1. Is a snowbank a kosher mikvah?

2. What should you do if people are out hiking and they don’t have a washing cup before eating bread?

HalachaGuest UserDecember 29, 2022Nature, Mikvah, Tevila

Laws of Israel (מצוות התלויות בארץ) - GrowTorah Q&A

1. Can food scraps with kedushat shevi’it (קדושת שביעית) be composted? Can they be composted by dumping them in the forest or any way that the garden would not benefit?

2. How does Orla (ערלה) work with potted fruit trees and might be planted into the ground?

3. How does one practice the mitzvah of bikkurim (ביכורים) in modern times, in the absence of the Beit Hamikdash (בית המקדש)?

Halacha, IsraelGuest UserDecember 29, 2022Israel, Halacha

Bal Tashchit - GrowTorah Q&A

1. What does Bal Tashchit apply to?

2. If olive seeds are placed in a compost and they don’t decompose, would that be considered Bal Tashchit (בל תשחית)?

HalachaGuest UserDecember 29, 2022Bal Tashcit, Halacha, Waste

Bug Checking - GrowTorah Q&A

1. How should one go about checking for bugs in produce?

2. Can one eat fruits off the bush, or must they be soaked in saltwater to clean them before they can be eaten?

HalachaGuest UserDecember 29, 2022Kashrut, Halacha

Brachot - GrowTorah Q&A

1. What Bracha do you make on hydroponically grown food?

2. What Bracha do you make on food grown in raised beds?

3. If something is not commonly eaten but I frequently eat it, does that change the Bracha status for me?

4. Can one make Birkat hailanot on crab apple trees, which are considered non-edible but people in the foraging community eat them?

HalachaGuest UserDecember 29, 2022Brachot, Halacha

Kilayim - GrowTorah Q&A

1. Does kilayim apply to vegetable planting?

2. Does kilayim apply to fruits?

3. Can one intentionally cross-pollinate or eat food that has been cross-pollinated?

4. How does kilayim apply to raised beds? I have wheat growing in two beds and I’d like to grow grapes in a nearby bed, growing along a fence that borders the wheat, do I need a tzurat haPetachצורת הפתח?

5. Are GMOs kilayim? What about hybrid crops, breeding, etc?

HalachaYosef GillersDecember 27, 2022Kilayim, Halacha

Shabbat & Chagim - Halacha Q&A

1. Can one water plants on Chol HaMoed? Or ask a non-Jew to water in their place?

2. Can one benefit from food that was grown by a Jew on Shabbat/Yom Tov?

3. Is it permissible to make Sukkah decorations on Chol Hamoed Sukkot?

4. Can one plant microgreens on Chol HaMoed?

5. Source for Sukkahs being on farms?

6. Can one compost on Shabbat, add scraps to an existing compost, or turn it over?

7. Is one allowed to put pieces of bread into a compost?

8. Is it okay to have Chametz in a compost on Pesach?