzi wrote: >Okay, give us a really detailed description of what the rash looks like. It's a small raised opaque bit in the middle, about 1/8" across and this is surrounded by 2" of bright red skin that feels hard to the touch. The bite part in the middle often turns into a blister (like poison ivy). These bites are intensely itchy for days on end. The bites are scattered about on our torso's and the tops of our legs. I've also had them on my back, under my bra strap. It seems strange that they do not appear on skin which is normally exposed, like faces, arms or legs. Hoping someone might have some clues as to what could be doing this. I live in Ontario, Canada, and had these last summer too. We don't get them in spring or fall. These are not fleas, ticks or chiggers and our dogs don't seem to be itchy..... and the K9's

[Guest guest]

Thanks again Granny Lee. I just looked up "Chiggers" and "Ontario" and sure enough, we DO have them here!!! I don't think too many people here know that, because everyone seems to think it's something different. At least it's not bed bugs :-) Thanks for solving the puzzle :-) and the K9's sure do sound like chiger bites.. they always get in the places under elastics, crotches, under breasts, around ankles if tight sock tops are worn...

[Guest guest]

Here's a picture of chigger blisters/bites:

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/imagepages/2046.htm

I remember when we went berry picking, we all had to gear up with

long pant legs and long sleeve shirts. Kerosene was applied

around the cuffs of the pant legs as well as shirt cuffs. It was also

applied around the waist on shirt and pants. Boy did we smell

great... (grin). Seems it was the preferred repellent in those days

(50's and 60's).

Aaaah... chicks and tiggers.. haven't heard of them in years. And

yes, clear finger nail polish was how we killed them 'back then' too.

I also remember we were told not to scratch them, probably due to

infection potential from nails.

Never heard of them in the desert here... probably are in the

surrounding mountains though.

Skip

On 1 Aug 2004 at 19:16, Pugh wrote:

> Thanks again Granny Lee. I just looked up " Chiggers " and " Ontario " and sure

enough, we DO

> have them here!!! I don't think too many people here know that, because

everyone seems to

> think it's something different. At least it's not bed bugs :-)

>

> Thanks for solving the puzzle :-)

>

> and the K9's

>

> sure do sound like chiger bites.. they always get in the places under

elastics, crotches, under

> breasts, around ankles if tight sock tops are worn...

[Guest guest]

Thanks Granny Lee, Sulpher sounds like a simple solution to kill chiggers. Our lot was treed and very overgrown, with lots of scrub. We've cleared most of it, and I'll definitely try the sulphur trick :-) and the K9's I didn't want to kill everything, and was happy that it seemed to be of no harm to other animal/insects.love.. granny lee