Q&A

 My question is as follows: Does the rule of “seeing the inside of the house,” apply to crops grown in a hothouse, meaning that it would it be forbidden to snack on fruit or vegetables in the hothouse without first taking teruma and ma’aser?

During the shemita year, we heard that many poskim view hothouses as a house for halachic purposes.

Thank G-d we moved into our new home and planted young saplings on 1 Kislev 5774. Can we eat from the fruit now? If not now, when? My uncle planted more mature trees. Do the same laws apply in this instance? If the fruit is still forbidden for consumption, what do we do with the fruit? Can you also explain, in detail, what I am supposed to do in the fourth year?

I planted a passionfruit vine as a living fence. Do I have to wait three years to eat the fruit?

I have two questions that relate to uprooting fruit trees:

1. We have a grapefruit tree that yields sour grapefruit, so we don’t fertilize or water the tree. Since we don’t like the fruit, the grapefruits are left on the tree until they fall on their own. The result is that our yard is littered with dozens of rotten, foul-smelling fruit that attract insects. In light of this, would it be permitted to cut down the tree?
2. In our yard there is an area of 4x4 m that is much higher than the ground level in the rest of the yard, so we can’t use it as part of our yard and we would like to level it. In the middle of this area there is a fruit tree. If we leave the tree in place, we would need to install a cement wall around it to secure the soil underneath that tree. Furthermore, should we leave the tree in place it will make it more difficult to level the ground and make the leveling process much more expensive. Would it then be permissible to uproot the tree to avoid the expenses involved in keeping the tree in place?

I live in the Jerusalem area and have a garden. I would like to start a vegetable patch and also plant some fruit trees. Could you please tell me about the halachic issues I have to take into account?

In my backyard I grow parsely, corriander, mint, and celery and I wanted to ask if there is any way for me to make them edible from a halachic perspective? If not, is it possible to turn them into a paste by grinding them, and then the principle that a partial organism is nullified in a ratio of 1:60 would apply (I understand that with strawberries you can grind them and turn them into ice cream). Thank you.

Is it true that it’s enough to soak leafy vegetables in a fruit and vegetable cleanser (like Sterili) and check a sample (organic vegetables)? In any case, why can’t we just use salt water or vinegar like we used to in the past?

Recently, farmers have begun inserting shoots into aloe vera leafs for moisture and protection against fungus. Is this considered prohibited grafting?

Can one say birkat ha’ilanot on trees grafted in a forbidden fashion?

Is it permissible to plant a tree from a lemon tree scion grafted onto a hushhash (sour orange) rootstock? Is there a comprehensive list of all the permissible grafting combinations? Are there any nurseries that follow halacha?