Q&A

I am a kindergarten teacher. We have a vegetable garden where we grow seasonal vegetables and various herbs. Can we plant different vegetables in the same patch? For instance, cabbage, lettuce, broccoli, parsley? If so, what is the distance necessary between the different types of vegetables?

Question

Hello Rabbi, Happy Chanukah!I would appreciate guidance on a somewhat complex halachic question.

I harvested 100 kg of olives for oil production:

• 80 kg of them were hefker (ownerless),
• 20 kg belonged to someone who gave me permission to harvest them.

When I arrived at the olive press, I was told this was too small a quantity to process alone, so I waited for someone to join me. Another person arrived with 50 kg of olives, and oil was produced from a total of 150 kg. We then divided the oil according to the percentage each of us contributed.

A. Of the oil that I received, from how many kilograms must I separate terumot and ma'aserot — from 150, 100, or 20?

B. Do I need to coordinate with the other person whose oil was mixed with mine? I understand there may be an issue of bilah belach, that liquids mix.

Question

Hello Rabbi, Happy Chanukah!I would appreciate guidance on a somewhat complex halachic question.

I harvested 100 kg of olives for oil production:

• 80 kg of them were hefker (ownerless),
• 20 kg belonged to someone who gave me permission to harvest them.

When I arrived at the olive press, I was told this was too small a quantity to process alone, so I waited for someone to join me. Another person arrived with 50 kg of olives, and oil was produced from a total of 150 kg. We then divided the oil according to the percentage each of us contributed.

A. Of the oil that I received, from how many kilograms must I separate terumot and ma'aserot — from 150, 100, or 20?

B. Do I need to coordinate with the other person whose oil was mixed with mine? I understand there may be an issue of bilah belach, that liquids mix.

Is it permissible to place terumah produce in a compost bin for the purpose of making compost, and once it has decomposed, may it be used to fertilize the soil?

Is it permissible to throw vegetable scraps and seeds near a vegetable garden for the purpose of fertilizing the soil?

I hope you're doing well. I have a question regarding the halachic preferences for rootstock, specifically for Kumquat scions and similar types like Calamondin/Phillipino Lime (which is a mandarin-kumquat cross). Based on the image on your website, I'm trying to understand where Trifoliate rootstock fits into the halachic preference table.

I noticed that Troyer is listed as a permissible rootstock preference 2, and since Troyer is a citrange cross between trifoliate and navel orange, I'm wondering if there might also be a reason to permit pure Trifoliate (Poncirus trifoliata) rootstock with a Kumquat and/or Calamondin scion to be planted by a Jew in chutz la’aretz lechatchilah?

As always, I appreciate your clarification and assistance on this matter.

I have a blueberry bush that sends up new shoots which need their own 3 years. From my understanding they only give out good fruit on younger wood. Would it be allowed to keep old canes and graft new shoots that come out of the ground onto those old shoots and therefore from a halachic perspective it is old enough, but from a botanical perspective it is still young.

I see on my mandarin tree that some of the flowers set right before 15 Shevat. Assuming that citrus fruits also follow chanatah, how would I deal with terumot and ma'aserot? Would I need to take from each fruit separately?

If I were to graft on peaches, would that be fine as it is the same species as nectarine, or it is as if I'm grafting onto the rootstock again, and would therefore be not permitted?

Shalom Rav, B"H I was zoche to move into a new home in E"Y with some fruit trees. I have a nectarine tree growing in my garden, and I am not sure what the rootstock is. Am I allowed to continue tending to it since it's safek kilayim?