[Avodah] Buying a small plot of land for shmittah. Legitimate purchase?

[Zev Sero]

Avroham Yakov wrote:
> Hello,
> 
> I have received numerous mailing and seen many ads about bnei chutz 
> la’aretz purchasing small plots of land (4 amos x 4 amos) to be
> ma’kayim the mitzvos te’luios be’aretz.

I seem not to be on the same mailing lists.  I have not seen any of
these ads, and I would actually be interested in such a deal.  I did
buy one of these 7 years ago, but it was a 4-year lease; at the end
of the 4 years I expected to be contacted with a renewal offer for
the remaining 3 years of the cycle, but never heard from them, and
the shtar had no address or contact information on it.

If any of these ads are in emailable format, perhaps you could
forward them to me.

 
> If I go ahead with this, is it a legitimate purchase?
> Will that really help me ma’kayim the many mitzvos te’luios be’aretz?

I don't see why not.  The shtar I got seemed legit (assuming that the
operation itself was legit, i.e. that the lessors actually owned the
land they were leasing, and it wasn't simply the Bnei Brak equivalent
of fraudulent Florida land deals).  According to the shtar I had a
lease on a patch which was 4x4 amot even according to quite a large
shiur, and I authorised the farmer to farm it together with the rest
of the field in which it lay.  I also authorised the farmer to mix
the produce of my patch with the rest of the produce, and take the
appropriate trumot and maasrot from the whole pile.  I also agreed
that after everything had been taken off, the farmer could keep the
rest of the produce as a gift.  I don't see why any of this wouldn't
work.


-- 
Zev Sero               Something has gone seriously awry with this Court's
zev at sero.name          interpretation of the Constitution.
                       	                          - Clarence Thomas