Fallen Fruit?

As some of you've seen on this blog, I have a thing for maps. Just call me map-happy.

So it shouldn't come as a surprise that I'm about to plug another cool map site; this one, though, is a work in progress, and they need your help. (So dramatic today!)

The idea behind Fallen Fruit is simple: map out the streets in your neighborhood and show us where we can find public fruit trees with fruit ripe for the picking. Here, for example, is a map close to my house. (hint: I'm not too far from the "Ripening Bananas as of April 2, 2006")

And if you poke around the website, you'll find tips on how to make your own map and plenty of helpful information on how to recognize certain fruit trees.

In the Fallen Fruit folks' own words:

We ask all of you to contribute your maps so they expand to cover the United States and then the world. We encourage everyone to harvest, plant and sample public fruit, which is what we call all fruit on or overhanging public spaces such as sidewalks, streets or parking lots. We believe fruit is a resource that should be commonly shared, like shells from the beach or mushrooms from the forest. Fallen Fruit has moved from mapping to planning fruit parks in under-utilized areas. Our goal is to get people thinking about the life and vitality of our neighborhoods and to consider how we can change the dynamic of our cities and common values.