The replica of the White House vegetable garden, created by the home gardening company, W. Atlee Burpee & Co., at its Fordhook Farm in Doylestown, PA, will be open to the public for the first time on Friday, Oct. 30, 1 pm-4 pm.  Admission is free.

The White House Garden has been faithfully recreated, according George Ball, chairman of Burpee and the person responsible for overseeing the replication.  Mr. Ball resides at Fordhook Farm.

"We used the diagram they provided to insure accuracy," Mr. Ball said, "but we chose to make some alterations in view of soil conditions and typical weather patterns for the area.  We also mixed in some hybrids with the heirloom varieties which we knew would do well."

Previously, the public had limited access to the garden only by attending The Garden Conservancy Open Days in September.

"We were fortunate to have such a bountiful harvest, " Mr. Ball notes, "so we decided to open it up to the general public before we shut it down."

There will be free lectures on the hour and guided tours of the garden.  Fordhook Farm is located at 106 New Britain Road, Doylestown, PA 18901.

Laura Mathews, who blogs at Punk Rock Gardens, took a tour at Fordhook and posted her impressions and some pictures. She writes that her favorite building was the old seed house.

"I could almost see women working with seeds in Victorian era long dresses."

Photo credit: Laura Mathews/Punk Rock Gardens