Picking and picking up pomegranates in a public area
Question
I have a strange question… we were at a public park that had tons of pomegranate trees in RBS. They were big so there is no doubt in my mind that they are old enough… is it halachically allowed to take pomegranates from a public park if they’ve already fallen to the ground?
Answer
In principle, in public areas (reshut harabim), fallen fruit are hefker, may be taken. Since they are hefker, they do not require terumot and ma'aserot.
Note, though, that pomegranates can pose an orlah problem if they are not properly cared for. Pomegranate trees often produce many rootsuckers, shoots that emerge from the root system. When these shoots emerge from below the soil, for orlah purposes they are considered new trees and require a new orlah count. Since they grow form a mature root system, however, they can certainly produce fruit in their first year. So, if these rootsuckers are not trimmed back, you can have a situation where the same tree has many branches, some with orlah fruit, and some with non-orlah fruit.
Bottom line: If you see that the tree is properly trimmed and there is one or two main trunks and not a bush, then you can safely eat the fallen fruit, without separating terumot and ma'aserot.