Lewisburg Alphabet: A is for Ard's

Welcome to the Lewisburg Alphabet!I love living in Lewisburg, this little town that...I've adopted? Or that's adopted me? Eh, it's a toss-up. I just know I'm really happy in this place, which still comes as a surprise to someone who had previously thought of herself as a city person.It's beautiful here. And charming. And quaint. And groovy. It's part Norman Rockwell, part funky college town, set in a gorgeous countryside. So why shouldn't I celebrate it? Here's to Lewisburg (and perhaps a bit beyond the town's borders, into the central PA area). A. That's for Ard's.Ard's Farm Market is a constantly-growing--nay, evolving--farm market along Route 45 in Lewisburg. It started as a roadside farm stand how many years ago...thirty? Forty? Long before I came to town, that's for sure. Eventually it was given a more permanent structure. Then it was expanded upon. When the next generation of the Ard family took over, though, they came in with ideas.Inside this building is some of the best pulled pork ever, and it makes my stomach growl whenever I walk in and smell it. They have a bustling restaurant and all sorts of seasonal celebrations. A corn maze in autumn (and a pumpkin toss!). A summer fun run and party. I get my tree there every Christmas. And they have all manner of goods inside.Gift baskets! Local food! Products from local artists! Hand-dipped chocolates! Local cheeses! Freshly-ground peanut butter (which is the BEST peanut butter I've ever eaten, but I digress)! I will knock you down for their yogurt-dipped pretzels! And there's more relish than you can shake a stick at!I mean, it's still a farm stand, so it still has produce.I go a little bonkers in there in the fall, when the pumpkins come in. There's little I like to eat more than squash and pumpkin, so when I have a choice of different squash varieties, I buy them all. At once. Because I can't decide what I want most, so I bring them home and let me and George sort it all out.But their real appeal, for me, lies in their rustic charm. It's a little chunk of Americana, complete with fresh pie. Plus, the matriarch of the Ard family comes to one of my classes at the gym, so I feel like I get to rub elbows with local royalty.Fun fact: An ard is an early sort of scratch plow, which was in use cultivating farm lands a thousand years ago. I have a picture of the digging end of an ard, recovered from a Viking archaeological dig in Reykjavik. The handles, made of wood, have long rotted away.So really, it makes sense that they're farmers, what with their name meaning "plow", and all.Finally: Here's a tip o' the hat to my fellow blogger at ouchmybackhurts, who gave me the idea (and his blessings) for the Lewisburg Alphabet. Go check him out! He's got a Dublin Alphabet, it's super fun. See you when I get to B! :)