Q&A

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? 

We just made aliyah and are renting an apartment from a non religious family that has lots of fruit trees. The trees are all more than 6 yrs old. I don't know and can't ascertain whether they observed any of the halachot of orlah. Since the trees are more than 4 yrs old, do I not have to be concerned or is there still something we need to do retroactively?

 Anything the trees produce this year we will be mafrish terumot and ma'aserot ourselves as they have given us permission to collect the fruits from the garden.

Recently I bought a blueberry seedling which, according to El-Rom Nursery, is considered two years old (halachically) and grown in a detached platform. The pot is perforated, and in my case it’s growing on tiles. Does it continue its orlah year count this way, or do I need to start counting again? And if at some point it’s placed directly on the ground, will I then need to restart the count?
Another question — the plant has both thicker and thinner branches growing from the main stem. Do I need to ensure that no new branches grow from the base, since that would mean starting the orlah count again for those branches? Or is the plant as a whole considered one entity, regardless of the branches?
Thank you.

I signed up as a member of Beit Ha'otzar at one point last year. Now that Rosh Hashanah has just passed, do I need to renew my membership, as it's a new ma'aser year?