St. Joseph, FL

Rounding the crest of a quiet rural road—where a traffic jam means getting caught behind a farm tractor—Katy’s Country Corner comes into view. Blink and you might miss a sign reading “Welcome to Saint Joseph,” followed by “The Kumquat Capital.” But pull over and you’ll soon learn why this small community in central Florida is a hothouse for the tiny citrus fruit.

Katy’s Country Corner actually is run by Roxine Barthle, but she answers when newcomers holler for Katy. “Katy” actually is an animated kumquat and logo for nearby Kumquat Growers Inc., which packages and ships the fruit. Kumquat Growers opened Katy’s, the site of St. Joseph’s first gas and grocery store, seven years ago as an outlet for promoting the kumquat.

“We needed to do something to draw attention,” says Barthle, who now owns the store with her husband. Barthle has cooked up various kumquat concoctions to show that, as an ingredient, the cherry tomato-sized, tart fruit knows no bounds. A walk through the store gives way to aisles stocked with kumquat marmalade, syrup, jelly, chutney, bread, cookies, icing, and pie.

Citrus grows well in this community of 250—settled in the late 1800s by German Catholics from St. Joseph, Minn.—because it likes sandy soil that drains easily, says Barthle. But the popularity of the kumquat, which is native to China, stems from the groves of a man named C.J. Nathe.

As the story goes, Nathe became fond of the ornamental kumquat tree while working at a nursery near St. Joseph. In the early 1900s he planted about four acres of kumquats, harvested the fruit for preserves, and gave them away. Nathe soon cultivated his hobby into a profitable business, selling mostly to northern states where the kumquat was in high demand. As other growers learned of his success, they followed suit, and harvesting kumquats became a family pastime while providing supplemental income, just as it does now.

Frank Gude, 71, recalls building crates for kumquats as a child in a family of 11. The season started in November, when the fruit was shipped north by railroad to be used as ornamental pieces and marmalades for the holidays, he says.

“Just about everybody in the area had extra money for Christmas because of the kumquat,” says Gude, who co-owns Kumquat Growers. His son, Greg Gude, recalls picking kumquats, which have to be clipped—not pulled—to avoid damaging, after school and weekends. Even today, Greg and his six brothers and their children rally to pick kumquats when extra hands are needed.

“I’m hoping that my kids will stay as enthused about it as I am,” says Greg Gude, a firefighter who also serves as assistant manager for Kumquat Growers. “I don’t know which one of my kids will carry the torch, but I hope one will.”

Kumquat Growers harvests about 500,000 kumquats a year from 45 acres owned by several families in St. Joseph. From his dealings with brokers and other growers for the past 30 years, Frank Gude estimates Kumquat Growers serves 60 percent to 80 percent of the market in the United States.

“We grow and sell more kumquats than anybody I know of,” says Gude, who likes kumquats in marmalades or sweets when his wife Rosemary “gets the notion to make a pie.”

Although some shipments go to Canada, Denver, and parts of Eastern Europe, the bulk end up in Eastern cities such as Philadelphia, Boston, and Baltimore, where they serve as a popular holiday decoration.

Yet, despite the kumquat’s far reaches, Gude and Barthle routinely meet people unfamiliar with them. At Katy’s, the uninitiated “make a horrible face,” when testing the sweet and sour kumquat, Barthle says. But she’s found a following for her items. One Orlando attorney often makes the hour drive to Katy’s to pick up marmalade and butter for a special grouper sauce. Another customer mixes it in stir fry.

Perhaps the greatest marketing tool for the only citrus fruit whose peel is sweet enough to eat has been the Kumquat Festival, held every January for the past four years in nearby Dade City. Barthle figures more than 30,000 people showed up for the latest gathering, a day-long celebration with music, crafts, and of course, a generous spread of kumquat goodies.

It’s propelled the kumquat to regional notoriety, but Frank Gude says there’s still work to be done, and he’s on a mission to make his favorite fruit a household word.

“There’s still way too many people who don’t know what kumquats are.”

Edward Woodward is a writer based in Tampa, Fla.

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