This week, I’ve been seeking out public fruit.

My search was inspired by Fallen Fruit, a Los Angeles-based collaborative project of three artists who decry our “barren" cities and “frivolous and ugly landscaping.” These fruit activists contend that people should plant trees and shrubs that yield produce.

“We ask all of you to petition your cities and towns to support community gardens and only plant fruit-bearing trees in public parks,” declares their manifesto. “Let our streets be lined with apples and pears! Demand that all parking lots be landscaped with fruit trees which provide shade, clean the air and feed the people.”

As part of their project, they began mapping all the public fruit (and vegetables) in their neighborhoods. They define “public fruit” as any fruit on or overhanging public spaces like sidewalks, streets, parking lots or alleys.

The lawfulness of picking this “public fruit” is up for debate (and it has been debated in California and even through Islamic law), but the thinking follows laws that state if a neighbor has a tree that is overhanging into your yard, you’re free to trim it. So, by extension, if a fruit-bearing tree overhangs the public sphere, it’s fair game.

In addition to producing maps and T-shirts, Fallen Fruit also organizes several foraging events each year for community members.

Intrigued by this concept, I set out to map the fruit in Tampa, St. Pete and Clearwater. A little too ambitious, I soon found out. So, I narrowed my search to just a few St. Pete neighborhoods.

I am sad to report that in a survey of Pinellas Point, Lakewood Estates and Bayou Highlands, I could not find fruit in public spaces.

I could see it — in people’s front yards or hidden in the back — but without stepping foot on their property, completely inaccessible. After a few hours of seeing, but not touching, I grew despondent and gave up my mapping.

Then I heard about Lakeland’s Hollis Gardens Park, a city park, where the fruits and vegetables allegedly grow free (to pick). But more on that in another post.

So I’m opening up this question to our readers: Do you know of any places where someone could find “public fruit?” Remember, it must be in the public sphere and you cannot set foot in anyone’s yard.

Check out Fallen Fruit’s mapping here and feel free to point me in the right direction, or make a map yourself.

This article appears in Nov 14-20, 2007.