Q&A

My daughter planted grape seeds in a pot with drainage holes and 10 of them have sprouted. The pot is standing in a shelf on a porch.  I have got a lot of other fruit tree seedlings (apple, lemon, pomegranate and more) in similar pots on that porch, though not on the same shelf. We live in Israel.

1) Do the potted grape seedlings need a minimum distance from the other fruit tree seedlings while on the porch? If so, how much distance?

2) What about vegetables like tomatoes that grow on a table on the porch?

3) If I plan to plant the 10 grape seedlings into a garden that has other fruit trees (olives, citruses etc.) but no vegetables anywhere, how much distance is needed?

4) If I plant instead only one grapevine in the garden, how much distance to other trees?

5) How does one in general measure the distance from a grapevine to other plants? From the root/trunk or from the tips of the vines (which in a grown up plant can extend for meters from the trunk and grow longer throughout the summer)?

I have a garden in my small backyard in Brooklyn. My backyard is largely concrete with a small rectangle of soil in the back right corner. In the front left corner of the soil area, there is a single old grapevine that has been there since before we purchased our house 8 years ago. It produces grapes. I recently learned that Kilei HaKerem applies in Chu"l and wanted to make sure we arrange things properly. I have four basic questions:

(1) About one foot behind the trunk of the grapevine (i.e, the part where it comes out of the ground) we built a raised-garden bed (which sits on the soil). The garden bed is made out of wood and is two feet high. We usually plant lettuces, squash, and cucumbers in that garden bed. Do I have to worry at all about what is planted in that raised bed and its proximity to the trunk grapevine?

(2) To the right of the trunk of the grapevine we plant carrots and lavender in the ground. Those plantings are at least two feet away from where the grapevine comes out of the ground. Do we need to worry about that? In general, how far away do we need to make sure to start other plantings?

(3) In front of the grapevine, on the concrete section of my backyard we have some planters with herbs in them. Do we have to worry about proximity to the grapevine?

(4) We don't trellis the vine. It tends to spread out in lots of directions as vines tend to do. Do we have to worry about proximity to the actual vine part or just the trunk? If it is not too much of an imposition, I would be grateful if you could provide citations to support your answers. I would love to learn about these things inside the relevant sources. 

What can I plant under a grapevine?

I just planted a mature avocado tree a few weeks ago and it just started flowering. Is now (Adar) a good time to clip the buds at this point to prevent orlah fruit from developing?

I have planting pots on my porch. I want to know if I can plant different seeds in one pot:

Two different vegetable seeds

A vegetable and a flower seed

I also like to plant wild plants which I guess you would call weeds so can different weeds be in the same pot (nettle and chickweed).

Can I plant a weed with a vegetable or a flower in the same pot?

If the weed grows by itself in the same pot with a vegetable or a flower, do I need to pull it up?

I just had a basil seedling come up on its own in a pot with weeds do I need to transplant it?

I picked oranges from my tree, placed them in a bag, brought them inside and put them on the counter. I emptied the bag (or so I thought!) onto the counter, cut off more than 1%, and proceeded with the berachot and saying the text of separating terumot and ma'aserot.

A few minutes later, I realized that two oranges were still in the bag! I wasn't sure if I need to do the whole process again, since I did intend that the separation was for everything I picked. Granted, the oranges were still in the bag, but the bag was open and it was right next to the other oranges. Later on, I discovered that I had put an orange in my jacket pocket (and it was there with me at the time I separated terumot and ma'aserot.

What I did do was separate a bit from the two oranges (this was before I discovered the third in my pocket), and said the berachah without Hashem's name. Then I realized that it's best to just ask Torah VeHa'aretz Institute. J What do I do now, and does my second separation count?

With great excitement we recently picked some mandarins (tangerines) from our tree, hoping to taste the fruit at last with the reviis bracha.

Unfortunately, they were very dry and not pleasant at all to taste.

There are many left on the tree. 

Is it alright to just let them fall and put them in the trash?

On an agricultural note…do you, by any chance, have a remedy for this problem please?

We have noted that the branches bearing the fruit now have very yellow leaves, whereas the rest of the branches, not bearing fruit, are happily green.

I have a small vegetable patch in my yard. What is the order of the berachot on separating terumot and ma'aserot this year (5785)? Are we supposed to say the first berachah on separating terumot and maaserot and say the text? For the second berachah, are we supposed to substitute "ma'aser ani" for "ma'aser sheni"? Do we need to redeem it onto a coin? What do I do with the part of the vegetable I separated?