Sebastian, Florida

I'm new to Florida, at least down here on the Treasure Coast.  I spent 25 years in NY state, 11 years in Utah, four years in CA, and four in Virginia.  I know that doesn't add up to my age and I'm not sure where those other years went, but I'll start keeping track now, I promise.

For about nine weeks now I have been mowing my yard in complete awe - isn't this the grass we used to try to erradicate "up nort?"  Now I invite it?  Anyway, as a part of my routine I've been mowing around this little plant- not much bigger than a basketball - and wondering why I don't just mow over it and finish it off.  It looks so stunted.  But, as it has these little orange fruits on it and is growing where obviously planted, I figure I gotta keep it.  And unlike some plants, it's never tried to hurt me.

I've been pondering the nature of this miniature beast and scanning my mental list of familiar flora - the Florida section of which is a mite lean - and had this vague recollection of a miniature fruit called a "kumquat" - so I decided to Google it.  Sure enough, the pint-sized plant is a kumquat tree..er..mini-bush growing in my own back yard.  A blog called Weird Eats is the source of much of what I have discovered about kumquats today.

Now, as this is a citrus fruit (see how Floridianistish I've become), I figure there's a way to eat this small, orange-colored fruit.  So I present to you here - courtesy of the Dade City Kumquat Festival - a cool video with detailed and colorful instructions.  It's cute, so give it a watch here or at http://dadecity.tbo.com/video.shtml.

By the way, no one has explained to me what happens when you eat the seeds. Any ideas????