Vendor Spotlight- Natural Edge

Welcome to our new weekly feature at the New Glasgow Farmers Market, the Vendor Spotlight!

One of the best things about shopping at the Market is that you get to meet the people that are making, baking, or growing what you’re buying.  Our vendors are all interesting people with stories and if you ask them,  every one of them will tell you something different about themselves. When you ask vendors why they do what they do, the answer will likely never be “Because I am going to get rich” or “I am in it for the money.”  Unlike buying at a big box store or a store where they import items in from other places, you get to meet the people behind the product and you know you’re getting quality and that someone put time, love and attention into whatever it is you’re buying. They’re invested and it shows. Your money is directly supporting them and their families and not the bottom line of a large corporation. In the past one would go to the butcher, the farm, talk to the milk delivery person. It was a social experience. Over the years the connection between consumers and producers has been lost. Rediscovering that connection is why more and more people are gravitating towards Farmers Markets across the nation.

Sometimes you may not get a chance to stop at every vendor or you came in for your list and that’s all you have time for this Saturday. Life gets busy so we are going to take the time to introduce a new vendor to you every week. Your job is to read about them and then we ask you to go and visit them the next time you’re at the Market and introduce yourself because after all, the New Glasgow Farmers Market is all about bringing community together.

That being said, we are pleased to introduce you to Conny Mayer, the name of her business is the Natural Edge.

Conny was born and raised in Germany.  She began working for a doctor and didn’t like the fact that so many people were taking so many different medications and thought there should be a better way to treat ailments. So when she was in her late 20’s she began to look into herbs, organics and natural remedies.

Once she had a family of her own, she raised them on a farm with her own eggs, a garden and cooked everything from scratch. In 1993 Conny moved to Canada. Unable to speak English when she arrived, Conny learned the language by doing homework, listening to the radio and watching TV.

Her desire for people to move away from pharmaceuticals and chemicals to more natural products, Conny used her research to make natural ointments, soaps and lip balms. She began to sell them at the White Lotus where she worked for a few years.

Conny joined the New Glasgow Farmers Market in their second year and her business grew from one table to her current two tables. She feels good about and helping people and educating them about natural products and remedies. She says that the fact that her business is still growing today, shows her that “people are becoming more and more open minded and are ready for change.”

“I try to keep my prices down so that everybody can afford my products, I feel at home in Pictou County and I hope to be at the Market for years to come.

You should check out Conny’s Calendula Salve, for dry skin, eczema and burns….it is a fantastic natural healer, speaking from experience. And being that it is is the season for blackflies, give her natural repellant a try (pictured below). Maybe, just maybe they won’t carry you away!