Kimball Maps Campus Fruit Trees

As part of a class project this spring, urban forestry graduate student Lele Kimball created a map of edible fruit and nut trees on the Virginia Tech campus and a website to showcase foods in the university’s urban forest. “There is growing awareness in other areas of the U.S. of urban fruit as an important community resource,” Kimball said, “and I wanted to share this awareness with the Blacksburg and Virginia Tech community.”

The map indicates an abundance of fruit and nut trees, including cherries, crabapples, black walnuts, and less well-known fruit such as serviceberries, hawthorns, and Cornelian cherries. “Gathering urban fruit can be a fun outdoor activity that provides fresh, local, and nutritious food and also can save on the grocery bills,” Kimball added. Visit urbanforestry.frec.vt.edu/campusfruitmap/.