Aha!  The Boston Globe has discovered the Earthworks Urban Orchards program! Earthworks, a local nonprofit with two decades of experience planting trees and tending Boston's natural environments, has added hundreds of fruit and nut trees to Boston's landscape over the years in Jamaica Plain, Roxbury, Dorchester, and beyond! If you can find a persimmon in a Boston park, school, or public housing courtyard, Earthworks probably had something to do with it. And you can eat it! You're supposed to eat it!

Mind you, it might not be the prettiest persimmon you've ever seen. Earthworks is devoted to organic orchard care. Judging by the apples I've inspected at Earthwork's heirloom apple orchard at the Shirley Eustis House, that means that the fruit can be, well, spotty. As a responsible grown-up who eats freckled bananas and avoids neurotoxin-based pesticides when possible, I don't mind at all.

You can go on a do-it-yourself orchard tour of all the Earthworks orchards, but it might take a while if you're a weak swimmer; Earthworks has planted two apple trees and a seckel pear on Grape Island, and the ferry only runs on weekends. Better yet, you can volunteer to help harvest all that fruit and give half of it to folks who need it more than you do (unless you actually did swim to Grape Island, and need the calories).

But what if you live in the suburbs? Do the lands beyond Cambridge and Somerville offer opportunities for legally sanctioned fruit poaching? They do indeed, but you need to look down. The early low-bush blueberries have been crisped by our summer's sun, but there are huckleberries aplenty waiting in places like the Middlesex Fells. Look around in the oak-hickory forest understory for medium-sized matte black-blue berries that don't taste quite as good as blueberries. If you eat something nasty, you've probably tasted buckthorn berries, the vile issue of a vile plant. Bone up on your botany, and try again-- or go on a walk with someone who knows what he's eating, like Russ Cohen. Life's too short to eat indoors.

One of the long-term visions for the Boston Harbor Islands national park area includes the presence of an artist colony on one of the islands. Well, this weekend (July 31 and August 1) you can get a sneak peek of what such a colony might look like as Bumpkin Island hosts its fourth annual Art Encampment.

During the encampment, artists become “homesteaders” who take temporary ownership of island plots and build their own shelter, live on the land, and create a site-specific, temporary performance or art installation. The interactive art installations will include performance art, mixed-media exhibitions, and sculptures inspired by the Boston Harbor Islands.

The web site for the Berwick Research Institute, a non-profit art organization, has a full listing of the artist works you’ll see this weekend. A couple of them, in particular, caught my eye. One is “The Great Bumpkin Hunt” by Ali Reid, which riffs off the island’s playful name. Here’s the description: “Building on island folklore that ‘Bumpkins’ are ‘little guys with glowing eyes,’ Reid and a cast of intergenerational family members will lead daily interpretive tours exploring the mysterious species' rise and decline."

The second is “Bumpkin Sky-Land” by Mark Davis, which is described as an exploration of “the mystical realm of ‘sky-land’ alluded to in a World War I-era ballad about Bumpkin, as he summons the island’s aerial genii loci to manifest themselves in the form of floating lattice structures and shoreline fire-glyphs.” That ballad, the “Bumpkin Island War Song,” was written by the men at Bumpkin’s WWI-era Naval Training Station. The full song, included in the pages of Discovering the Boston Harbor Islands, refers to Bumpkin as “a jewel dropped from sky-land/for you’ll help us win the war.” (Bring your copy of Discovering the Boston Harbor Islands along with you, and you’ll not only see the full “Bumpkin Island War Song” but you’ll learn all about the rich history of Bumpkin Island and what you can see out there today including the ruins of an old farmhouse, a children’s hospital, and an old mess hall for the naval station.)

In addition to the public ferry to Bumpkin Island, which leaves from Georges Island and the Hingham Shipyard Marina, a special boat shuttle will take visitors directly from Long Wharf in Boston to Bumpkin Island. The special shuttle leaves at 1 PM on July 31 and August 1 and returns at 7 PM. Tickets are $15 and may sell out. To purchase tickets in advance, click here.

Are you ready for some football? With the battered and bruised Red Sox (Black and Blue Sox would be a truer nickname) in a mid-summer swoon, I'm certainly ready.

The boys of autumn will be strapping on the pads as training camp for the New England Patriots begins on Thursday, July 29 and runs through mid-August. Here are some tips to make your trip to Patriots training camp more enjoyable:

Where: Patriots training camp is held on the practice fields next to Gillette Stadium in Foxborough.

Schedule: The tentative schedule calls for two-a-day practices for the opening days of training camp with practices from 9:30 to 11:15 AM and 3:45 to 5:30 PM from July 29 to August 4. (Note that only a 9:30 AM practice is scheduled on Monday, August 2 that is open to the public. The team is scheduled to hold a practice inside Gillette Stadium for season ticketholders on August 2 at 7 PM.)

Based on past years, you can lay good odds that the schedule is going to change (either that or Coach Belichick is really going to work these guys from the get go). The schedule is always tentative based on the desires of the coaching staff and oftentimes the weather. Therefore, if you're interested in going to see practice, by all means check the schedule on the Patriots web site and double-check it by calling the team's hot line at 508-549-0001.

Parking: The practice is free to attend, and the parking is free as well. (Yes, I said it, "Free.") Parking is along the west side of the stadium, and it's a short walk over to the fields. From US 1, enter the parking lots at P8 from the south and P6 from the north. Lots open an hour before each practice.

Seating: There are bleachers along the side of one practice field on which to sit. Another popular spot is on the hillside that lies behind the end zones of the practice fields and in front of the stadium. Wherever you sit, you're pretty close to the action. If you have a camera with a good zoom lens, you should get some good shots.

Food and Drink: There are concession stands that sell food, drinks, and beer. Be prepared to pay normal stadium prices for food and beverages, however, if you buy it there. Adjoining Patriot Place has plenty of restaurants and bars where you can get a meal, too. (For a good, cheap meal, I highly recommend Five Guys Burgers at Patriot Place.)

For the Kids: Along the west side of the stadium during Training Camp is the Patriots Experience, filled with interactive games that allow young fans to test their kicking, passing, and tackling skills on a variety of obstacle courses, football tosses, and other similar challenges. It's a popular draw for families. (All fans participating in Patriots Experience must sign a waiver form, available at training camp or online at the Patriots web site.) Note that the hours for the Patriots Experience are not the same as the practice schedule; so check the web site. (In general, the hours are usually 11-4.) Kids will also enjoy all the interactive exhibits at the Hall at Patriot Place. Even if you don't have kids, a visit to this museum dedicated to the Patriots franchise is an absolute must for Pats fans.

Scoring Autographs: The players enter and leave the field near the hillside, so it's a good spot to get autographs, and a designated group of players, which rotates from practice to practice, will often sign along the front row of the bleachers when practice is over.

With as many as 80 players on the field, plenty of new faces, and uniforms without names on the back, it may be tough knowing who you are watching, so print out a roster from the Patriots web site before you go or pick up a complimentary roster from the Patriots Football Weekly tent.

For more tips on enhancing your experience at Patriots Training Camp--and for all the information you'd ever want to know about spectator sports around Boston--check out The Die-Hard Sports Fan's Guide to Boston.

Well, I'm happy to report that I (plus 32,000+ other soccer fans) got to attend the inaugural Fenway Football Challenge at Boston's beloved Fenway Park last week. To get a full report on the teams, the players, the history, I'd recommend checking out recent articles in the Boston Globe, USA Today, as well as the history of soccer in Boston in The Die-Hard Sports Fan's Guide to Boston. But from the perspective of a local who just loves to embrace all that Boston has to offer, I wanted to share with UPP readers that it really was QUITE the occasion.

The overarching theme of the evening seemed to be "everybody wins!" That is, the match officially ended on a tie, fans from all countries were just thrilled to be there, and it was a fantastically timed event with soccer fever pouring over from the World Cup. I particularly loved seeing the massive number of immigrant-locals who were clearly trying to pass on their passion for this world sport to their kids, cousins, and other members of the younger US-born generation. And then there were the hardcore soccer fans from all over, who cheered from beginning to end, just smitten to have their moment in Fenway Park.

Since there was a special award just for Fenway, they ended the evening with a shootout--and the Scottish Football Club, the Celtic, proved to be the winning team--which, given their name, was definitely a fitting finale for a Beantown event.

Overall, it was an incredible event to be part of and I'm sure I'm not alone in feeling that Fenway, in the true spirit of representing Boston as the best sports town in the US, should make this friendly, international match the first of many others to come (And not wait another 42 years to make it happen!).

Let Meg Muckenhoupt, author of Boston’s Gardens & Green Spaces, inspire you to experience the various public spaces this city has to offer in The Boston Globe’s G Force interview “Sharing of the Green.”

In the interview, Meg discusses how green Boston came to be over the past 400 years, and how it found its way into her heart: “If you don’t get to these places that are nearby, that are everyday, then you lose a little bit of what it’s like to be a human creature on this planet. I want people to be able to smell things, and touch things, and just be someplace that people didn’t entirely make, someplace that’s growing itself.”

Come hear Meg talk at the Westborough Public Library on July 29, 7PM and join her on a journey through the verdant world of her new book. And in the meantime, get out and explore our city's green spaces!

For those of you who were intrigued by the piece "Looking Out: Sport Fishing is Alive in Boston Harbor" on WBUR this morning, here are some tips from our expert Chuck Zonderman as told to Chris Klein, author of Discovering the Boston Harbor Islands: A Guide to the City’s Hidden Shores:

Bluefish: “Like mackerel, bluefish can be caught while they are feeding near the surface of the water. Blues are also out in the deeper water around the B-buoy, and can be caught both on the surface and deeper down."

Flounder: “Try around Peddocks, Rainsford, Long, and Green Islands—or anywhere there’s soft bottom, even in shallow water…They’re great eating fish and sea worms tend to be the best bait."

Bass: “Flocks of birds feeding on bait fish are a good indication they’re around. Look around river mouths for early bass. Try the Back River and the Fore River.”

For more sport fishing tips from Hingham Shipyard Marinas Chuck Zonderman and for the ultimate guide to planning your next trip to the Boston Harbor Islands, pick up a copy of Discovering the Boston Harbor Islands.

Join Chris Klein at the Community Boating Boathouse on the Esplanade (21 David Mugar Way, Boston, MA 02114) tonight at 6:30PM as he discusses the best kept secret of the Northeast. He will be signing copies of Discovering the Boston Harbor Islands, which will be available for retail.

Ian Vecchiotti, Union Park Press' summer photographer/intern in-residence took the time to wander, capture, and appreciate the streets of the historic Beacon Hill. More from Ian in the upcoming weeks . . .

Oh dearie me! The Rose Ftizgerald Kennedy Greenway Conservancy will get 25% less money from the state next year, leaving it with a budget of just $4.4 million to maintain the Greenway. Have I mentioned that the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) is getting less than $80 million this year to maintain all its parks and forests in the entire commonwealth?  All 450,000 acres?

All right, it may not be fair to compare the maintenance of the lightly trafficked 6,000-acre Mohawk Trail State Forest with a park smack in the middle of Boston. Fortunately, the Trust for Public Land has put together a useful web page comparing park features and spending for the 77 largest U.S. cities as of fiscal year 2008 (FY08). Let's see how Boston stacks up!

Out of the twelve high-density cities in the survey, Boston has the second-highest number of acres or parkland per 1000 residents (8.3 acres). By comparison, New York has 4.6 acres/1000 residents. Ultra-low-density Anchorage has 1,794 acres per 1000 residents, but that number is substantially lower if your population estimates include moose.

But how is our spending? Judging by the comments on the Greenway's budget woes, many Bostonians feel that having all this open space around is far too expensive for an efficient 21st-century city, and we ought to just sell off the entire Greenway to developer Don Chiofaro to build a small breeder reactor and have done with it. Are we really so wasteful?

Well, who do you want to compare us to? Overall, Boston spent $61,298,456 on 2200 acres of parks in FY08. The Trust for Public Land ranked Boston number 31 out of 77 cities, spending ca. $101 per resident on parks. That's more than Baltimore and Philadelphia ($68/person), but less than New York ($142) and far less than San Francisco ($300).

If you'd like to compare the city of Boston to the Greenway Conservancy, though, the numbers look a bit brighter. Boston spent ca. $28,000 per acre on its parks in 2008. This year, the Greenway Conservancy plans to spend $5.5 million in 2010 on 15 acres, for ca. $367,000 per acre. The 2011 austerity program will bring the Conservancy down to a mere $293,000 per acre. A few blocks away, the Friends of Post Office Square Trust is probably spending less than $168,000/ acre for that intensively used, carefully landscaped 1.7 acre park/parking garage.

But what does all this information actually mean? My first impulse is to say "It means that privatizing park maintenance is a big mistake!" - but the issue is larger than that. The Greenway Conservancy got to take over a public park and waste millions of dollars because no one in government wanted to pay to take care of our public land; not the DCR, not the City of Boston, no one. Now, we're stuck with an inefficient "private, nonprofit corporation" that is prioritizing installing wifi over planting trees and asked that developers be allowed to build skyscrapers that cast shadows across the park.

Today, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is planning to give the Greenway Conservancy $2.2 million for FY11. Boston could maintain more than 78 acres of parks for that sum. We may have saved money in the short run by handing the Greenway to the Conservancy, but we are paying for it, and we will for years to come.

Despite the fact that the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway is ridiculously underfunded (see today’s story in the Boston Globe about the state slashing its funding by 25 percent), there’s still reason to celebrate what we do have.

Tomorrow, the Greenway Conservancy is throwing a daylong party to celebrate Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy’s birthday and the theme for the day is taken from the story of Rose's Garden, written by local luminary Peter H. Reynolds. Reynolds, author/illustrator extraordinaire (Ish, The Dot, The North Star) dedicated the book to the Kennedy clan’s matriarch and details a young girl’s dream to plant a garden in the city.

Rose's Rolling Teapot, a replica of the illustration in Rose's Garden, will make its way around town, stopping at various locations along the Greenway District from 11:30am to 5pm. There will be family-friendly activities such as art projects, storybook readings, lawn games and food. Look for it at the Children’s Museum at 11:30am; the New England Aquarium at 1pm; and in the North End Parks 3-5pm.

A wonderful discussion of Discovering the Boston Harbor Islands: A Guide to the City's Hidden Shores by Christopher Klein in today's Boston Globe.

"Like many Bostonians, Christopher Klein never thought to explore the Boston Harbor Islands--until he decided to write a book about the natural wonders within the city limits...the book is not made for the coffee table. 'It’s something you can bring around with you when you’re visiting,' he said. But, he added, 'Even in the winter, it’s a great book to pull off the shelf and see the warm scenes of the island.’"--Sarah Mupo

Join Chris at the Community Boating Boathouse on the Esplanade this Thursday, July 29, 6:30PM as he takes you on a virtual tour through the colorful history and natural beauty of one of our best-kept local secrets. Copies of Discovering the Boston Harbor Islands will be available for retail and signed at this event.

Congrats Chris!