Eating wild grasses during the shemitah year
Question
Is it permissible to eat wild grasses during the shemitah year (bull mallow, nettle, etc.)? Are they considered sefichin? Do they have kedushat shevi'it?
Answer
Rabbi Ehud Ahituv
The prohibition of sefichin does not apply to wild grasses that people generally do not grow for food consumption and those that were not grown for this purpose in the time of Chazal. It is permissible to eat these grasses, but they have kedushat shevi'it and should be handled accordingly.
In contrast, plants that are considered edible for humans, even if they sprouted on their own, they are included under the sefichin prohibition and it is forbidden to eat them—if they began to grow during the shemitah year.