When thousands of people descend on the I-X Center for this weekend’s Fabulous Food Show, they’ll get to stroll through an area made up to resemble a farmers market.

One of the eight to 10 Northeast Ohio vendors displaying and selling their products will be Judy Lambert, a Vermilion woman and owner-opera­tor of Hummingbird Creations, which bills itself as dealing in natural prod­ucts for the body, mind and spirit. Lambert is a familiar face at summer­time farmers markets across the area, as well as annual appearances at the Cleveland Zoo’s EarthFest and the upcoming Christmas Around the World at the Medina County Fair­grounds over the Thanksgiving Day holiday weekend.

Judy Lambert, owner-operator of Hummingbird Creations, will show her wares at this weekend’s Fabulous Food Show and Christmas Around the World at the Medina County Fairgrounds over the Thanksgiving Day holiday weekend. (COURTESY PHOTO)

“I’m pinching myself,” Lambert said of being chosen to be part of the Fab­ulous Food Show. “A gentleman in charge, who is also a farmer, asked if I wanted to be part of it and I said of course.”

The show will feature celebrities such as Iron Chef Michael Symon and the Food Network’s Guy Fieri, and it’s the first to showcase farmers markets, Lambert said.

“They’re setting it up like a mini-marketplace. We’ll be taking our tents along,” she said.

The farmers market will be located in the show’s Taste of the Neighborhood area.

Lambert is scheduled to give presentations at 1:30 p.m. today and Saturday. Today’s talk will focus on how to make herbal balms and salves. Sat­urday’s program will focus on herbal teas and tinctures, which Lambert described as “concentrated herbs you take a dropperful of” as a liquid medication or supplement to battle colds and other mal­adies. Tinctures are most often made with alcohol or honey.

Lambert uses her own recipes to make her balms, herbal teas, soaps, aromather­apy goods and natural deodorants. An assistant helps her prepare, bottle, label and package goods she’s been marketing for a decade.

“I’ve been a plant lover and nature lover for as long as I can remember,” she said. “My grandfather worked for the agricultural department. My father was a chemist, so I put the two disciplines together.”

As she grew older, Lambert became more aware of what was going into her body.

“I realized there were some chemicals that are not good for us. I use no dyes or artifi­cial colors. Most of what I have in my products comes from my own garden. I include as many organically produced ingredients as are available,” she said.

When she started her home­-based business 10 years ago, Lambert got some puzzled reactions from people who wondered why anyone would choose herbal.

“They didn’t really get it when I tried to explain,” she said. “They just smiled and nodded.”

It’s come full circle now.

“There’s such a big differ­ence today,” she said. “The big swing came about four years ago when this movement really picked up steam. There’s much more interest in all-nat­ural products.”

The types of products and homemade remedies she makes do not fall under typical government regulations, and Lambert acknowledged there are some dangers “in medicat­ing with natural substances. But when you look at the num­ber of people who are over­ medicated and die from the present medical system, it is minute. It is very difficult to have severe life-threatening reactions to natural products.” For information, visit www.hummingbirdcreations. com or www.fabulousfood­show.com.

Contact Steve Fogarty at (440) 329-7146 or sfogarty@chroniclet.com.