Picking mint during shmita
Question:
May one pick mint from a planter or a flowerpot on a porch during shmita (the sabbatical year)? -- Michal, Kfar Saba
Answer:
Mint is a perennial herb, and therefore:
1. You may pluck off leaves, as long as the herb was planted prior to the onset of shmita.
2. The leaves are deemed to possess “kedushat shvi’it” (roughly translated as “sanctity of the seventh year”) and must be treated and handled accordingly. Specifically, they should not be discarded as long as they can be reused.
3. If the porch is covered by a roof and the plant is not suspended over the ground, one may tend to the plant as needed. However, if there is no roof over the porch, one must refrain from those activities which are forbidden during the shmita year.
(Rabbi Dror Brama)
