HARTFORD – From working farms to hilltops and lakes, the Hartford Garden Tour on Saturday, Aug. 4, will provide visitors with more to enjoy than just gardens.

The tour will highlight perennials to hardwoods, vegetables to hay, lakeside camps to horse stables, fish ponds to specialty orchards and a living-off-the-land farm to modern landscaped homes on Bear Pond.

The 20 homesteads will bring Hartford’s heritage to life. The Cowett home, built in 1792 with a barn built in 1818, will offer a walk into the history of the town.

The Henderson Garden has a lovely farm pond and a maple sugar house.

There are 20 not-to-be-missed homes, and to top off the tour, there will be a free lunch under the stately maples lining the roadside to the retired Green Acres Inn. It is the 200th anniversary of this historic summer hotel built in 1707 and is now home to Daryl and Leslie Boness.

Tickets for $10 each may be purchased at the Hartford, Sumner and Canton town offices or from any member of the Historical Society. For more information on tickets, phone 597-2073. Tickets may also be purchased at the J. and O. Irish Museum.

The included map and garden description is the ticket and will help visitors decide which sites they wish to see. The complete trip of all homes will encompass about 40 miles.

The tour will be held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. rain or shine.

All proceeds from ticket sales will assist with significant renovations needed for preserving the J. and O. Irish Museum in Hartford Center.

Highland Acres Farm offers vegetable gardens, lambs, potbelly pigs, ducks, chickens and Roger Rabbit in his tuxedo.

Roger Gammon’s Gardens at the top of graveled Gurney Hill Road offers a view of Mount Washington on a clear day, which is not to be missed.