After a week spent working with clients and building his business, Eric Woolson hops in the car with his son and heads to his 27-acre plot in Wayne County to work the land in preparation for next year’s crop – catnip.

Woolson and attorney Chris Sackett, who has taken up grape growing, are two hobby farmers who have found unexpected pleasures in escaping from the city for the weekend and working the land.

Woolson served as Gov. Terry Branstad’s communications director and was the press director for George W. Bush’s presidential campaign in 2000. He founded The Concept Works in 2002 and works with the media on behalf of his corporate, political and non-profit clients.

He purchased the farmland in July 2003 for the value it would add to his investment portfolio, but says he did not realize at the time how much he would appreciate just getting away from the city on the weekends and doing some physical labor.

“When you’re in the office all week and you do a lot of work with your brain, it’s good to get out on the weekends and do some work with your hands and body,” Woolson said. “[Farming] is a good way to get in the car and get out of town and clear brush and burn stuff and cultivate the land.”

Twenty acres of the land had been placed in the Conservation Reserve Program until 2007, leaving seven acres available for his use. However, the land had not been well cared for and required a substantial amount of work. Initially, Woolson considered planting organic vegetables. But his son, Brooks, 14, thought they should consider growing catnip, which was primarily a ploy to get a cat for a house pet.

“Cats absolutely love it,” Woolson said. “They’ll roll in it and chew it and then they just pass out.”

The Woolson family did get a cat, Simon, and hoped to use him as their “spokescat,” until they learned that Simon is not fond of catnip. They did try the scientific approach, however, and learned that other cats do respond well to their crop.

Since the Woolsons bought the land, they frequently have left home before dawn to make the 87-mile trip to their farmstead, where they typically spend another 10 hours or more clearing the seven acres to make way for their catnip crop.

“Invariably I need to clean up and assess whether I have poison ivy or not,” said Woolson, who had poison ivy five times in 2004. “And there were a lot of stickerbushes, so we donated a lot of blood early in the process.”

Though the family did have a miniscule crop of catnip in 2004, this spring and summer will be spent further clearing property and planting. Woolson expects 2006 to be the first year with a full crop, which they intend to sell to pet stores or wholesale suppliers. He sees it as an opportunity to build a business venture for Brooks, who has had to learn about cost inputs, labor costs, land costs, taxes and other upfront investments that must be made before seeing any profit.

The remaining 20 acres will stay in the Conservation Reserve Program until 2007, at which time Woolson can renew the agreement and continue to be paid by the government for allowing to sit idle, but he will likely put it into production. He has considered using it for pastureland, or perhaps for planting more catnip.

“As far as the gently rolling hills of Southeast Iowa, I think we may be the only catnip farmers,” he said. “But there are a lot of cats out there and most of them like catnip.”

Chris Sackett, an attorney with the Brown, Winick, Graves, Gross, Baskerville & Schoenebaum PLC, says his interest in farming grew out of his legal work with Iowa farmers, particularly grape growers. Two years ago, he and two friends purchased 12.5 acres near Knoxville and planted about 7,000 grape vines.

“We really wanted a place to go and play in the dirt on the weekends,” Sackett said. “We’re all friends and we all enjoy being outside.”

During the winter months, Sackett typically makes it down to work on the farmland once every two weeks. But from March through October, the trio is out working in the sun every weekend, and many weeknights.

Grapevines typically require three years of growth, which will make 2005 their first year with a crop, which they plan to sell to at least one Iowa winery.

“It would be great if we made a profit,” Sackett said. “We try and manage it as a business. However, if we just broke even, that would be fine.”