Great post, Jane!

Love the Paperwhites!

Molie

Corunum,
Sounds like you had a lot of fun on the first day of 2009! I'd love to grow some grass and or cat nip indoors for my kitty as well, how do you keep the planter anchored down? kt

Thanks, they're all fun to grow and watch.
kt, I can't keep it anchored, really. The rye is in a 3.5" pot that I stuck inside a larger pottery piece. The trick, after many years, is to have the grass fully rooted so the cat doesn't pull out tender young shoots by their seeds - been through that! I plant 3-4 pots for Ivy and rotate them as she mows them down to about 2", then that pot gets a rest as a new pot of 4-5" grass replaces the mowed pot. I swear this is cat is part goat. Should have named her John Deere instead of Ivy Catherine. Come spring she'll get high on Walker's catmint, but she's 7, healthy and happy, lol. Cheaper than bourbon.

Hi Corunum, I provide grass for my cats too! They love to nibble on it every morning before breakfast. Yes, they occasionally throw up a clump of grass, but they love it so much that it's worth a little clean-up.

I have grown the wheat/rye/oat berries, but have also dug up clumps of grass from outside. They love it all, however the outside grass seems to last longer. This year I dug up a clump of grass from the pasture across the street and transplanted it into a pot in late December. It has coarser blades, which they like, and it continues to grow vigorously despite their constant munching.

Here are pics of some wheat berries grown several years ago. I was amazed at how huge it got, way more than the cats were able to eat, so I grew smaller pots after that.

2 days after sowing -
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10 days -
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20 days -
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I havn't tried growing grass indoors but I have tried 2 times now to grow cat nip but can't really get it to grow good.

Oh, terrene, my cat would be in mowing heaven. What a pot of grass!
Indy, I'd try the easiest, and that's grass - either wheat or rye. If all else fails, call terrene, she could sell this stuff!

Hi Coronum, that pot looks impressive but it was a little much for 2 little cats! Your idea of rotating small pots is a good one. My sister grew some in a short, wide pot and her cat liked to lay in the middle of it. Indy, grass is easy to grow, stop by a store where they sell bulk wheat or rye berries and buy a little bag. Sow 1/4" below surface and voila!

I've never tried growing Catnip inside, but it's very easy to grow outside - and usually seeds itself, sometimes quite abundantly, so I always leave a patch or 2 for the cats.

Oh how we spoil our kitties...:)