Not a Farmer's Wife

Many of you who know me know that one of my passions is women's leadership, specifically pertaining to agriculture and rural living. I try to keep this message as positive and constructive as possible. Ladies, I don't believe we can simply define ourselves by what our husbands do, which is why I have vowed to never again refer to myself as a farmer's wife, or to say that I'm married to a farmer. In my view, we both farm. We farm together. Men can cook dinner, wipe runny noses and run errands in town, just like women can operate tractors, feed animals, and make crop decisions. Men can Rock the House and Women can be Outstanding In Their Field. I do so love puns.

Two companies I'd like to spotlight in this blog post that are helping women to be Outstanding in their Field are Red Ants Pants and Green Heron Tools. They are very similar companies in that they are both owned and operated by women, and design products made specifically for a woman's body and usage requirements. Both companies feature strong, inspiring women who recognized a need. In both cases, the need had to do with working women trying to get things done with a man's tools.

Green Heron Tools was the brainchild of two women in Pennsylvania.  They noticed that many women at their local farmers market, where they also bring their produce, were constantly concerned about how difficult it can be to work in a garden or on a farm with tools and implements that were specifically designed for men. They hatched an idea to develop women-specific ergonomically friendly tools, starting with reinventing the shovel. Easier said than done, the HERS shovel was their end-result and took two years to develop to work the way a woman's body needs it to perform.  They are also in production on women's specific rototillers and somethign called a DeltaHook Rapid Tractor Hitch-- a tool that makes it much easier to connect and disconnect implements without leaving the seat of a tractor.

Red Ants Pants was founded by a delightful young woman named Sarah Calhoun, whom I had the great pleasure of meeting a few weeks ago at the Montana Farmers Union Womens/Young Producers Conference. I had heard of the company before and had really been looking forward to hearing her speak. I was not disappointed. Calhoun was tired of working in ill-fitting men's pants. In my own apparel and retail background, I have often found that many companies' solution to designing women-specific active and workwear had come down to the philosophy of "shrink it and pink it," which basically means to take a successful mens garment and just size it down, while making the colors more "feminine." Calhoun learned through experience that that philosophy simply does not work, and set out on her own to design a pair of women's work pants that fit a woman's body.  Today, Red Ants Pants, based right here in White Sulphur Springs, MT, produces a successful line of women's work pants along with t-shirts, hoodies, aprons, and some accessories.

Something else Red Ants Pants and Green Heron Tools have in common besides similar name structure (Color + Living Creature + Name of Product = Company Name! I LOVE it!) is USA production. Green Heron Tools production is ethically sourced and predominantly US made, except when it would mean a sacrifice in quality. Red Ants Pants entire production is 100% Made In America.

Check out both of these awesome companies on their websites to learn more:
Red Ants Pants
Green Heron Tools

For now, I'm dreaming of using a Green Heron Tools HERS shovel while wearing some Red Ants Pants, and being Outstanding in My Field as a Farmer, not as a farmer's wife.